Sustained growth of the north and south pole ice caps.
Measured reduction of CO2 content in the atmosphere normalized to 1900 levels.
My post is cautionary PRECISELY because experts can be wrong. They COULD be wrong on global warming. or they COULD be right. Take it as 50/50 odds for all I care.
The scearnio where they are right is worse!
No, I am not - bevause it's not the same gamble. The difference between Pascal's wager and Global warming is what's at stake. 1 soul vs 8 billion souls.
The presence of absolute, final and permanent ruin (human extinction) does NOT allow for cost-benefit analysis.
For a more succint explanation of this point you are welcome to read this essay: https://medium.com/incerto/the-logic-of ... 7bf41029d3
Yes. There are perverse incentives at play here. AND despite that - if global warming is true, we are still at risk of extinction.
Whether we are or aren't responsible for global warming is neither here nor there.dorothea wrote: ↑Wed Feb 20, 2019 3:25 pm I am also certain that the idea that humans are wholly responsible for whatever is going on - assuming by the way that we should actually care - appeals to our vanity: the same vanity that thinks Homo sapiens is evolution's last word. I would support coastal defences and land reclamation now - in Bangladesh for example if the corrupt government could be dealt with. I also think artificial cloud-making has possibilities for cooling the arctic. But I'm not a scientist. I believe Dyson's people are looking at tech solutions but of course we'd all rather listen to the no-talent people telling us the end is high. (It is according to Newton - 2060 when all the solar systems energy is exhausted. See you then!)
IF global warming is true AND it continues in the same direction THEN the biosphere will change. Maybe for the better. Maybe for the worse. The current equilibrium we, humans, enjoy will be disrupted. A new equilibrium will become the norm.
Maybe the new equilibrium well be better for us.
Maybe the new equilibrium will be worse for us.
For all intents and purposes treat the odds as 50/50 for all I care.
It is literally a case of 'better the devil you know'!