[Kurzgesagt] Is It Too Late To Stop Climate Change? Well, it's Complicated.

[FliX]

New Kurzgesagt today.


Video goes into four key factors:

• Population Size
• Economic Growth
• Energy Intensity
• Emissions per Energy

Overall there is plenty we i.e. human kind as a whole could and should do/change right now. Any reduction in fossil fuel use we can achieve now will give us a little more time to come up with innovations that might help more systemically.
It's not going to be easy and it will be a while before we peak. But what alternative do we have to doing everything we collectively can.

 

[XenodudeX]

The problem is we can't even get started.

 

[Deleted member 46958]

We're going wise up and it's going to be difficult for us, but we're going to get through it. We just need more rude wake up calls and countless kicks in the face first.

Unfortunately.

 

[DjDeathCool]

We're going wise up and it's going to be difficult for us, but we're going to get through it. We just need more rude wake up calls and countless kicks in the face first.

Unfortunately.

Click to shrink...

How can you possibly believe this after COVID-19? Please, inspire me to be "optimistic" again.

 

[Booshka]

We're going wise up and it's going to be difficult for us, but we're going to get through it. We just need more rude wake up calls and countless kicks in the face first.

Unfortunately.

Click to shrink...

California has gone through years of the worst wildfires in history and people still freaked out about no "new" gas powered cars after 2035. That policy should be the case today. The general public still seems unwilling to change their behavior and obviously the corporate class and political system in America aren't willing to change anything either.
I don't think anything substantive will occur for a generation.

 

[Xterrian]

It's not some threshold that needs/was crossed and we're all doomed. It's a sliding slope.

It would've been extremely helpful to care more about it decades ago, and it's already to the point where shit is really starting to impact us, but it's not feeble to make progress now.

Defeatism doesn't lead to anything besides complacency.

 

[Davilmar]

No, and not because we lack options to make even modest changes. We could be doing that, but people are so stubborn and selfish that I can't see even small changes that will disrupt people's lives and our economic foundation. The COVID-19 crisis has lowered my faith in humanity being able to collectively make those sacrifices. I say this living in the United States, but we are a major culprit in the climate change crisis. By the time we make those sacrifices, we will have no time to make adjustments to painful changes and the shift will be horrific.

 

[Deleted member 2802]

Overall there is plenty we i.e. human kind as a whole could and should do/change right now. Any reduction in fossil fuel use we can achieve now will give us a little more time to come up with innovations that might help more systemically.
It's not going to be easy and it will be a while before we peak. But what alternative do we have to doing everything we collectively can.

Click to shrink...

Sadly most people think picking up garbage or recycling is their job well done.

Giving up meat or animal products, gas cars, and fast fashion needs to happen and it's not.

 

[Deleted member 2317]

How can you possibly believe this after COVID-19? Please, inspire me to be "optimistic" again.

Click to shrink...

Click to shrink...

 

[Deleted member 39374]

the corporate class and political system in America aren't willing to change anything either.

Click to shrink...

The oligrarchs will definitely start changing when their profits and ability to exist will be affected by it, which is soon, if not now.

It's also why we need a green new deal

 

[Neo C.]

Some countries have done more than others. The big developed and developing countries are the problem though, they are the worst offenders.

 

[Deleted member 46958]

California has gone through years of the worst wildfires in history and people still freaked out about no "new" gas powered cars after 2035. That policy should be the case today. The general public still seems unwilling to change their behavior and obviously the corporate class and political system in America aren't willing to change anything either.
I don't think anything substantive will occur for a generation.

Click to shrink...

But it will occur. Even if it takes a generation.

 

[Wackamole]

Is it too late to start beginning with it?

Anyway, we have to people.

 

[Ojli]

It's like going to the gym, the hard part is just starting to get there

 

[TyrantII]

Problem is, we also will be fighting the destabilizing of the institutions that we expect to make this sort of progress.

With bad outcomes and major social upheaval from climate change already baked in, this war now has more than one front, and has become much harder to fix.

 

[Chivalry]

I've read somewhere that fixing climate change isn't possible unless we dismantle all the global supply chains. Until we stop relying on cheap crap from the other side of the planet or invent unlimited green energy, things are just going to keep getting worse.

 

[Deleted member 4367]

I used to think once we started to see major disasters related to climate change we'd start making the necessary moves and innovations and sacrifices to start minimizing further damage.

I no longer think that after this pandemic.

 

[Regulus Tera]

As much as I like Kurzgesagt, any of their Bill Gates Foundation financed videos are immediately suspect.

 

[Jindrax]

SAving

 

[maxxpower]

We need to focus on creating technology to reduce carbon dioxide levels, or you know, plant a bunch of fucking trees. We're actually doing shit about stopping or reducing our pollution. We haven't done anything.

 

[Jindrax]

Some countries have done more than others. The big developed and developing countries are the problem though, they are the worst offenders.

Click to shrink...

yeah thats about 90% of the world :(

 

[bionic77]

We need to focus on creating technology to reduce carbon dioxide levels, or you know, plant a bunch of fucking trees. We're actually doing shit about stopping or reducing our pollution. We haven't done anything.

Click to shrink...

It is really sad how we do nothing.

For me other than reducing CO2 I would obviously want to preserve a healthy ocean and replace twice as many trees as we cut down.

 

[Chaos Legion]

I used to think once we started to see major disasters related to climate change we'd start making the necessary moves and innovations and sacrifices to start minimizing further damage.

I no longer think that after this pandemic.

Click to shrink...

Yup. COVID-19 showed me how naive I was into thinking that there's some level of decency in the vast majority of people.

 

[Shola Akinnuso]

The problem that i've always had with climate change initiatives is that there's ANY trust in the general population to do what's necessary. We can sort our bins and shop in an environmentally friendly way all we want, but if the world is actually serious about climate change, it needs to be forced. Businesses need to be HIGHLY incentivized, fines harsh, criminal penalties harsher. 2035 for gas cars in California? What about 2025? I get that what I'm suggesting would be incredibly disruptive and monumentally destabilizing. However, we've seen through Covid what happens when industries are completely upended. It's devastating, but we find a way. We're literally talking about the welfare of human life on the planet being in serious peril within a generation. If it's about profits, then the governments (if serious) need to find a way to remove the moral imperative and accentuate the financial imperative. Immediately.

 

[Josh378]

California has gone through years of the worst wildfires in history and people still freaked out about no "new" gas powered cars after 2035. That policy should be the case today. The general public still seems unwilling to change their behavior and obviously the corporate class and political system in America aren't willing to change anything either.
I don't think anything substantive will occur for a generation.

Click to shrink...

When is tsunami wave hit the coastlines that's when people start wising up. Sometimes as a politician you probably have to do the right thing regardless if your people are against it.

 

[leder]

The oligrarchs will definitely start changing when their profits and ability to exist will be affected by it, which is soon, if not now.

It's also why we need a green new deal

Click to shrink...

This is the exact opposite of what is and will happen unfortunately. The upper class and its vanguard know that shit has been going downhill, but they're response is to loot as much as possible so that they're secure. We don't have oligarchs as such in the west, rather a few tens of thousands of wealthy individuals and their progeny that run everything. People like Gates have been trying to get shit fixed for years- it's not going to work to just wake up a few ultra billionaires.

 

[cursed knowledge]

As much as I like Kurzgesagt, any of their Bill Gates Foundation financed videos are immediately suspect.

Click to shrink...

why? are you a conspiracy theorist?

 

[Teenage Fansub]

I hope there's never a point where people give up and stop fighting for it. I don't want to live in a world with zero hope or compassion for the environment/wild life /cultures who need the land to be preserved.

 

[Tsuyu]

Countries who handle covid19 well should lead the world on this.

 

[devenger]

In the US our leaders are the companies that fund the politicians. Look at the Koch brothers, they forced all Republican presidential nominees in 2016 (except for Trump) to sign promises that they would not allow any climate change correction legislation in exchange for cash.

This isnt conspiracy crap, this is the active force on the planet: all gas no brakes to keep the money flowing to the 1%. Everyman complacency is definitely a problem, but small in comparison to the machine.

So yeah, new green deal, firm limits, a better Kyoto treaty, etc etc etc. But the Republicans will be screaming about socialism the whole way down.

 

[Kthulhu]

It's not some threshold that needs/was crossed and we're all doomed. It's a sliding slope.

It would've been extremely helpful to care more about it decades ago, and it's already to the point where shit is really starting to impact us, but it's not feeble to make progress now.

Defeatism doesn't lead to anything besides complacency.

Click to shrink...

Bingo. Doom posting and defeatism doesn't help anyone.

 

[Aureon]

The problem is we can't even get started.

Click to shrink...

EU got started.

 

[Deleted member 17207]

The more important question is: Will our society ever begin to prioritize climate change in such a way that it's willing to make severe changes to the lifestyle so many of us have taken part in for decades now?

Example: Nobody needs beef, and it's been made so clear that shutting down the beef industry would make a DRASTIC difference. Yet, we haven't done it. You know the second governments start proposing this there'll be riots in the streets of people not wanting to relinquish their "freedom" of eating beef.

We're fucked. I just hope there's room for the planet to heal enough for animals once we're gone :( They at least deserve to be here.

 

[99nikniht]

We're going wise up and it's going to be difficult for us, but we're going to get through it. We just need more rude wake up calls and countless kicks in the face first.

Unfortunately.

Click to shrink...

I think this is the kicker. We will have to wise up, but I have pretty much given up hope that we can course correct in time before we destroy more than 50% of the ecosystems around the world.

We are already starting to lose huge numbers of insects and animals around the world. I cannot see a conceivable global response that will have enough force/emphasis to meet the moment. Especially with political parties like the Republicans in the States and elsewhere that are actively sabotaging progress towards these ends.

In the US our leaders are the companies that fund the politicians. Look at the Koch brothers, they forced all Republican presidential nominees in 2016 (except for Trump) to sign promises that they would not allow any climate change correction legislation in exchange for cash.

This isnt conspiracy crap, this is the active force on the planet: all gas no brakes to keep the money flowing to the 1%. Everyman complacency is definitely a problem, but small in comparison to the machine.

So yeah, new green deal, firm limits, a better Kyoto treaty, etc etc etc. But the Republicans will be screaming about socialism the whole way down.

Click to shrink...

I do wonder sometimes if bringing back the guillotine would be a net positive or net negative.

 

[Waluigi's World]

I suggest everyone here watch this...

 

[mikhailguy]

We're going wise up and it's going to be difficult for us, but we're going to get through it. We just need more rude wake up calls and countless kicks in the face first.

Unfortunately.

Click to shrink...

By "kicks in the face," do you mean the inevitable murder of a bunch of climate refugees at borders around the world?

 

[Hasseigaku]

There are an infinite number of states our world can end up in between everything's great and utter catastrophe.

I have very little faith in our institutions or a significant number of people to make the changes necessary for everything to be okay, but there's a ton of people doing the work to try and slow down the train.

 

[Kthulhu]

The more important question is: Will our society ever begin to prioritize climate change in such a way that it's willing to make severe changes to the lifestyle so many of us have taken part in for decades now?

Example: Nobody needs beef, and it's been made so clear that shutting down the beef industry would make a DRASTIC difference. Yet, we haven't done it. You know the second governments start proposing this there'll be riots in the streets of people not wanting to relinquish their "freedom" of eating beef.

We're fucked. I just hope there's room for the planet to heal enough for animals once we're gone :( They at least deserve to be here.

Click to shrink...

Beef is a bad example as there is no real substitute for it. A better focus is public transportation and energy. Also things like device repairs that aren't tied to people's cultures like beef.

Beef could also be tackled indirectly by ending subsidies and a carbon tax, while subsidizing stuff like chicken and eggs. The US eats so much cheese thanks to massive subsidies to the dairy industry, we could easily do the same but for something like lentils.

 

[99nikniht]

by "kicks in the face," do you mean the inevitable murder of a bunch of climate refugees at borderes around the world?

Click to shrink...

That would be the kick in the face. I expect billions of people will die along with a mass extinction of countless animals/plants/(life in general) before we mount a response to address climate change at a level that is necessary.

 

[Evaansan]

To prevent climate change the world should have given up on capitalism 50 years ago. Now ? It's too late, we crossed the point of no return years ago.

 

[Kthulhu]

To prevent climate change the world should have given up on capitalism 50 years ago. Now ? It's too late, we crossed the point of no return years ago.

Click to shrink...

There is no evidence to suggest this. Climate change has never been all or nothing.

Technically climate change could have been prevented if in 2000 everyone passed a carbon tax, but now government action is needed.

 

[Regulus Tera]

why? are you a conspiracy theorist?

Click to shrink...

The Bill Gates Foundation has been huge on the "the real problem is overpopulation" bandwagon, which ignores the fact that the vast majority of CO2 emissions emanate from developed countries yet the countries with the highest indices of population growth are in Subsaharan Africa or developing nations. It's weird how this video acknowledges that contradiction at a moment but doesn't really expand on it.

 

[Florian]

Well, end of the day, it`s down to the people.. the consumers... who consume, overconsume the natural resources.
Factorys produce (and pollute), because there is a demand. And there will be no fairy, bringing clean pure energy so everybody can still consume guilt free and live happily ever after.
There is no free lunch.

So, this in an enthusiast forum, celebrating the new console generation, new large TVs, burning a shitload of resources for personal entertainment, while pointing fingers at others to save the world- it´s not working like that.

PEOPLE NEED TO REDUCE THEIR CO2 FOOTPRINT. This is not done by signing a treaty and buying a Tesla.

 

[Kthulhu]

The Bill Gates Foundation has been huge on the "the real problem is overpopulation" bandwagon, which ignores the fact that the vast majority of CO2 emissions emanate from developed countries yet the countries with the highest indices of population growth are in Subsaharan Africa or developing nations. It's weird how this video acknowledges that contradiction at a moment but doesn't really expand on it.

Click to shrink...

Do you have a source for this?

 

[Zom]

That would be the kick in the face. I expect billions of people will die along with a mass extinction of countless animals/plants/(life in general) before we mount a response to address climate change at a level that is necessary.

Click to shrink...

I think this is the case, humans are reaaaally slow to change in mass, specially when the whole upper class doesn't want to do anything, because money.

 

[Kthulhu]

Well, end of the day, it`s down to the people.. the consumers... who consume, overconsume the natural resources.
Factorys produce (and pollute), because there is a demand. And there will be no fairy, bringing clean pure energy so everybody can still consume guilt free and live happily ever after.
There is no free lunch.

So, this in an enthusiast forum, celebrating the new console generation, new large TVs, burning a shitload of resources for personal entertainment, while pointing fingers at others to save the world- it´s not working like that.

PEOPLE NEED TO REDUCE THEIR CO2 FOODPRINT. This is not done by signing a treaty and buying a Tesla.

Click to shrink...

This is ignoring how institutions and systems influence human behavior. I can't take the bus without having to walk 5 miles so I have to drive. I can't use clean energy because I don't own a home to put solar panels on (and probably couldn't afford to even if I did own my home). I can't just keep using the same electronics because repair is impossible without assistive from the manufacturer who largely doesn't care about making sure it works for as long as possible.

Downloading a game on a computer I can repair and will last for years is probably the least emission intensive thing I do, and I'd recycle the parts responsibly but the US government doesn't ban recycling companies from exporting the waste to be burned in Asia.

While there are some things people can do to help like eating less meat, not everyone can do these things as easily if at all thanks to larger issues at play. If government action is not taken the result will be far worse than if it is.

 

[El-Suave]

Please, people can't even agree on wearing a mask. So how will it work out when they're asked to make actual sacrifices and change their lifestyle?

 

[maxxpower]

I hope there's never a point where people give up and stop fighting for it. I don't want to live in a world with zero hope or compassion for the environment/wild life /cultures who need the land to be preserved.

Click to shrink...

But we already live in that world. How many species and ecosystems have we killed?

 

[99nikniht]

Well, end of the day, it`s down to the people.. the consumers... who consume, overconsume the natural resources.
Factorys produce (and pollute), because there is a demand. And there will be no fairy, bringing clean pure energy so everybody can still consume guilt free and live happily ever after.
There is no free lunch.

So, this in an enthusiast forum, celebrating the new console generation, new large TVs, burning a shitload of resources for personal entertainment, while pointing fingers at others to save the world- it´s not working like that.

PEOPLE NEED TO REDUCE THEIR CO2 FOOTPRINT. This is not done by signing a treaty and buying a Tesla.

Click to shrink...

This post address maybe half the problem. Individual persons do not contribute to climate change all that much compared to manufacturers and corporations. You're not wrong in saying that as an individual that wants the newest and/or fastest thing buys the products that increase their overall carbon footprint.

The larger issue is government not implement and enacting law that either minimizes which energy sources to prioritize in usage. Another issue is not drafting laws to minimize waste like single use plastic bottles.

The point is that, yes, individuals should do their part. But, this is largely as systemic problem that requires a uniform front/response from all the governments in the world to address the issue.

 

[Kill3r7]

When is tsunami wave hit the coastlines that's when people start wising up. Sometimes as a politician you probably have to do the right thing regardless if your people are against it.

Click to shrink...

I doubt it. NOLA was under water about 15 years ago and few cared. Sure we rebuilt but how many more times are we going to do that? Our society, frankly most of western society, is unwilling to sacrifice for another. Our solution as per usual is throw some money at it but don't ask me to change my lifestyle.