Human Caused Global Warming

[swansont]

1 hour ago, Dropship said:

But as humans seem to be responsible for GW, why don't they do something about it?

Too many of them are invested in fossil fuels to pass the appropriate legislation. 

[exchemist]

18 hours ago, TheVat said:

Electrics have disappointed me somewhat, since you have to drive them 15-25,000 miles to break even on carbon. (the car you already have doesn't require any mining, smelting, fabrication, etc)  If, like me, you walk and bike a lot and put only a couple thousand miles on a car per year, then it's quite a few years before you net lower carbon footprint.  And, to worsen the carbon picture, selling your old IC car means someone on a tight budget can now afford one and starts driving yours and quite possibly putting higher miles on it.

The upside of that gloomy picture, however is that electrics look to be fairly long lasting, so when I die someone will be able to buy an affordable used EV.   

Yes indeed, I too use the bike for local errands and only put <5000miles on the car annually.  But even so, eventually the car needs replacing (Mine is now 13yrs old so it will be 14-15yrs old by the time I replace it.) The issue then becomes - apart from the operational footprint - whether an electric car involves more or less CO2 in its manufacture and supply than an IC one. I should have thought less, as an electric car has less machinery in it, unless the battery is particularly carbon-intensive to make. I realise there are environmental problems with mining some of the metals, notoriously Co, and maybe some of the lanthanides used in motor magnets, but these are in principle fixable and since the overriding imperative is climate change I set these to one side.

I expect the next car I buy to be my last, given that I am 67 and would hope to run it until I'm 80 or so and starting to become a liability behind the wheel. But by then, with any luck, we will be able to hire driverless taxis - if Putin has not blown us all up.   

[Dropship]

Thanks guys, it seems Global warming and Climate Change have always been occurring through earth's history, but nowadays we dumb humans are accelerating the process.-

 

"Dr Joeri Rogelj, Director of Research at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, says, 'Global warming and climate change have both occurred throughout Earth's history. But it's the speed at which the world is currently warming, and how fast the climate is changing, that is so concerning.'

The surface temperature of the planet has increased around 0.08°C per decade since 1880. However, the average rate of increase between 1981-2019 has been more than twice that rate. These changes are unquestionably the result of human actions."

Edited March 12, 2022 by Dropship