Missing winter sea-ice signals changes in Antarctica that could be “absolute disaster for the world”, scientists say.
You know what's most depressing? Statistically people reading this comment (people who have access to computers/phones + the internet) will have little to mild effects of climate change, compared to the BILLIONS that will perish. Humans will survive all this, but at the cost of unimaginable suffering from the silent/silenced poor.
If it gets bad enough that millions die, let alone billions, the effects will hit everyone, hard. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the economy is very interconnected and fragile, and wars are started over a lot less.
"Humans will survive this" - I am unconvinced, I think there are very real reasons to consider the coming climate variations as an existential threat.
My new nightmare is that we manage to kill off oceanic algae and the rainforests and most us oxygen-breathers just all slowly collectively suffocate to death. Probably at a rate that we know it’s coming for humans at a certain point. Scientists would probably be able to predict it down to the week. So us humans all see our fate and are just patiently waiting for our death as we watch all the smaller mammals perish before our eyes.
In this scenario I think the largest mammals will go first? Like if you consider there was a higher concentration of oxygen during the dinosaur era and some dinosaurs were really big. So it seems larger mammals might need a higher concentration of oxygen.
Everyone talks about climate, no one mentions the planets ecosystems (aka life support) are dying at an unprecedented rate. Hoping the next form of life on this planet is slightly less stupid than we are
Difficult to predict the future, anything is likely. But my point was if humans do survive, it'll only be the priveleged few. Even in the last days of humanity, those who have the means will survive longer
It's happening so fast now… I always thought we would have more time
I actually did think it would speed up like this.
…but not for science reasons, it's just, I know from defrosting the freezer that it does not melt at a steady rate but gets faster and faster.
I mean, that's pretty scientific training right there
So did the scientists. Stuff is happening now that wasn't supposed to happen until the 2070s.
OH GOD OH SHIT OH FUCK
Dr Caroline Holmes at the British Antarctic Survey explains that the impacts of shrinking sea-ice may become evident as the season transitions to summer - when there's potential for an unstoppable feedback loop of ice melting.
Even modest increases in sea levels can result in dangerously high storm surges that could wipe out coastal communities. If significant amounts of land ice were to start melting, the impacts would be catastrophic for millions of people around the world.
Buckle up kids, this ride’s about to get bumpier.
it never ceases to amaze me how stupid we all are as a civilization.
we're opting out of it, but nature will continue. this will be a very curious and fairly hospitable world full of interesting xenoarcheological mysteries… in the distant future, to a visiting spacefaring civilization.
You have to wonder if we aren't just confirming what the Great Filter is. There may not be any space faring civilizations.
Seriously, that’s what I’ve been thinking recently - that we’re hitting the self-destruction theory of the Great Filter.
Well… it was nice knowing you all…
It was n(ice) while it lasted
Blue Ocean Event 2027
Tell me more
Look this up yourself with other sources though too. You'll want to fnd out how much ice coverage is left at the poles, how much we've lost this year so far, and the loss projection for if the next 5 years are as hot as 2023. Then look up what will happen to the earth with all the unreflected solar radiation we'll be absorbing without the ice caps.
Well that is terrifying
Yup. And with all the wildfires releasing a shit ton of carbon into the atmosphere alongside all the shit released from industrial pollution, the next few years are very likely gonna be hot as fuck.