The Soapbox

Joined: 01/04/2001 Posts: 27108
Likes: 34428

What's this?

It’s incredibly dicey to try to link specific events to climate change. It

Can’t really be scientifically proven, and so it just leads to gotcha moments like this and no constructive discussion.

I happened to catch this link last week - I am a bit of a documentary geek. It is about the various processes that are set in motion as the planet starts to warm, which causes an acceleration and ultimately feedback loops that can’t be stopped no matter what we do. It would be an investment of a little over 50 minutes to watch, but it makes the case very clearly and concisely IMO.

Not saying a PBS documentary is proof. There’s no such thing as proof of future events. Crystal balls don’t exist. So rationally, we manage risks. This is a risk of the earth being remade into something unrecognizable to us today. How do you want to handicap the odds? If a business detects an existential risk with even just a 15% chance of coming to pass in their minds, do you think they ignore it? Or do prudent business managers do what they can to mitigate that risk (and try to gird for the impacts)?

How do we gird the planet for events that could make it unrecognizable to us today? IMO, it is entirely possible that we can’t. And even if we managed to offset the effects in some places, destabilizing population shifts elsewhere seem inevitable. It appears worthwhile to start moving in directions to arrest this process, which already seems underway. There should be clear paths to common ground on this, if we could take our irrational emotions, and our devotion to political doctrine, out of this. No better way to cut off Russia, Venezuela, and all the nations of OPEC at the knees than to end our addiction to their oil and gas.

Or we can ignore this - we can refuse to even watch it, or read about it, and keep our heads in the sand. Or we can watch it and show all the evidence refuting it, if you have it. But without that evidence, IMO everyone is playing Russian Roulette with our kids’ and grandkids’ futures. It is irrational in ways humanity excels at, unfortunately.

[Post edited by hoolstoptheheels at 01/04/2022 09:36AM]

(In response to this post by Tuckahokie)

Link: https://www.pbs.org/show/earth-emergency/

Posted: 01/04/2022 at 09:34AM

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Current Thread:

I hope none of the Soapbox crew got caught in this mess (link) -- Tuckahokie 01/04/2022 07:34AM

Some libs are blaming Youngkin. -- JMHoo 01/04/2022 2:29PM

Tim kaine has been stuck in it for 19 hours ** -- HokieJamie 01/04/2022 10:10AM

How does he keep his car charged?Thoughts and prayers. ** -- Wahoo Gus 01/04/2022 12:34PM

A Tesla could run heat for 2-3 days. -- BocaHoo91 01/04/2022 12:52PM

I would rather be stalled in our EV than our ICE vehicle in a storm -- NJHoo 01/04/2022 12:43PM

You don’t have to be a terrible person all the time. ** -- hooshouse 01/04/2022 12:39PM

Link -- WahooMatt05 01/04/2022 10:26AM

Why would someone drive out in that weather then complaint about getting -- JohnHoo2 01/04/2022 09:53AM

I think most people think of interstates as always being passable -- 757 01/04/2022 11:18AM

Virginia isn't NJ when it comes to snow. ** -- NJHoo 01/04/2022 12:46PM

Virginia’s lack of snow is both a blessing and a curse -- 757 01/04/2022 1:12PM

Good call there ** -- NJHoo 01/04/2022 1:31PM

Other than Greg Abbott, you mean? ** -- TomGlansAski 01/04/2022 10:04AM

95 in Northern Virginia is a disaster in good weather -- WahooMatt05 01/04/2022 08:40AM

Well … if I lived in the area, I would assume 95 is likely the best suited -- CharlestonSC 01/04/2022 09:46AM

It rained hard before the snow, then snowed hard for hours -- WahooMatt05 01/04/2022 10:22AM

I agree in general … I’m just saying that to the extent that you “need” -- CharlestonSC 01/04/2022 10:26AM

And not everyone on 95 up there was just running errands that could have -- Mad Bowl Hoo 01/04/2022 11:03AM

Reminds me of Thanksgiving, about 1978. Spent the night in a car at White's -- 81_Hokie 01/04/2022 08:19AM

I got stuck on the side of 81 on the way back to school ** -- U Remember 01/04/2022 11:11AM

November, 2018, before Thanksgiving in the northeast. Only about 6 or 7 -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 08:28AM

I think there were some school buses here in NJ that didn't get kids home -- JohnHoo2 01/04/2022 09:35AM

A friend went to the WFT game, they stayed overnight, left and 11 AM and -- hooshouse 01/04/2022 07:59AM

My home town! ** -- ncCAV 01/04/2022 3:58PM

Thanks, climate change. ** -- ResistHoo 01/04/2022 07:53AM

Fortunately fools like you weren’t in charge of fixing hole in ozone layer -- Hooooooooooooooo 01/04/2022 10:01AM

Was that Joey too?!?!? ** -- ResistHoo 01/04/2022 10:20AM

Yeah, because the weather is the same as the climate, amirite? ** -- TomGlansAski 01/04/2022 08:28AM

I was watching the UVA /Syracuse game outside in a T-shirt and shorts -- WahooMatt05 01/04/2022 08:36AM

1916 says hello (link) -- Tuckahokie 01/04/2022 09:01AM

It’s incredibly dicey to try to link specific events to climate change. It -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 09:34AM

I have no doubt Climate Change is real. I just am not sure how much is man -- Tuckahokie 01/04/2022 09:55AM

Ok. There is a mountain of evidence that man’s actions are causing -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 10:07AM

I don't doubt man's impact...more of a degree of scale. People claiming -- Tuckahokie 01/04/2022 10:36AM

It is simple to go to a laboratory and measure the effects of various -- NJHoo 01/04/2022 12:51PM

Who is claiming the world will end in 12 years? -- DTsBicep 01/04/2022 10:53AM

This person...and she does have a large audience (link) -- Tuckahokie 01/04/2022 10:58AM

You need to find the entire segment, not just the seconds of sound bites. -- 111Balz 01/04/2022 12:58PM

Her statement was nonsensical if you take a look at it. -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 11:50AM

OK there was clearly a broader context to her comments. She was discussing -- 111Balz 01/04/2022 12:50PM

Ok, but politicians have to be careful with what they say, and their words -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 1:05PM

Actually it was more like younger generations are being criticized for bein -- 111Balz 01/04/2022 1:35PM

Yeah, I don’t love fear tactics, and the Green New Deal set would be better -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 10:53AM

I am not anti-renewable, but we need to understand the climate impacts of -- Tuckahokie 01/04/2022 11:04AM

That information is pretty readily available. Rarely are trees -- 111Balz 01/04/2022 1:42PM

I don’t know of anyone who favors deforestation to make room for -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 11:17AM

We agree...we just need to be smart about the transition IMHO ** -- Tuckahokie 01/04/2022 11:18AM

I'm similar. We absolutely should be trying to change to lower our impact -- CAVern 01/04/2022 10:00AM

You and I are not too far apart on this, but what’s your basis for -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 10:10AM

I will say that, alot of this has to do with time scale. we've been here -- CAVern 01/04/2022 10:47AM

I don’t claim to know the level of urgency we need to avoid the worst -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 11:09AM

A good point about alarmism ** -- CAVern 01/04/2022 11:14AM

Btw - i'll try to watch your link later ** -- CAVern 01/04/2022 10:24AM

I'm spitballing, but i look at it like this: when we are hunting for -- CAVern 01/04/2022 10:24AM

I don't think we are killing the planet. Life has a way to adapt. We are -- JohnHoo2 01/04/2022 10:30AM

Yeah - i'm probably a little more alarmed about population control -- CAVern 01/04/2022 10:37AM

One lucky social development is as a society gets more advanced, the birth -- JohnHoo2 01/04/2022 10:51AM

And carbon footprint per person goes up. Is it a net decrease in energy -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 11:38AM

That's good to hear. I think world wide it's somewhere around 2.5 births -- CAVern 01/04/2022 10:57AM

Saw an article recently where China is wanting parents to have more kids -- Tuckahokie 01/04/2022 10:53AM

In today’s WSJ in fact. -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 11:33AM

Singular event is not proof or even indication of climate change but it -- JohnHoo2 01/04/2022 09:38AM

Because it’s easy to do. If I say this really hot day in January is proof -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 09:48AM

It is easy to see by just looking at how the narrative has changed from the -- JohnHoo2 01/04/2022 09:57AM

The problem is outside the scientific community, there are too many who -- hoolstoptheheels 01/04/2022 10:14AM

Thinking …? ** -- WaxHoo 01/04/2022 09:47AM

Ha. Back during my ND phase, when I was doing work with American -- Shenhoo 01/04/2022 09:07AM

Definite proof right there. ** -- Mad Bowl Hoo 01/04/2022 08:49AM

But who’s to say climate change is real? -- WahooMatt05 01/04/2022 08:37AM

^^^^ Like Dr. Fauci and is the embodiment of science ^^^^ ** -- ResistHoo 01/04/2022 08:41AM

Exactly. All inclement weather is unprecedented, and thus climate change. ** -- ResistHoo 01/04/2022 08:37AM

Looks like even you have learned by reading the Soapbox, Glans!!! ** -- ResistHoo 01/04/2022 08:29AM

My best learning comes from adopting the opposite point of view to -- TomGlansAski 01/04/2022 09:42AM

^^^^ Strives for and achieves perfection in idiocy ^^^^ ** -- ResistHoo 01/04/2022 09:45AM

Oh, and thanks Khaki Asswipe. ** -- ResistHoo 01/04/2022 08:02AM

Thomas, you seem particularly triggered right now ** -- HoodatB 01/04/2022 12:39PM

Kind of like you with all of my posts you stalk and respond to?!?!? ** -- ResistHoo 01/04/2022 12:46PM