More irreversible knock-on effects of global warming in the news today, two of which (permafrost emissions and the Amazon rainforest converting to savannah) will release additional CO2. Unfixable even with unrealistic immediate, Draconian policy changes. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/top-scientists-warn-of-an-amazon-tipping-point/2019/12/20/9c9be954-233e-11ea-bed5-880264cc91a9_story.html …
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I'm not a nihilist about this, incidentally, and support the big policy changes. After all, we could always luck out and get a big volcanic eruption that buys us 5-10 years of time to retool the world economy. Or maybe one of these surprise feedback loops will break our way.
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Another outcome I can imagine (hey, I'm a Slav...) is that some Elon Musk type spends his billions on an untested fantasy technology intended to cool the planet, and instead triggers an unanticipated thermal runaway that turns the place into Venus, while collecting tax credits
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How many elections in a row do we have to win (across various countries) to have a chance at heading off catastrophic warming? And how many can we lose before we face a future that is either mitigation or crazypants geoengineering? If Trump wins in November, is that game over?
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Also, can everyone agree now to be cool with nuclear reactors (ha, ha) or do we have to have that fight too?
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For high achievers who actually want to turn the planet into Venus, here's a how-to from 2012 that goes into the physics of it all: "The Runaway Greenhouse". Maybe give it a pass if you are a very anxious person. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1201.1593.pdf …
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