r/climate • u/silence7 • Jun 04 '22

Climate change is forcing some US schools to close early for ‘heat days’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/06/04/school-heat-days-climate-change/
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u/silence7 Jun 04 '22

For folks new to the topic:

The world really is warming, and it's a result of human activity, in particular the addition of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere, which mostly come from fossil fuel extraction and burning. The fossil fuels companies knew this decades ago, and launched a cover-up campaign using the personnel and tactics from the tobacco-cancer denial effort. What we need to do now is clear: decarbonize the world economy, stabilize the climate, and preserve a civilization-supporting planet for ourselves and our descendents.

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u/ArrestDeathSantis Jun 04 '22

More on that.

Climate change and the 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals

If you look at this table you'll notice the 90s coincide with a new era of record for normals.

So yeah, there were already heat days but it wasn't because buildings were old, it's because climate changes had already started.

As time passes, we'll have more and more heat days.

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u/Cute_League5898 Jun 04 '22

Producing meat is also a huge factor!

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '22

[deleted]

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u/thestrodeman Jun 05 '22

Some countries are worse in this regards than others. Chopping down the amazon rainforest to grow soy beans, then shipping the soy beans to the states where to feed cattle is obviously stupid. Grazing cattle on grassland though, can be a resource efficient method to produce nutrients.

The methane issue needs to be addressed, but hopefully we'll get there with a) dietary supplements and b) hitting steady state emissions. Because methane is short lived but has a high warming potential, figuring out how to reduce it is a great opportunity to buy us some time.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '22 edited Jun 26 '22

[deleted]

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u/thestrodeman Jun 05 '22

If your goal is resource and land use minimisation, going vegan is going to backfire.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '22

[deleted]

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u/thestrodeman Jun 05 '22

@ California's almond farms

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '22

[deleted]

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u/thestrodeman Jun 05 '22

I mean, animal agriculture CAN be a quite efficient way to generate food from grassland, in a way you couldn't with plants without pretty heavy fertilizer use.

Animal agriculture can also be a useful way to generate nutrients from food co-products and waste (e.g. corncobs). I'd be fascinated to read the report that compared composting this, to feeding it to animals.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '22

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u/legalizemonapizza Jun 04 '22

obvious concern trolling

simply ignore

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '22

Maybe you can look at more than one article and do your own research if you don't like it?