Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by ASalazarMX 1461 days ago
It's not reverting to a natural climate, it's trying to not make it worse by pumping even more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The adaptation we have to make is finding a way to keep most of our comforts in a sustainable way, and that won't come from recycling plastic or driving an EV, but from industry and regulation.
1 comments

> from industry and regulation

I agree. These tools should make our crash landing softer than a laissez faire policy. But

1. I'm pessimistic about the true intent of the powers that be. While paying lip service to climate action there is hardly any real action: renewables are just an extra energy source on top of the existing cheap fossil fuels that give nations some independence vs the gulf states. There is a scramble for every newly discovered oilfield - and it's not because they want to prevent the extraction. And

2. If governments succeed against all odds in phasing out fossil fuels we would still be faced with massive climate change sooner or later - be it a new ice age or whatever. These are things that are out of our control - we need to make sure we can adapt, not try to control it.

I'm actually not against oil extraction, it has many, many uses besides burning it as fuel. Renewables could fill that gap. I agree that governments seem to drag their feet, tossing the hot potato to the future.

About the next big climate change, you're right, those are inevitable given enough centuries. If it happens, people will deal with it in their time, but let's try not to cause one ourselves.