(January 24, 2019 at 5:34 pm)Rahn127 Wrote: I had a long drawn out message I was going to post but frankly I'm kinda depressed by the thought of losing 90% of our population by the end of the century.
Within 80 years, a death toll of 6 billion 930 million all due to climate change and the extreme warming of our planet.
And this is the conservative estimate.
My grandson is 8 years old. Will he live to be 88 ? What will his life be like ? Fuck what will mine be like. I still have a good 30 years left in me.
The 2C degree change is already locked in. We're now talking a 6C degree change by the end of the century.
Extinction seems inevitable.
Do you think other countries will attempt to drastically eliminate those problem countries in order to save those nearly 7 billion lives on the line ?
Would you kill a billion people to save 6 billion ?
Would you kill 3 billion to save 4 billion ?
That's a bottleneck of death I'm not quite ready to even think about and yet it's in our immediate future.
I'm an alarmist when it comes to this stuff. I already know it and accept it within myself.
Maybe when I'm 60 or 70 I'll calm down a bit.
I like your little smiley at the end.
As climate scientist Jerry Mahlman said, “There is no need to exaggerate the problem of climate change; it is bad enough as it is.”
I know of no creditable report which estimates the human death toll from climate change to be so high by 2100. Do you have a link?
I have read reports that over 50% of species may be committed to extinction by then with business-as-usual emissions. But business-as-usual emissions seem less likely as countries take action against climate change.
Brazil cut its deforestation of the Amazon by 80% in a decade. Primarily due to its efforts, worldwide deforestation has dropped to about half its previous rate. Brazil also now generates almost half of its energy from renewables.
Among the nations which are already switching to renewables, Germany is at 25%, Spain at 35%, and Portugal at 50%. Denmark gets 40% of its electricity from renewables, is shooting for 100% by 2035, and plans to ban the sale of new fossil-fueled cars in 2030.
In Germany, 65% of renewable power sources are owned by individuals, cooperatives, and communities who are decentralizing energy production. Citizens are taking the matter into their own hands, aided by a far-sighted, 20-year guaranteed premium price paid to anyone for renewable energy. Many people are willing to pay slightly more for their power to help deal with climate change.
France plans to be coal free by 2021. France and Britain plan to end the sale of gas and diesel cars by 2040. The European Union plans to have 35% clean vehicles by 2030 and to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Over three dozen countries have set a price for carbon, and support for a carbon tax is growing globally. A carbon tax seems much less radical now, since it would offer predictability to businesses, enabling them to plan efficiently. In 2014, seventy countries had feed-in tariffs to set a long-term purchase price for electricity produced by renewables. Many others mandate a percentage of renewables to encourage their adoption within a realistic time frame to combat climate change. There is a global covenant of mayors for climate and energy in 7000 cities in 12 countries. In 49 countries, emissions have already peaked. In another 8 countries, emissions will likely peak in the next decade or so.
In the U.S., 70% of all new energy-generating capacity comes from solar and wind power. The U.S., China, and India will account for two-thirds of global renewable expansion to 2022. General Motors and Ford plan to introduce a range of all-electric vehicles in the 2020s. China intends that one in five cars will run on alternative fuels by 2025, and plans to eventually do away with internal combustion cars altogether. China is the leading manufacturer of solar panels and a major supplier of wind turbines. India will sell only electric cars by 2030.
New York City has set the goal of reducing greenhouse gases 30% by 2030. The city is planning ahead to encourage trees, parks, bike lanes, mass transit, energy efficiency, clean air, and lower traffic congestion. New York State and California plan to cut their emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, and 80% by 2050. By themselves, Californians have the 5th largest economy on the planet, and yet they are on track to accomplish these goals. The mayor of Los Angeles plans to make the city carbon neutral by 2050. Hawaii is committed to 100% clean energy. Many U.S. cities and 36 states have renewable energy goals or portfolios.
There is still a chance of remaining below 2C, especially with the development of technology which will enable us to pull CO2 from the air and sequester it underground again. It may be very costly, but it won't be as costly as runaway climate change.
