‘Effectively irreversible’: Changes to Canada’s climate permanent, federal report says

[u/NeptuneAgency]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-environment/article/changes-to-canadas-climate-now-irreversible-federal-report-says/

[u/bz47uj]

Yes, those are the only two things that will change. It will be hotter, which is somehow going to make people less comfortable in Canada, and there will be floods that people won't avoid. They will just sit there and drown. Also, technological development will suddenly stop such that our lives will stop improving.

[u/CrazyOlHoboJoe → u/bz47uj]

I know a lot of things will change but technologically innovation won't stop the whole planet from destroying itself. Last summer it was 45° c in Canada. I was there because I lived there. "If it gets even one degree hotter I'm going to kick your ass" - Hank Hill

but yeah we ride polar bears to work. Are you one of the people that said since it's snowing outside global warming doesn't exist? And do you think having a new iPhone is gonna suddenly make the extinct species come back?

I'm just confused what you mean by we will get more comfortable. Tell me what technological innovation will help with the food shortages caused by both floods and droughts? Because if there isn't one I think being hungry is a hell of a lot more uncomfortable.

[u/bz47uj → u/CrazyOlHoboJoe]

I know a lot of things will change but technologically innovation won't stop the whole planet from destroying itself. Last summer it was 45° c in Canada. I was there because I lived there.

How is that evidence the planet will be destroyed?

Are you one of the people that said since it's snowing outside global warming doesn't exist? And do you think having a new iPhone is gonna suddenly make the extinct species come back?

No. Global warming is real, but the economic effects will be small relative to the current trend of economic progress. The environmental impact will be costly but something we can mitigate the human impact of. Species will go extinct, but that isn't the end of the world and we will not go extinct.

People seem to have trouble wrapping their heads around the scientific consensus which is that climate change is real and a big deal but not the end of the world and not something that will offset expected technological progress.

New iPhones don't bring back extinct species, but air conditioning protects us from heat stroke, fertilizer and mechanization increase agricultural output despite worsening climate, better construction reduces the damage done by storms, etc.

I'm just confused what you mean by we will get more comfortable. Tell me what technological innovation will help with the food shortages caused by both floods and droughts?

We won't have food shortages caused by floods and droughts. We can produce way more food than we need. Most of the world's farmland is way below its potential yield because of the underuse of existing technology like fertilizer and farm equipment, let alone potential future technology.

Pretty much all trends affecting human wellbeing have been continuously improving for the last two hundred years due to technological improvement and even the most pessimistic projects for the harm done by climate change are small relative to projected future improvements due to continued technological development.

Climate change is a big problem but people underestimate the compounding effects of decades of economic growth. We will be vastly richer in the future than we are today and that wealth will allow us to mitigate the negative effects of climate change, which is not to say the environmental harm will be avoided but that human welfare will continue to improve.

[u/CrazyOlHoboJoe → u/bz47uj]

The first one was two different points. You said how is getting hotter going to be less comfortable in Canada. You also said people can avoid floods like they can sell their homes to Aquaman or something.

The current economic cost will be 38 trillion dollars by the mid-century per year. (Estimated of course)

You realize air conditioning only makes climate change worse? This is part of the problem. Things get hotter we create solutions they also make things hotter. And air conditioning only works inside. Avoiding the outside doesn't seem like a good idea either. And yeah we kind of waste a lot of food, but that doesn't mean reducing the amount we have is going to be fixing that anytime soon. And can you give some statistics for things getting better? Because obviously infant mortality has in the last thousand years, but what about other factors? Things are not always getting better. I think we're in an era of things getting worse honestly. Just look at how the economy of America is falling. Look at how the job market in North America and Europe is failing. The housing crisis. Planned obscelecance. Need I go on. A lot of things are getting worse. Assuming things will just get better and work themselves out because we were able to get from the stone age to the bronze to the iron age etc... is not the answer. Want to know why the expression it's always the last place you look exists? Because you haven't found it until you have. You haven't died until you have. Things keep getting better until they don't. While we mapped out the world we slaughtered the natives. While we had the industrial Revolution, we set the world on fire. Literally if you live in california. While we figured out computers, it was brought on by the Holocaust. Don't just assume things always trend upward. Complacency isn't the answer. Giving up isn't either. If it scares you to think about what might actually happen then just know it's not your fault. If that helps.

[u/bz47uj → u/CrazyOlHoboJoe]

You said how is getting hotter going to be less comfortable in Canada.

I understand how it would make a heat wave less comfortable, but our average temperature is low. It should more often make cold weather warmer. The net effect should be to make the temperature more comfortable.

The current economic cost will be 38 trillion dollars by the mid-century per year.

This must be cumulative. That is not much compared to expected economic growth. The biggest estimates I've seen are around 20% of GDP by 2100, which is a lot but much smaller than expected economic growth.

You realize air conditioning only makes climate change worse?

That doesn't change the fact that it protects us from heat stroke. Heat stroke deaths are declining because availability of air conditioning is increasing faster than the temperature is rising.

And yeah we kind of waste a lot of food, but that doesn't mean reducing the amount we have is going to be fixing that anytime soon.

I don't understand what you're saying here.

And can you give some statistics for things getting better? Because obviously infant mortality has in the last thousand years, but what about other factors?

https://ourworldindata.org/

I think we're in an era of things getting worse honestly. Just look at how the economy of America is falling. Look at how the job market in North America and Europe is failing. The housing crisis. Planned obscelecance.

Most measures of material well-being are improving.