Monday, July 29, 2013

So, basically, we have a big problem...

The thing that most worries me about this graphic is the part up at the top where it shows that fossil fuel reserves dwarf our safety budget.  Will there be any way to convince people not to burn those extra few thousand gigatons if they're right there for the burning?

I have a hard time believing that there's any chance of our species refraining from rendering our planet unfit for human habitation...

4 comments:

Holly said...

It's just terrible. It induces a mixture of panic and despair. I don't know how people can be so cavalier about it. It's just the worth thing ever.

C. L. Hanson said...

I know, same here.

Even educated people seems to regard global warming as not that big a problem. I would estimate that it will take about thirteen years simply to convince educated people that this is a serious problem -- yet we need to be making major structural changes in our society's use of carbon right now.

And if the fossil fuel reserves are that much greater than what it takes to put the atmosphere beyond the point of no return...? Then, even if the people who get it were to make major changes, somebody out there is going to burn that carbon.

Here we are, as a species, smart enough to see what we're doing -- yet I don't see a realistic scenario in which we succeed in using this information and our problem-solving skills to keep our species from this collective suicide.

Just Jill said...

I think I'll walk to work today. Feeling a bit guilty. :O\

Just Jill said...
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