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This is the place for discussing the potential collapse of modern civilization and the environment.
Collapse, in this context, refers to the significant loss of an established level or complexity towards a much simpler state. It can occur differently within many areas, orderly or chaotically, and be willing or unwilling. It does not necessarily imply human extinction or a singular, global event. Although, the longer the duration, the more it resembles a ‘decline’ instead of collapse.
RULES
1 - Remember the human
2 - Link posts should come from a reputable source
3 - All opinions are allowed but discussion must be in good faith.
4 - No low effort posts.
Related lemmys:
Art Berman is a oil industry consultant (shill) who may or may not have a degree in geology -- he is not a physicist and does not understand the Laws of Thermodynamics.
Those who think that we should stop using fossil fuels, or think that economic growth is possible in a renewable energy future, do not understand the physics of how the world works.
Those who think we should continue using fossil fuels despite the climate change and weather effects we're already seeing do not understand the physics of how the world works.
Whenever someone starts with the high minded "no other species has ever done this" talk is just intellectually masturbating. We're the first true mammal bipeds, the first species with complex language capabilities allowing us to compound generational knowledge, the first to live in air conditioned houses and eat breakfast cereal. We are fundamentally different in so many ways from other species that this line of argument means nothing. I understand that life's order is allowed by thermodynamics because we pay for our existence by distributing energy and settibg off chemical reactions as we find them, but what's the mechanism of our destruction should we stop drilling for and burning fossil fuels tomorrow? Are the squirrels going to take over the drilling and kill us all? Come on. If we don't dig it up and burn it, it's going to stay under the ground.
We are not going to abandon fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels are abandoning us. And those 8.1 billion and counting will be going away, too.
Come on. If we don’t dig it up and burn it, it’s going to stay under the ground.
Those who think we should continue using fossil fuels despite the climate change and weather effects we’re already seeing do not understand the physics of how the world works.
our energy requirements for being alive are much higher than a population that didn't get itself on a hockey stick shaped population chart. we are in an intensification trap. we must continue to use fossil fuels to maintain the population and standard of living, unless we are willling to sacrifice the population and standard of living and/or renewables grow so much they take up the slack.
so any talk of leaving it in the ground needs to also include talk of how we are going to allocate the misery that comes from such.