Climate Catastrophe

Although much of the monitoring of the climate relies on satellite technology.

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True, but that isn’t the same as idiotic drivel like colonising Mars.

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“Why do anything?” is my response when people ask, “why invest in the space industry?”.

Ultimately if comes down to why do anything before paradise on Earth? Paradise for me is a mirage, like a false god (if you believe in that sort of thing) - it has never existed and indeed cannot exist.

For example people are quick to point to India’s moon endeavours when millions die needlessly from treatable diseases, pollution and even malnourishment. For me this sort of effort offers a direct and measurable positive impact. I would say that a robust space industry is a must for any developing country. India has a vast population that hungers for development and has an endless supply of well educated and qualified people - in all fields. Usually these people are lost to other countries, which are “clearly” more deserving of their services obviously… after all, why would you have a PhD in aeronautical engineering in India of all places? A Space industry offer these highly qualified people a path in India to ply their trade. Importantly it builds a pathway to the development of more (direct and lateral) industries that will eventually help to retain more and more highly trained/qualified individuals and create more jobs.

I think this is more than just flag waving. High tech industries should not solely be the domain of the high and mighty West, the “First World”. Whether its space, solar/fission/fusion power, (sadly) weapons or biotech, developing countries have to pursue these. Without them India (and similar countries) risk being indentured to the high and mighty West for ever.

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Same here.
To help cut down on single use carrier bags, supermarkets were instructed to charge 5p per bag.
The proceeds were to go to charity.

Now they charge 40p for a fucking paper bag.

Thieving bastards.

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Providing clean air for your citizens does not equal trying to create paradise.

Those highly qualified people would be more productively employed saving the lives of millions than by sending stuff to the moon. That applies to all nations, not just India.

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The problem with Delhi’s poor AQI at this time of year is not new. The neighbouring state of Punjab, which relies primarily on farming, burn their crops to prepare for the next yield. The winds carry that smoke towards Delhi. Delhi at this time of year will be witnessing winter fog. The two combined create a heavy smog in and around Delhi (called NCR or National Capital Region).

Both state and central government have tried to address this issue. But failed. You cannot interfere with nature in terms of how the wind flows. Neither they have any alternative to burning crops.

I don’t know when we will find a solution. But I am sure pulling out of space race is not going to have any effect on this problem.

There are lots of other places around the world where crops are not burned in this way.
Are these crops that can’t be ploughed back into the soil for some reason? Is it only the crop burning?
Just shrugging and accepting the situation as if it’s inevitable is surely an inadequate response.

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Too much.

Yes

If India wants to excel in space exploration, they need to hire Klopp cos he is very good at building teams effective and efficient at finding spaces at lowest cost possible.

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Looks like they are trying to get the stuff out of the ground as fast as possible. They are probably working on the theory that the stuff will be worth fuck all in 30 years time.

Or hoping that the more money you make now, the better your chances of surviving Armageddon.

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But how dare you talk Newcastle down, proper underdogs they are!

What I like in this report, is that the main culprits are named:

Romain Ioualalen, at the research group Oil Change International, said: “Our recent analysis shows that just five rich global north countries are responsible for the majority (51%) of planned new oil and gas extraction to 2050: the US, Canada, Australia, Norway and the UK. These countries have the moral and historical responsibility to move first and fastest to phase out fossil fuel production.

And I couldn’t agree more with this:

”“The addiction to fossil fuels still has its claws deep in many nations,” said Inger Andersen, the executive director of the UN environment programme. “These plans throw humanity’s future into question. Governments must stop saying one thing and doing another.”

One could say that many governments behave like drug addicts: they say that they want to stop, but in fact, the contrary happens.

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Our environmental commissioner (sort of an auditor for environmental issues, rather than a regulator) just released a report showing that Canada has made no progress toward climate targets. Any sectoral progress has been wiped out by growth in oil and gas.

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I think there’s a sense in which countries want to get what they can, while they can. They are making a decision for money now, rather than doing something meaningful on climate change.

My take is that while regrettable, (that word isn’t strong enough) it is also understandable. Most people would take money on the table, especially given the lack of a true and enforceable global push to solving climate change. Several cycles of agreed upon goals have been and gone, and I don’t see a concerted effort among the nations to all adhere to an agreement.

So there’s a sense in which countries might think, “If we don’t extract now, we will miss out on the money. If we miss out on the windfall we are making a sacrifice in the short term that won’t make any/enough difference to the overall climate problem, because the rest of our competitors (other countries) will do whatever they want to do.”

It is stupid and short sighted, of course, and the costs of climate change will dwarf the revenue gained via short term extraction.

But I don’t see any ability in the global community to meaningfully come together and stick to an agreement. For those who can, they will veer toward their short term and selfish interest, while kicking the can down the road on the existential problem.

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Fuck yes! Forget even trying to solve the source of the problem. Let’s just offer all the drowning islanders residence.

Still 68% electricity generation from fossil fuels.

And really, as politicians, they are going to protect their own arse and not push hard on EV because you wouldn’t want to upset the Aussie Hilux owners.

I am still getting used to the amount of adverts on TV here in Australia pleading to save the turtles from plastic waste and there’s barely a mention of climate change. I feel like I’m stuck in 1991. Turtle saving must play well to the masses. Not saying turtles (or plastic waste) aren’t important but, it would be helpful if there was at least a bit of acknowledgement of the climate problem.

Any guesses when the Aussie government pushes their 2050 Net Zero target to 2100?

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I’m seriously fucking sick of countries like Australia and Canada hiding behind gross carbon generation instead of looking at everything in per capita generation.

It’s utterly pathetic.

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Yeah, the mining industry has this country by the balls. Solar and wind would be so effective in this climate, but they are hardly mentioned.

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More difficult than settling 11000 people.

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