Have We Made ANY Progress on Climate Change? Here's The Data, You Decide

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RCP 8.5 has often been referred to as “business as usual.” It describes a world without action on climate policy and continued fossil fuel use expanding unchecked, leading to a truly apocalyptic future for our climate and everything living on our planet - including us.
For this episode we wanted to see where we are in terms of “business as usual,” and if we are still headed towards an apocalypse of sorts… or if, perhaps, all of the technological innovations in renewables and EVs along with new climate policy such as the Paris Agreement might have bent down the curve on global warming. So tune into this episode of Weathered to see where we’ve been in our race against the clock, where we’re going, and how the RCP scenarios can help us understand this story as well as our future on this planet.
Weathered is a show hosted by weather expert Maiya May and produced by Balance Media that helps explain the most common natural disasters, what causes them, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare.
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[@beast_boy97]

We are so anthropocentric that we fail to realize even a 2ºC increase would be apocalyptic for so many other species and ecosystems on this planet. For many species it is already too late, but we could save so many more.

[@fuxan]

Agreed...we tend to only focus on the most immediate and closest to understand interactions and not how we are tied to even that of a native mosquito or the health of an underground ecosystem...it is ALL important...not just a single species.

[@SophiaAphrodite]

IT would cause massive human starvation as well.

[@joshpam23]

AMEN!!

[@lorenzoblum868]

Denying the elephant in the room aka the military industrial complex won't help...

[@aiden359]

That loss of biodiversity could also collapse economies causing more damage to humans than we can considerably project.

[@c.rutherford]

For some reason carbon pollution is a political issue you can choose whether or not to "believe" in, whereas all other kinds of pollution are just pollution. I never quite understood how oil companies pulled that off. It was genius from their own marketing standpoint, although incredibly stupid given the long term results.

[@lestermarshall6501]

Read MERCHANTS OF DOUBT to find out.

[@cdub9923]

The entire basis of modern industrial society is predicated on putting that carbon in the air. It’s not just pollution, it’s a way of life at this point.

[@c.rutherford]

​@@cdub9923 That's true and that makes the pollution an incredibly difficult problem to solve but still no less dangerous to humanity. When you raise the human population to a staggering 8+ billion..... all depending on a certain stable norm.... then perform what can only be described a reckless experiment with our climate by raising the average temperatures worldwide relentlessly. It seems the dumbest thing ever would be to just pretend nothing is happening. Its hard enough to deal with without so many drinking in the band room while the Titanic sinks, as it were. I don't know how else to describe what the deniers are doing. Though they were definitely primed in denial by the oil companies that started it.

[@DrSmooth2000]

@@cdub9923 bitnof a stretch to call CO2 as a Pollutant Maybe 'distortion' Can call water vapor a Pollutant too, why not? We don't attempt to control CO2 in airplane until 5000ppm. Our membranes evolved to be bathed in it same as Nitrogen Oxygen iirc is more irritating material than CO2.

[@SevenEllen]

Agreed. It's murdering their own and us all.

[@DirtFlyer]

The problem is the tipping points. We don't know when or by what degree tipping points will affect climate change. We could see vast quantities of methane released from melting arctic tundra starting in a couple years, or maybe in a few decades. And those tipping points may slightly increase warming, or it may cause enormous acceleration in climate change. It's not included in the modeling, and it's like tinkering with a globe-sized bomb by not making radical changes to reduce emissions immediately.

[@jordanfarr3157]

Okay this is now the third comment I've seen on this specific issue. PBS viewers are seriously astute. PBS, come on guys, you gotta follow up on this.

[@RosscoAW]

To be more precise, the issue is that modeling tipping points is not profitable: there's no significant shareholder equity to be made on a risk-adjusted basis (as the risk is not precisely quantifiable or known and cannot be by the nature of tipping points *being qualitative* tipping points), and so there's no reason within a capitalist economy for anybody to put serious effort into investing or innovating *for* or *against* the reality of tipping points, not without government subsidies and state-direction ensuring that such research and investments would occur. No individual capitalist or group of capitalists will under any conditions be able to leverage capital toward actually ameliorating the issue: it is far, far more profitable to sell therapeutics that require consistent re-purchase on a subscription schedule, for hiked prices, than it is to sell a one-off, cheap cure intended for mass consumption. The same capitalist logic that ensures our medical industry *does not* search for actual cures (or, when cures are found, they are priced according to "what would a life-time of therapeutic surgeries and treatments and medications have costed otherwise, both directly and in terms of labour for care aids and medical practicioners, for this one individual in a nominal case without the advent of a cure?" Such that any cure -- an analogue for a direct solution to a problem -- is not economically feasible unless priced to be consumed only by those already with immense wealth, or through state-directed insurance systems that effectively subsidize access to solutions by bending to the capitalist profit motive of the "innovators". TL;DR: Capitalism is the problem, and ain't shit being done about that problem by anybody other than China. Any optimism pertaining to the climate crisis is therefore entirely inept unless it's predicated almost solely on an understanding that Chinese socialism is an infinitely superior socioeconomic system in every measurable way relevant to this -- and functionally every other -- issue; real or potential.

[@mateobareo4229]

The climate has tipped many times and the earth has been fine. Calm down, Malcolm Gladwell lol

[@Radianx001]

@@RosscoAW Hello chinesse suporter

[@jutru8782]

@@mateobareo4229 the earth will be fine. Humans and other life on it might not be.

[@kelly-bo-belly]

I will not celebrate the absolute absence of effort from the world leaders and politicians.

[@MultiBunnyhunter]

what are talking about… you haven’t heard endless European and American politicians grift off of the climate hoax ?

[@ProgressIsTheOnlyEvolution]

True. We are in a terrible state and I don't think this video is being alarmed enough. We can not talk about cause to celebrate before wars STOP and politicians and corporate leaders spend more money on saving the planet, than they do on war.

[@legostud]

I worry we’re still on the path to 5 degrees. Even if we cut emissions, the melting permafrost is going to release more emissions than we’ve cut.

[@lor3nz42s2]

One of the ways to address climate change that i havent seen many people talking about in north america is public transportation. The amount of infrastructure that cars take up is far more carbon intensive than public transportation.

[@sagewidder510]

Yes, thank you! I'm not confident we'll be able to make this shift, but it's worth pushing for anyways.

[@orchestraoverseer9426]

Most intelligent comment I've seen, congratulations. Tesla's aren't the future they are the same shit with a different colour

[@raoulluijten5972]

This is super important, similar to diet change.

[@donmcdougall4587]

Yes Fast, easily accessible for all, efficient, safe and affordable public transport is one of the solutions to global warming. Unfortunately the push to EV's both skewers government focus with subsidies to companies and and Tax incentives to consumers, that money available for PT will be even less. And of course, EV's are not the great savior of our planet, but are marketed (sadly albeit brilliantly) as just that.

[@davidsalo8397]

A lot of spoiled people that will hold onto their private transportation until someone pries it from their cold hands. Same with firearms. A society of entitlement. That attitude is starting to really catch up to us now.

[@erinrising2799]

in regards to being too alarmist, I say hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. It's far better to be an alarmist and over-react than a denialist and so nothing

[@maiyamay_]

I like this thinking!

[@journeybug3050]

Realistically speaking, the covid lockdowns are likely the largest reduction in human in output we will ever see. So where is all the knowledge gained from the global lockdowns of 2020. It was a chance to find out exactly what a 30% lock down of humanity does for the environment. I have looked all over and found very little. I’m trying to find answers to the following. 1. Could a covid level lockdown drastically reduce CO2 if maintained for long period of time? 2. Was there a change in temperature during 20,21, or 22 resulting directly from the lockdowns? 3. Did the climate science community recognize the lockdowns as chance to acquire invaluable data? All the responses to questions like mine have been very uninformative.

[@sungibesi]

Depends on your ability to pay the costs, and for poor people to suffer energy deprivation, while hoping nothing else really bad happens.

[@Unvaccinated69]

OK chicken little, you live your life how you want ill live mine

[@Bitchslapper316]

The problem is "preparing for the worst" often causes mass starvation and other calamities.

[@mgmcd1]

Fool around and find out. Thank big oil for muddying the waters on this issue, by their own admission. And big coal for muddying the waters on renewable electric sources, including nuclear. Well, they got their money. I guess that’s all that matters.

[@beth8775]

They ought to be held criminally liable for their contribution.

[@jeffgold3091]

big oil is now big wind . it’s all big business

[@swardinc]

i love how people no longer seem to celebrate meeting small goals and are only focused on the end goal, the fact that we dropped 2 degrees off the chart is very amazing considering how many people are involved. Now lets work on the next two

[@ProgressIsTheOnlyEvolution]

This is also a way too optimistic video. For when you look at the war in Ukraine and Palestine is there anything to suggest that leaders are really trying to cut Co2 emissions? If we can not even prevent war to cut Co2 emissions how can we expect we can or will make much of a dent in emissions in other areas other than by lots and lots of people dying?

[@swardinc]

@@ProgressIsTheOnlyEvolution yep and on top of that look at all of us, looking at them saying oh you want us to cut back as you prepare for not one, not two, but maybe three wars?

[@sidneyboo9704]

We need to live a simpler life so others may simply live.

[@kimwelch4652]

I have noticed that all the videos of this type always end on a positive note. The pattern seems to be: "We are all in deadly danger--but it'll be okay". While I am still optimistic that a marginal percentage of the global human population will likely squeak through this Fermi great filter, the optimism indicative of the upbeat video endings are unwarranted. There is no evidence that any of the countries will keep their promises and good evidence that many will not. Worse, this is a global issue so it does no good for only one or two to reduce their emissions while the rest of the globe goes on an industrialization spree.

[@natalia499]

It's funny in grotesque way that at the end of the video scientists says that currently we are going to future we don't want to leave for future generations and heading toward a pretty bad outcome, but it's overlayed with propagandist happy/hopeful music. The only thing that would make it even better is using this music when showing videos currently from Bangladesh were millions of people are still displaced and could never return after the massive floods that happened over 3 months ago. If millions of people suffering every year is the optimistic future... fear for the realistic outcome.

[@steviesevieria1868]

@@natalia499 PBS!

[@timeenoughforart]

Optimist and pessimist are always right, temporarily. I grew up under threat of nuclear war. I'm optimistic that we are still all going to die that way.

[@steviesevieria1868]

@@timeenoughforart not “all”, just the majority

[@kimwelch4652]

@@timeenoughforart Actually, I ran the numbers. Even GTNW cannot wipe 8 billion people off the planet. There are just too many of us.

[@jeremysmith8814]

We are not alarmed enough

[@robertwelch2843]

we needed to be in the streets demanding change 20 years ago

[@toniatchison3678]

The biggest problem I have with some of our 'climate policies ' is that we keep putting price tags on it. The second biggest problem is that none of us plain old average citizens think we can't do anything about rising temperatures, when in fact, everything has an effect. Good or bad.

[@jazzypoo7960]

Like I always say, we are smart enough to mess up the planet, but not smart enough to fix it.

[@toniatchison3678]

@@jazzypoo7960 exactly! We messed up, we have no choice but to take the responsibility and fix it.

[@baronvonjo1929]

Yeah when it comes to EVs I don't understand why company fleets and government fleets dont go first. That's a huge number of cars. They should require these companies to foot the bill before us consumers. Make them go full EV. Now if there actually is a law coming up doing this than just ignore my ignorance.

[@toniatchison3678]

@@baronvonjo1929 I always thought EV's were the way to go too. Except the process of mining the rare metals needed for those vehicles is actually just as environmentally damaging as our gas-powered cars. So strip mining becomes acceptable, so more and more pollution and land destruction. Plus too many people don't look closer to see how their electricity is generated,and oops! Coal fired power plant.

[@baronvonjo1929]

@Toni Atchison And then I personally don't like how they are tablets on wheels. Everything is done through a screen and trying to be high tech. And then how the battery ages. My car is older than me currently. If a EV battery can't last 25 years without a replacement it's not a consideration. Then i wodner about people who live in apartments and stuff without a driveway. How do they charge these? I am completely certain EVs will improve. But I won't be getting a EV or hybrid anytime soon. I cant afford to pay thousands for a broken battery.

[@mikebolin4311]

We cannot afford to stop pushing at all. Thank you Maiya for all you do as well. 😊

[@bobbiejwilbur8503]

We are not doing enough! We need to change our mindsets in order to make change happen.

[@conradpons2463]

I'm 67 years old and I have seen what yall are talking about in Mt short lifetime. Imagine what the next 67 years will bring but I believe that we are not alarmed enough. There's more to life than financial success.

[@anthonymorris5084]

If you're 67 then surely you're aware of the thousands of useless bomb shelters Americans put in their back yards in the 1950's. You must have lived through the 1970's energy "crisis" when "Scientists said" we were running out of oil. That crisis never materialized. Then there was the impending ice age that never happened and how we were all going to starve to death by the 1980's due to over population. 23 years ago it was Y2K and you're still listening to dooms day cultists?

[@Toastcat890]

Love of money will be our end.

[@anthonymorris5084]

@@Toastcat890 In that case, can I have all of yours?

[@davemac4968]

... love the episode... at the same time, WAYYYYYYYY way way way, too early to start patting ourselves on the back

[@davidlovesyeshua]

This video contains significant positive developments as far as humanity’s emissions trajectory is concerned. And it does say there’s a lot we still need to do. Why isn’t there cause for some level of positivity? And what alternative rhetorical strategy would be more psychology motivating for normal people who aren’t constantly in a mental space that includes tipping points, climate refugees, estimated numbers of lives lost (non-linearly) increasing with fractions of degrees of warming, etc.?

[@jimf.2964]

its bullshit...the whole damn climate thing

[@davidlovesyeshua]

@@ULTRAOutdoorsman Those aren't *rhetorical* strategies. Those are things you could influence using government policy certainly, but I'm not sure how that's relevant to the video we're commenting on.

[@luois]

@@davidlovesyeshua​right. The point of the video is to show the positive changes. It’s honest and useful.

[@blarrrging]

I’m most worried that the thought process can now be seen as “WE’RE not screwed” and put on the back burner for another 20 years, hoping the problem will work itself out.

[@maiyamay_]

This is a real concern. Hopefully that’s not what leaders takeaway from this data.

[@death_parade]

I can assure you that this is not the case at least in India. India was the only G20 member to meet its Paris Climate Deal goals. And one such goal, that of having 40% of its installed electric capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, was achieved 7 years ahead of schedule. We met our Paris Climate Deal goal of having 175GW installed renewable electricity capacity by 2022. But instead of saying we've done enough, our government simply tripled the target to 500 GW of installed renewable capacity by 2030. Another Paris Climate Deal target was reducing Carbon Emissions intensity by 33% over 2005 levels by 2030. India already achieved 28% in that and therefore has revised that goal upwards to 45% by 2030. So contrary to putting it on the back burner, we are achieving our climate goals ahead of time and then revising the goals upwards to do even better. Since 2015, 92% of the Coal Power Plants proposed to be built in India have been cancelled. Indian Railways is on its way to become net zero by 2030. Which is important because we are the fourth largest rail network in the world and about to become to the third largest at the current pace of expansion. In terms of ridership, we are already the largest by far. Moreover, we are on track to make 100% of our Railways electric within next two years (started from 38% in 2014 to 85% now and 100% by 2024). No G20 member is even close to this. At the same time Indian Government is aiming to increase India's share of rail freight from 27% now to 45% by 2030. This, along with the massive investment in waterways will ensure that majority of Indian freight movement that is currently done through the inefficient and fossil fuel dependent roads network will happen through green electricity powered and more energy efficient railways and waterways, massively cutting down on potential emissions. Other than that, there has been a massive reduction in emissions of vehicles due to India adopting BS VI norms which are the Indian equivalent of Euro Stage 6. On top of that, there is government subsidy, corporations and startups jumping into making and government organizations (like State Bus Transport Corporations and the military) and corporations buying up Electric Vehicles. And India's largest private conglomerates are announcing their plans for massive investment in Green Hydrogen and Electrolyzers with a target to drive Green Hydrogen costs down to $1/kg by 2030 and make India the electrolyzer manufacturing hub of the world. Mind you this goal was set by a private corporation that is among the largest oil and gas conglomerates in the world. There is so much else happening in India like Green Steel, Green Methane, Roads made of plastic waste, reforestation, biofuels, etc. And at the same time as India is doing this, India lifted a population the size of European Union from Multidimensional Poverty in the last 15 years. Point is, despite the massive challenges India faces, India is lifting hundreds of millions from extreme poverty while also fighting climate change and China and Pakistan and Terrorism. India at least, is doing its part and plans to do it irrespective of the good news.

[@stoodmuffinpersonal3144]

@@maiyamay_ Only if people get loud and try to get them to smarten up

[@steviesevieria1868]

Nobody in charge is hoping the problem will work out, they’re just hoping for more profits this quarter.

[@777-r3y]

We are not screwd. We only have a lot of propaganda going on.

[@raoulluijten5972]

Why are we asuming what has happened the past 10 years is business as usual? Milions of people have worked hard to avoid business as usual, they are the ones that made it happen, not simple.. inertia. This was a concerted effort by those of us who took responsability. Also we are not doing well at all, according to the latest 2022 IPCC report we have already crossed 1.09 degrees of the 1.5 degree limit. " WGI assessed the increase in global surface temperature is 1.09 [0.95 to 1.20]24 °C in 2011-2020 above 1850-1900." And those are numbers from 2 years ago. Nice confetti special effects, but I don´t want to spend the rest of my life cleaning this fucking mess. Speaking of time, we have a carbon budget left for 1.5 degrees of less than 10 years and why the fuck are you talking about limiting to 2 degrees, that is a disaster scenario. The UN secretary basically said the current situation is a huge shitshow, anything short of that is a lie. We need to double of not tripple our efforts. I appreciate the efforts made to make this video, but videos like these did not help shift business as usual, videos like these are like a feel good disney movie helping people to avoid taking responsability. Climate change is simple: Eat less animal products, buy less shit, insulate your house, use public transport, fly less and demand big companies to invest sustainably. Demand big companies to do the right thing and threaten with boycotting. Demand change and threaten with boycotting. Execute your democratic right as a consumer and demand change (if you believe in capitalism). DO IT NOW, we are in a climate crisis NOW.

[@abbyhillman769]

We're not alarmed enough. Our family has been very motivated to do our part to lower our impact on the environment for the past 40 years, but only in the past 10 years have we been able to afford (for example) solar power for our home, an electric car, efficient heat pumps for our cooling and heating, etc. But the average family who might want to make these improvements may not be able to afford them, like we weren't for so many decades. It's still a good idea to do the things that you CAN afford, like insulate your home, keep the temperature lower in winter and higher in summer, recycle instead of landfill, grow some of your own food, and so on. But government subsidies for game changers like solar energy and more widespread high voltage charging stations for electric cars (ideally powered by solar, wind, hydro, or other renewable energy sources) are needed to get more people and businesses to a more sustainable level of emissions.

[@steviesevieria1868]

Solar panels are a great example, the government is trying to encourage their use by offering a tax credit, but the companies that do the installations want to suck up all the tax credit money and twice as much. Greed in the solar industry isn’t helping anything move along there.

[@MikeBrownRehobothBeach]

So you've been saving the planet by buying more stuff.... lol, humans don't stand a chance.

[@legerlog5566]

I would suggest watching the video: "Why I Don't Care About Your Flight Emissions" by Our Changing Climate It talks about climate hypocrisy and carbon guilt and how our attention to individual carbon footprints and worries about being seen as hypocritical distract from the task of dismantling the fossil fuel industry. Pls at least check it out :)

[@Unvaccinated69]

Solar wind and hydro are pointless, if you really cared about clean energy you'd be advocating for nuclear fusion, its the most efficient and the cleanest energy there is

[@PG-3462]

@@MikeBrownRehobothBeach You litterally used a cellphone and electricity to type that comment 🤦‍♂️ I don't think anyone is willing to reject every single thing modern societies provided us, you included. However, we must eliminate everything that's not truly useful and when we have to replace something, then it's better to choose the things that will help us to reduce our impact on the environment on the long run, like solar panels if electricity in your region is currently generated with fossil fuel.

[@joey1160]

The problem with this video is that it is trying to solve the problem and save the world with the same level of thinking that created the problems in the first place. If we only look at “emissions,” we completely overlook, say, the loss of forest ecosystems which actually sequester and reduce atmospheric carbon. And forests are cleared in the name of the same “development” that makes countries apparently rich. Also, agriculture is among the largest, of not the largest, contributor to global warming, and it’s not mentioned once; and it’s a problem not because of tailpipe exhausts, but the loss of forests as they become tilled soil, and soil as it becomes inorganic dirt, the collapsing of insect life as it it killed to grow crops, and water as it it polluted to fertilize lifeless dust. Yet, regenerative agriculture, plus other ecologically-inspired ideas, have the potential to reverse climate change. The query goes so much deeper than new technology wrapped in delusions of old thinking.

[@777-r3y]

It's because they want to make money through co2. It's just that.

[@andrevinicius6040]

also the continuous genocide of indigenous ppl. they not only take good care of the ecosystems in their territory but they also take from the land most of what they need. they dont require as much industrialized way of living. big companies realize that and theyre always pushing to steal their natural resources and make their way of living impossible so they go to the cities and become consumers

[@grahambennett8151]

@@777-r3y Right on - and they want to distract you from the disastrous emissions of the nuclear industry, which emits radioactive gases, liquids, particulates and solids all the time it generates. Gases and particulates up the chimneys, radioactive coolant and other fluids/radioactive suspensions down the pipes to rivers, lakes and seas. Truly, the even care of the environment is not a single-gas issue. As CO2 is necessary for all life on earth to continue, clearly its management cannot just come down to collecting as much as we can and hiding it away - pretty much all we hear about from climate alarm believers.

[@heatherthomas7545]

100% Amen. Emissions are only 1/2 of the equation. But maybe that's where the good news really lies. So many people get it now and are making changes on their farms, ranches, and even in their back yards. We are watching the rivers run dry, the fields burn, and the floods take people's homes away. We see it, we're on it. We just need more people, more awareness, more conversation, more changes.

[@ex8280]

I don't mind slashing and burning agriculture, but I do mind burying EV's battery in the soil. One can resolved by just stopping the practice. EV battery?...once it dies, what do you do with it? So the solution needs to be safe for future generation, not just to make you feel good about yourself. I still say the best solution is to recycle, reduce and reuse. And If you push too far and start teaching kids that carbon is creating problem for the planet, people might misinterpret it and might mandate the world to take a drug that "safe and effective" to save the planet.

[@dhindaravrel8712]

Electric cars are not a benefit. Fewer cars would be beneficial, though. Undo the mistakes of building cities around cars, and make sure they'll be geared towards the bicycle, walking and public transport in the future. THAT will make a real impact.

[@climatedeniersbelonginasyl4191]

So true, although I would say electric cars are better than nothing.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@climatedeniersbelonginasyl4191 quite. In the medium term we need to redesign our cities, in many cases just to undo a lot of the car-centric redesigns of the 30s-60s, but in the short term electric cars are better than business as usual while that redesigning occurs. Since it takes 20-40 years to build those necessary planning changes.

[@stewartmillen7708]

Cars, along with the subburbs they created, are not only environmentally destructive, they also economic drains on average people. Reversing the reliance on cars and subburbs would fight both environmental destruction and poverty at the same time

[@jonathanclark5240]

One of our biggest focuses should be helping poorer countries build green, sustainable infrastructure. I'm glad this video mentions this issue.

[@izzy9506]

We're most definitely not alarmed enough! Every time we come up with a future model for climate warming, we seem to surpass those predictions for even more warming. This country is also veering far right as are many others, which means even less action towards meeting any hope of decarbonization. We need to all be acting on this yesterday, and most people have their head in the (drought-ridden) sand.

[@lorenzoblum868]

One word: EXPONENTIAL. Btw, the carbon/toxicity footprint of the military industrial complex anybody? Edit. Three more words: KNOCK ON EFFECT.

[@Unvaccinated69]

No all climate change predictions from the past were vastly over estimated, in the early 2000s when I was in school I was told 50% of florida would be under water by 2015, in the 70a they used to say we were on the brink of another ice age, climate scientists are re tard ed

[@Unvaccinated69]

@@paddor that's exactly the rational, well thought out argument I was expecting from someone who believes in all this nonsense

[@Bitchslapper316]

Lol

[@tombowen9861]

The "Every new model is worse" is something that has kept me up some nights. I fear the experts writing the reports are too conservative to capture the real trends.

[@jsnel9185]

The carbon footprint for the manufacturing of electric cars is significant. So is the processing of the many rare metals required for them to operate.

[@shanecollie5177]

According to volvo,and volkswagen,the carbon footprint of manufacturing an ev is more than double that of an ice

[@adpirtle]

I think 2 degrees is still a fantasy, but that doesn't mean it's not worth striving for.

[@lorenzoblum868]

As long as we ignore the elephant in the room aka the military industrial complex, fantasy it remains.

[@lozoft9]

@@lorenzoblum868 A big part of why the MIC (including those of China and Russia-aligned states) exists is to protect their energy interests. The easiest way to attack the MIC is to make renewables and nuclear as cheap and as independent of global supply chains as possible.

[@lorenzoblum868]

@@lozoft9 to protect their "war treasure". The best way to "fight" the MIC is by refusing to fight. Won't happen because we're indoctrinated from early age. We're taught patriotism, chauvinism, hatred. Paranoia and greed rule. So we're doomed. Just a matter of time.

[@gamingtonight1526]

2C+ by 2040, which is when the tipping points start. All this 2100 is smoke and mirrors!

[@maiyamay_]

Agreed!

[@stephenjanes103]

INOT ALARMIST ENOUGH. I spent 30 years studying and cleaning up groundwater around industrial toxic waste sites. Not good. The only real progress was the regulatory bans on such sites. But some still exist. Industry makes more toxic waste than ever before. And groundwater contamination is still a very big problem. Expect from this moment on for people to prevent climate regulation every day, to slow progress with endless meetings and arguments and delays. The predictions will come true. We are in a climate mess that will get much worse in the next 30 years. You need orders of magnitude more people like me fighting to stop the fossil fuel industry. The only good news is that when the Antarctic ice breaks up and melts away and Floride is underwater, people will look back and maybe have learned something.

[@Pecisk]

Coming back to this after summer of 2023 - while change has been possible, I feel scientific evidence starts to tells us that we have been way too optimistic about our predictions. Tipping points is one example, but this summer already saw incredible disruption of everything just being a bit hotter than usual. It feels that we are actually do not understand that much what that heating will involve. Or where tipping points will trigger. And that will add additional problem to society in general.

[@SophiaAphrodite]

The argument about man not being a primary cause of climate change is absurd when the numbers dropped when we shut down due to Covid and due to the 2008 crash. If we did not affect it, it would not have affected it at all.

[@jeffgold3091]

emissions went down , temperature went up

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@jeffgold3091 temperature has a larger hysterisis, remember it took a century of burning coal to start to see any measurable change

[@jeffgold3091]

@@kaitlyn__L doesn’t show up in seasonal variability

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@jeffgold3091 🤦‍♀️ that’s because the tilt of the earth affects how much sun we get. Emissions affect how much of that heat the atmosphere holds onto. Slowing down the emissions doesn’t remove what already was emitted in the century-plus prior. You’re comparing apples and oranges

[@jeffgold3091]

@@kaitlyn__L thermal inertia is contradicted not only by daily and seasonal variations but also by la ninas and events like the younger dryas

[@kimwelch4652]

One of the reasons the CO2 emissions in the US and Europe remained flat while the GDP increased is that the West exported its industrial manufacturing to the East, mostly to China. So, emissions in China went through the roof while the West's GDP continued to climb because much of the profits from the exported manufacturing went back to the West. If you add back some of China's emissions to the West, things do not look so rosy.

[@DonFahquidmi]

Great point. We can't export our carbon footprint when we consume the goods that caused the emissions.

[@kimwelch4652]

@@DonFahquidmi Climate Change is global; it cannot be exported. It does not matter what country creates the greenhouse gases, it affects the entire world. So, this is not a problem that we can tackle one country at a time.

[@jordanfarr3157]

Do these models factor in the methane to be released from the permafrost that is thawing worldwide? The recent 'Snowball Earth' episode of History of the Earth claimed that multiples of our current carbon budget is sequestered in the permafrost and the tipping point for its eventual release has already occurred. I really respect geobiologist Dr. Leila Battison who writes those episodes. Can PBS comment on this?

[@FreEntity]

To my understanding, none of the tipping points is in the models.

[@jimthain8777]

@@PBFoote-mo2zr So are things like the war in Ukraine.

[@lorenzoblum868]

@ Jim Thain. Exactly. Btw, the carbon /toxicity boot print of the elephant in the room aka the military industrial complex anybody?

[@Bitchslapper316]

Methane is a greenhouse gas but it's not carbon dioxide so I'm not sure how It's part of the "carbon budget". It also doesn't interact the same as carbon does. Carbon can stay in the atmosphere from anywhere for 300-1000 years while methane stays for 9 years.

[@lorenzoblum868]

@@Bitchslapper316 you can find many papers explaining this if you Google "is methane a more dangerous greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide"

[@ingGmoPs]

About being too alarmist, or not enough, its the same as after a pandemic: at the moment, it always seem as too much, but after it, it will always looks like anything was enough

[@SekiLapse]

Bruh

[@francescocornaggia9560]

Very IPCC view according to me. The earth is not only threatened by CHG increase and all the associated but not fully considered effects (aka ocean acidification, over the chart temperature increase and de oxigenation) but by an increasing environent degradation by forever chemicals, overfishing, land overuse, forest degradation and so on. We are assisting to the sixt mass extintion and we still give messages of hope like in this video! As a geologist I can assure you that in 4.5 billions of years we have never assisted to physical and biological degradation like the one we are causing now in just 100 year. How we can ;limit our scenarios to 2100? where we will be let us say in 2500 if we do not deeply change our attitude of over using our planet?

[@karlwheatley1244]

Great post.

[@Don-lw8ly]

Maiya you are awesome! I think that we have already baked in too much heating. The climate systems that drive the climate are changing faster all the time and the resulting disruption to ecosystems are irreversible. Humans will be lucky if there is not a complete collapse of society. So sorry.

[@maiyamay_]

Oh trust me, I definitely believe the outcome isn’t going to be a good one! This data is just… interesting. We get a lot of criticism in these comment sections about us being one-sided, doom & gloom, alarmists, spreading propaganda etc. So I feel like a more optimistic climate piece was needed. We can highlight this data and still push for climate policy. Both can totally be true!

[@raoulluijten5972]

@@maiyamay_ Fair point, however, the optimism should be in the right direction, energy (renewables, decentralized if possible and insulation), transport (not cars, nor electric cars but public transport), diet (plant based), consumption (buy less, buy better) and legislation (more not less). Whereas the video was focussed mainly on feel-good low impact progress such as electric cars. Also the climate crisis is already a reality and many non global north countries are fucked as we speak.. Good intentions and I appreciate the angle, but the execution is still a bit off! Let´s go! we need you now.

[@LovelyArte]

I am 15 years old and can't help but be so scared about this. It keeps me up at night and eats at me. I do all I can to reduce, recycle, and reuse. Is there any hope for the future at all?

[@kaytobe]

Great video Maiya. Most of the comments here suggest we are not alarmist enough. I think the question is… what attitude or approach will actually get us to act? Doomsday doesn’t actually motivate a lot of people. But “everything is fine” certainly isn’t helping. We haven’t won the war, even if we won the apocalypse battle. And I’m concerned that the real issue is none of these models include a holistic picture of ecosystems. Even so-called tipping points don’t well incorporate the idea that the threats are multiple - climate change, biodiversity and habitat loss, erosion, pollution of water/air/soil and the limited supply of some materials that we depend upon. The question also isn’t whether “nature” survives, the question is whether ecosystem functions that we rely upon for human civilization survive intact. Right now I’m reading how we are edging closer to Amazon rainforest tipping into savannah. And we also know even if we do make it to 2 C, just that will come with undue pain and loss. 3 C is likely and we aren’t getting the word out about how bad that could be. I would like to see a video addressing Americans specifically the difference between 2 C and 3 C on American lives/economy/democracy (selfish self preservation) and give examples in the major cities of what it might look like under those scenarios and how we can limit it to at least 2C. As someone else said, it’s still a fantasy at the moment but it doesn’t have to be.

[@grischa762]

I find it schocking how little we understand about our ecosystems in general. Most of the science was and is focused on the discovery of things that make money. And that is also how we try to fight the climate crisis aswell. By first trying to find ways to profit financially and if that is not possible then making sure that we hurt our current buisness moddel as little as possible. Even if we change the opinion of the general public there is still the issue that the opinion of the general public does not influence politics very much. There is no correlation between what the poorer 90% of the US population wants and what politcians have actually discussed or implemented in the last 20years. It is a different story for the upper 10%. So we need to fight corporate power and we need a global wealth and power redistribution if we want actual solutions. As long as we have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few people who profit from the status quo nothing will change becuase the people that could change something do not profit from actual change. We need cominity managment of water resources and land because people can actually take pretty good care of commonly owned goods if there is no way they can personally profit from its destruction. Check out the economy of the commons. I think that humans should be capable of enriching the ecosystem instead of destroying it. We have the capabilities. We just have to finally understand that money is just a tool for trade and simply holds no value on its own.

[@deepashtray5605]

As a society we need to drastically change our consumption habits. Until that happens we will continue to face a bleak impoverished future. Next time you walk through a Target, Walmart or any other big retail store look around and consider how much of their inventory will likely not be in the waste stream within 10 years. I'm guessing it's something like 0.5 % at best.

[@jutru8782]

Well said.

[@lorenzoblum868]

Consumerism is trash but let's not forget the elephant in the room aka the military industrial complex...

[@deepashtray5605]

@@lorenzoblum868 Different side of the same coin.

[@lorenzoblum868]

@@deepashtray5605 make unbiased research. You might find one side way too dark to say the least...

[@deepashtray5605]

@@lorenzoblum868 Doesn't excuse the rest of us, though.

[@mochorong]

Amazing! Not a single mention about meat consumption which leads to deforestation and burning of ecosystems! Great job!

[@aarongreer1657]

A great follow up to this might be to look into re-wilding projects. It seems to me that another tool for solving not only climate change but also the pollution and water problem is re-wilding urban areas; cities around the world choosing to reclaim certain areas and building up rather than out. I'm an anthropologist, not a climate scientist, but it seems to me projects like this could be game changers.

[@pbsterra]

Yaaaassss! Totally agreed. We're working on it.

[@aarongreer1657]

@@pbsterra I love it. Y'all are doing great work. Can't wait to watch it.

[@miroslavhoudek7085]

So there's this thing called phase transition. All complicated system are susceptible to hold on for a long time, all the built-in resiliency is helping, subsystem supporting each other. But then it snaps and unravels fairly quickly and quite significantly. We should obviously listen to scientists and not get irrationally alarmed ... but varying research shows that scientists are no better than commoners in resisting biases. And I can see that these scientists are in the "it was fine, it was never not-fine so it's probably gonna be fine" availability bias from quite afar. There's no guarantee that we make it. None whatsoever. Something we don't know about yet can unravel and turn oceans into stinking cyanic soup in short order. No guarantee that we make it whatsoever. Just because it's fine in the movies, just because it was fine for mankind so far - that has no relevance whatsoever that such a complex system is not gonna go "pop" and unravel. We can't predict such unraveling even in much simpler systems that we built ourselves from scratch. How would anyone get a clue what's Earth gonna do?

[@aspenschannel7740]

Ecosci101 taught me this!

[@jimf.2964]

blah blah blah

[@davidsalo8397]

We cannot look to the past to predict our future. We're in uncharted waters, and don't know what "icebergs" we might bump in to. We are on such a trajectory of change right now, in many aspects, the outcomes could really surprise us.

[@xchopp]

" varying research shows that scientists are no better than commoners in resisting biases." Citations, or there's no such research; and scientists are somewhat _uniquely_ trained to avoid bias (as far as possible, no-one's perfect).

[@pendlera2959]

From what I've seen, scientists who study anything to do with nature or the environment seem to be the most concerned about climate change and human-caused environmental damage. Scientists seem to be all but screaming that we won't be fine unless we make massive changes, but the changes are possible. Where do you get the impression that the majority of environmental scientists think we'll be fine if nothing changes?

[@SylvainDuford]

Despite all the electric cars, solar panels, windmills, and 27 COPs, our carbon emissions are still rising. The fact that we're still subsidising the fossil fuel industry to the tunes of trillions is mind-boggling.

[@Unvaccinated69]

Solar panels and windmills are pointless, its nuclear fusion or nothing, and you can't just stop fossil fuels over night do you know how many people would die if that happened?

[@RobertMJohnson]

the fact that you don't understand that fossil fuels are going nowhere is mind-boggling

[@PygmyBeardie]

It's important to remember that we're not the only things living on this planet, and including loss of biodiversity in these predictions is important. Even if people survive, most life dies in these models.

[@Unvaccinated69]

And other life will thrive, there was more carbon in the atmosphere in the past and the planet was much hotter than it is now, it still supported life where it evolved to what we see today

[@RobertMJohnson]

who cares what life dies if we don't die?

[@PygmyBeardie]

@@Unvaccinated69 that's a common line that doesn't actually pan out... Atmospheric co2 hasn't been this high since before flowering plants evolved or the first ape existed. Also, atmospheric co2 has never accrued this quickly, changes of this magnitude take tens of thousands of years. Imagine if you tried to eat all the pizzas you've ever eaten all at once; it's not the same.

[@Unvaccinated69]

@PygmyBeardie to be honest if that's the way you think no wonder you're gullible enough to fall for this shit, please stop pushing this nonsense that will affect everyone with your renewable energy bullshit and zero emissions nonsense, if you're brain equates carbon on the earth to pizza in your stomach then you really have no clue what you're talking about and you'd probably believe any nonsense

[@PygmyBeardie]

@@Unvaccinated69 I actually have a degree in environmental science. :) Shouldn't have expected a rational response from someone named "unvaccinated" though, lol. worthy of note: the guy that came up with the line "carbon levels have been higher in the past" was author of the book Inconvenient Facts: The Science that Al Gore Doesn't Want You to Know, Gregory Wrightstone, who was involved in tobacco PR during the 90s. The book includes this claim and other misleading interpretations of science. You'd love it.

[@hudsonb631]

taking care of/being stewards of the only planet that can support humanity seems like a good idea. Keep it up PBS

[@thalesnemo2841]

Mars or bust ! Humanity has hoisted itself by its petards! The Earth will be fine it’s the people who are screwed!

[@Cybertori]

One of the biggest obstacles I see towards really bending that curve down is "Net Zero". Politicians and corporate business people love to talk about "Net Zero", but it's basically a rhetorical feint to enable *actual* emissions to continue at current or higher levels, as if there are some kind of magical "offsets" that will save us from the consequences. The inconvenient truth is that only getting to *actual* zero fossil fuel emissions will enable the planet to cool to pre-industrial levels. If your eyes are open, at 1.1C we are already in very big trouble, and passing cascading tipping points. Half measures are not going to do it.

[@calliope6623]

Every time I hear about "net zero" or "carbon offsets" now, I think ok, here is a corporation speaking out of its arse.

[@yabeeba_com]

our financial system is based on growth and will collapse without growth. as long as that system is in place, it doesnt matter how much steps we take in the right direction, because that only delays the date of collapse, it does not prevent it from happening.

[@ynAMe6Aj]

Stead state, that is no growth and no collapse is an incredibly unlikely balancing act. Sustainable oscillation is probably achievable but nobody wants to oversee the contractions. It is a hard problem. We'll find out if the term "intelligent" actually applies to us as a species if we crack that nut. Alternative we might have an answer to the Fermi paradox, that being that the implication of intelligence actually existing implicit in the paradox has yet to be established.

[@josephhoward4697]

All growth becomes maintenance, and all maintenance becomes waste. The reason why any system, not just our own, depends on growth. Without growth, the cost of maintenance will catch up and remove all possibility of growth for decades to come. Instead, we’d see decline.

[@CarlosMendoza-p4k]

We need more documentaries like this that make us think practically and creatively about the problem. Consumers need to know what the consequences of paying for one product over another are and we need to know which small changes matter most.

[@northerncoloradotransparen1454]

Animal agriculture does have significant environmental impacts, and many argue that it contributes to environmental degradation and climate change. 1) Greenhouse gas emissions: Animal agriculture is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock production, particularly cattle, produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Additionally, clearing land for grazing or growing animal feed releases carbon dioxide, contributing to deforestation and climate change. 2) Land and water use: Animal agriculture requires vast amounts of land and water. Raising livestock necessitates large areas for grazing or cultivating animal feed crops. This leads to deforestation, habitat loss, and soil degradation. Furthermore, animal agriculture consumes substantial amounts of water for animal hydration and crop irrigation. 3) Water pollution: The concentration of livestock in factory farming operations generates significant amounts of waste. The runoff from these operations can pollute water bodies, contributing to water pollution and eutrophication. 4) Biodiversity loss: The expansion of animal agriculture encroaches on natural habitats, leading to the loss of biodiversity. Deforestation for grazing or feed crop cultivation reduces habitat availability for various plant and animal species, contributing to species extinction. 5) Antibiotic resistance: The routine use of antibiotics in animal agriculture to promote growth and prevent diseases contributes to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This poses risks to human health as well.

[@wiwersewindemer4437]

Considering pretty much all historical forecasts on warming has undershot, by a lot, and that we're heading towards several tipping points which lead to a cascade of worse things? Not alarmist enough, not nearly.

[@life_of_wescott]

Solar might be 90% cheaper in the USA, but in South Africa, for example, the cost of solar panels and batteries has increased by more than 60% in the last few months alone. We need more regulation regarding the price of solar...

[@SoniaRosen-y7n]

I don't get how people are saying the lesson of this video is "Everything will be ok. " They're clearly not saying that. What they're saying is that while we still have a TON of work to do, lots of progress has still been made and that we need to keep fighting for it.

[@DarkPesco]

Do the new projections also take into consideration the ever-growing amounts of methane the thawing artic tundra has begun belching out?

[@float_sam]

Nope.

[@jordanfarr3157]

I just asked this question! I really hope PBS follows up on this because I think it could be *critical*.

[@kimnotkardashian]

Heavy industry, shipping, and aircraft being unsolved areas of climate change vs electricity and transportation is interesting bc it's so behind the scenes that most people don't consider it. i wonder how we can change that?

[@dhindaravrel8712]

Most air travel and a lot of shipping is entirely avoidable. A lot of useless junk or tourists are being transported. Ban it outright, lots of emissions saved immediately. That'll give us more time to de-carbonise what we can't do without.

[@parrsnipps4495]

Hydrogen.

[@death_parade]

Green Hydrogen. Which is where the Indian Billionaire Mukesh Ambani comes in. He just promised $1/kg Green Hydrogen by 2030 and if the Internet Revolution he created in India is anything to go by, it'll happen. Combine that with Japanese technology and Japan-India partnership and commercial shipping might be on the cusp of an EV like transformation.

[@dhindaravrel8712]

@@death_parade That may work, or it may not. But in the meantime, we should still do away with what isn't necessary. Once a carbon-neutral replacement is available, we can still consider what would be nice to have back and where it's better not to get it back, as fuel cost isn't the only issue.

[@death_parade]

@@dhindaravrel8712 Agreed.

[@richardallan2767]

Remember this probably doesn't take into account methane warming, and even if it does, it doesn't take into account abrupt accelerations due to tipping points, because we simply don't know where that all kicks in and how. Recent papers indicate these may not kick in at 3 or 4C as previously thought, but as low as 1.5C

[@Bitchslapper316]

Probably because methane has an average life of 9 years until it's broken down in the atmosphere whereas carbon can stay in the atmosphere for 1000 years.

[@richardallan2767]

@@Bitchslapper316 Yeah, but, ne has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide during that time. I think about 25% of today's global warming is driven by methane and that permafrost is melting.

[@Bitchslapper316]

@@richardallan2767 Yeah I'm just saying it's different and interacts differently in the atmosphere. It's funny how no one is talking about the estimated 500,000 tons of methane released by the nord stream pipeline being exploded. The largest amount of methane ever recorded being released into the atmosphere and crickets. It's also worth noting that in Siberia permafrost is being flamethrowered to get at the ground beneath.

[@leewellstead2305]

We need to do a lot more about eliminating Fossil fuels from the economy. We are not doing enough

[@ZenDude65]

I'm interested in truth, This was pretty fair assessment, The best video I have seen yet on the climate . Hate the doom and gloom people.

[@pbsterra]

Thanks! We appreciate you watching.

[@stevetaxpayer6664]

For the same reason that we haven't figured out how to artificially inseminate a unicorn, we haven't made any progress on climate change.

[@karlwheatley1244]

No, it's for entirely different reasons. There is overwhelming scientific evidence humans are rapidly warming the planet and that rapid warming threatens to make the Earth increasingly unable to support life, including human life.

[@urbpharmer2718]

Apocalyptic is an apt term I believe. Human nature will not allow for a change in behavior before it is way to late.

[@Pecisk]

I think problem is question. Are we too alarmist about the climate? I feel nature will adapt, as it has always done. Question is - are we too alarmist about survival of human race and future of children? Then answer is simply no. With all 'think about children' chatter from right wing politicians, they are surpsingly carte blanche about consequences of today's actions to future world.

[@MontyFly]

I think you are confusing "think of the children" with think about the unborn fetuses they seem to value more than actual living and "breathing" children. Once they are children they lose interest. We are losing species as fast as the last extinction event, I wouldn't be so certain nature will adapt to what humanity leaves in its wake.

[@albertnobbs5049]

Runaway changes like methane releases/snow discolouration and ecological changes can have drastic affects we haven't accounted for yet. Or we have accounted for them and they aren't covered here. Fact is we've done so much damage to so many systems that a cascade failure of parts of our biosphere is more or less imminent.

[@davidsalo8397]

Agree. This video seems to simplify our challenges to a number. While I appreciate the note of optimism, it's a bit naive to think everything will turn out fine if we only think of this very complex world in terms of one or two "accomplishments".

[@andrewsvard9222]

2.5-3C instead of 5C is a huge difference. The scariest prospects to me are not necessarily a warmer or more extreme weather overall, but the tipping points especially AMOC collapse kinda terrifies me. With massive sea level rise, dryer and warmer southern hemisphere, and potential ice age conditions in Northern Europe, Canada etc.

[@DerpDerp3001]

A few differences that you can make: 1. Educate the stubborn politicians. (Keyword: stubborn) 2. Invest in renewable energy stock 3. Buy solar panels. 4. Reduce consumption of waste and meat consumption. 5. Participate in population stability.

[@bryaneberly3588]

this just felt like a lot of copium. we still don't know the effects fully yet.

[@TimNeumann-ge9qk]

The effects are government expansion

[@Tantraloverful]

To the remark on 'wind and solar power 'stations everywhere'- currently solar energy share comprises 4.5% and wind - 7..33% of the global energy production, which means we (all of the countries and all of the global corporations) need to increase the 'green' renewables about 8 times, 800%. which means a heroic behaviour in the face of the colossal challenge...

[@caesarsalad1170]

Nuclear

[@dfresh6059]

Btw, We are ALREADY OVER 2° C since 1750. Baseline has been moved.

[@wampwamp1458]

sauce?

[@timhoeflich270]

I have often had the thought how much better off could the whole world be if all of the money Russia has spent trying to snuff out Ukraine and all of the money the free world has had to spend to help them endure unprovoked aggression had been spent on climate solutions instead. We are all in this together even if we don't think we are.

[@xchopp]

Agreed! A major worry is that our politics will turn so sour, fascistic, and dumbed down that we don't tackle this. Maybe we got lucky over the last decade or so with natural gas replacing coal and less expensive solar, wind, and batteries. What if politicians decide that it's better for them if large fractions of electorates are led to believe it's all a hoax? What if TFG -- or someone as stupid and evil as him, or worse, just as evil but less stupid -- gets back into power in the US? We've got to make it socially unacceptable to believe things on the basis of insufficient evidence, or we're very likely screwed. If we really are that arrogant and stupid, maybe we deserve our fate -- but I place the blame at the door of ideologues (Heartland, Cato et al.), media barons (Murdoch!), and billionaires (Koch Industries!) who don't like the only solutions we have and push false narratives.

[@jthompson6189]

We're all so dead. I still see people say this is not a real issue, like ALOT of people. Human stupidity and greed will be our doom.

[@northerncoloradotransparen1454]

Corporations that caused these problems could help to salvage what humanity has left. However, the greed of man is another issue that needs to change

[@at0mly]

lmao no we're not even close to alarmist enough. building more highways and giving everyone an electric vehicle won't do much of anything to save the climate.

[@danilooliveira6580]

it helps a lot, EVs are a lot more efficient at using energy than ICE. meaning taking that gas and burning it at a very efficient power plant to power a EV releases a lot less CO2 than using it directly to power a ICE vehicle.

[@propellerscience]

Until you're pissed off enough and hungry enough to do whatever needs to be done, nothing will be done.

[@fishnsyd]

This was the best explanation of what RCPs mean that I’ve seen. And I don’t think we’re alarmed enough. We have already seen so many impacts, and we’re only a third of the way to 3° of warming (and that still seems like an optimistic number). I agree with the many comments about unknown tipping points that could be lurking. Just like many of the climate commitments are only on paper, I have equal skepticism for the hopeful notion that we’re aiming toward “just” 3° before having hard evidence for it.

[@Secret_Moon]

I'm at my 30s. And when I thought back of my childhood and compared it to now, with all the heat and storms and unpredictable weather, and then realized the temp has only increased 1 degree, and it's gonna go 2 more, my face got pale.

[@jimf.2964]

bS

[@raoulluijten5972]

The fact that you comment this shows the explanation was inadecuate. The latest IPCC report (2022) has reconfirmed we are super fucked, the only serious non-catastrophic scenario is 1.5C and we are fucking that up since we are already at 1.1C. So we are like 70% into a fullblown shitstorm, should we be positive about progress, yes. But that progress was made because of people like us, not organisations like PBS that are just supporting Business as Usual. Act now: Divest, boycott, change diet, use public transport and stop buying so much shit (the take home message the video should have had).

[@jazziejim]

Not alarmist enough. Tipping points starting already and each year our emissions increase not decrease. Realistic projections are We are headed to 3.

[@NotShowingOff]

You can’t have climate change mitigation in a world with the type of borders we have today.

[@JALNIN66]

Thank you for giving us hope again. I really missed hope.

[@lackofsubtlety6688]

We are still fucked.

[@lorenzoblum868]

Hope is the courtesy of despair... Btw, the carbon /toxicity boot print of military industrial complex anybody?

[@maiyamay_]

Climate optimism is definitely refreshing and needed.

[@raoulluijten5972]

I "hope" you don´t believe we are gonna be ok and actually start doing smt. We need your help to solve this mess, now.

[@mikejettusa]

Personally I think we are not alarmed enough.

[@WFPBFORLIFE]

what still amazes me is the lack of concern for how much damage is caused by animal agriculture. (the leading cause of climate change across the board)

[@icyj99]

Thinking because solar prices are going down means we've avoided the apocalypse is such fantastical thinking it should be criminal to report this way

[@icyj99]

The north western hemisphere has breached 1.5° within the last year since this video was posted, and the emissions haven't peaked theyve been outsourced.

[@bigbadblackbear3031]

Too many people out there resistant to changing our ways. Happens time and time again in history, if you can't adapt to change you lose. And right now, we're all losing.

[@alanbirkner1958]

Yet when I mention we have one small car, seldom eat meat, and make do and mend, people my age (73), think we're nuts. I'll know we're making progress when average home size goes down and so does clothing waste. Tina, Al's wife

[@RosscoAW]

TL;DR: Nobody is addressing the actual problem itself, which is capitalism and the capitalist profit-motive, besides China obviously. Westerners continuing to fantasize about "industry and technology" solving everything continue to be myopically ideologically blinded to the existence of the root problem, which is *why* climate-changing pollution is produced, who benefits from that pollution, and how those same shareholder entities are the ones profiting from the "green transition" as well: the Shareholder/Capitalist Class. Westerners have been thoroughly propagandized into thinking that the same "rational market dynamics" that caused and continue to cause these problems will somehow be responsible for ending the crisis, rather than simply responsible for prolonging the crisis for the sake of maximizing shareholder equity for the capitalist class: after all, "never let a good crisis go to waste; buy when there's blood in the streets" etc capitalist dogma.

[@korpen2858]

It's intresting how people claim the market will solve everything and then claim that governments pressuring the markets to innovate dosen't work.

[@yakwtfgoidgafwabgtsam]

Exactly

[@Jay-ho9io]

Acting like China isn't capitalist ruins some otherwise great points.

[@osmotreno]

The process has already started and cannot be stopped. These predictions of 2-3 degrees are too optimistic. They don't seem to take into account the methane that could be released from the ocean and from thawing permafrost.

[@kevincleveland763]

I question the assertion about 3°, although it's irrelevant because this disaster is mixed even in 2.4° agricultural damage will cause massive famines. In addition, resources are running shorter and shorter, including fish, other food sources, and possible water. The extension of humanity and most other mammals, including marine mammals, seems pretty well assured.

[@mrsun9775]

We are doomed already. Instead of -2° -5° , in my town from Romania, we had +18° . That's a difference of at least 20° and it happens almost on every day . I suppose they hide the truth, because there is a big chance to be same situation as in automobile industry regarding cars emissions.

[@joshwilner5622]

Before watching I'm gonna go w no

[@anthonytimpson4975]

the models keep being shown to not be aggressive enough

[@ceeemm1901]

That's the most rhetorical question ever.....

[@hg6996]

The biggest progress on this topic clearly is with the beauty of the PBS host talking about climate change.

[@hugomarquez3189]

No mention of animal agriculture. We won’t reach any of the goals unless that is addressed, meat and dairy consumption can’t go on as it has.

[@___.51]

Welcome to the world of hopium content, don’t let it sedate you 😕

[@teneb9477]

We are are not alarmed at all. Sixth mass extinction is on the way to success, half of the population live in cities made with articial material and wilderness is pushed every day more far from us: how can we save ecosistems if we forgot what nature is? Insects population is declining worldwide even in "protected" areas. Less insect means less impollination so less food for every creatures(also humans). We think that technology will save us, but nature complexity is beyond our immagination, we are far away from solving problems of human society so how can we even imagine to control the laws of nature? Now it's too late cause we extermined indigenous people all over the world, the only ones who know the right way of living in this planet.

[@jonp8225]

We’re not worried enough, we’re still very close to the brink. One easy change many can make is switching electric providers. In many states, you can choose you supplier and opt for renewables. This is was easier to do than installing solar panels on your home. It puts more demand for green energy into the grid and encourages green energy expansion.

[@warpthumr47]

I don't think we're alarmed enough. I'm turning 60 in September, so I most likely won't still be around when things get really bad (if we don't pull our heads out of our butts in time). I have 4 adult sons who WILL still be here plus nieces & nephews, etc. I wish all of those climate deniers gave a crap about their children & grandchildren having a planet that can continue to sustain life. You'd think the increase in severe weather would be enough of a wake up call, but some people are extremely dense.

[@CMZneu]

2, 5 or 7 degrees warmer is substantial but what most people don't get is that this has happened many times before in earth's history, it is by no means the end of the world because after all the naturals disasters(which honestly don't have as much impact as people would let you to believe) and the climate stabilizes it's simply that, a warmer planet. Very hot places will be more unbearable and cold places will be more tolerable, animal and plant life will adapt, some species will become extinct but most will shift latitude a bit towards the poles. Sure some ecosystems will change, wetlands might dry out and some deserts might become wetlands, etc but life will adapt. The real problem for people that is, it's the world economy, it will get pretty messy. Where one you could grow for example grapes now it might be too hot and vice versa where it was too cold now can grow them, where there once was good fishing now not so much maybe, etc. Many countries will benefit from this for example russia and many won't like mexico. What i want to know is once the world gets extra hot in a hundred years and we have the technology to effectively reverse it by some form of carbon capture, will we? because if we aren't all in accordance some places will like the change and some won't, worst case scenario countries will intentionally release carbon to warm the planet while other will capture carbon, leading to a whole big mess, and if we do come into agreement about what temperature the set the global thermostat what will it be, will it favor global powers, will we chose in relations to landmass percentages in certain latitudes? ... I wonder.

[@bettypearson5570]

One thing no one seems to want to talk about is the earth is continually changing and even if we weren't here that would continue. Years ago when I was in elementary school we studied ice ages One thing that stuck with me was when the teacher explained that we were always either going into or coming out of an ice age. At that time they weren't sure which way we were heading. Yes we do need to be responsible stewards of this planet, but even if somehow everyone on the planet did what they should this planet would continue in the direction of change it is already heading but maybe by 1-2 Degrees. Some of our biggest problems is the so called leaders. How many private jets carrying politicians and celebrities all around the world so they can participate in these forums. I would love for someone to calculate how much they are setting us back with those emissions. What would make sense is if those who are screaming at us about how much damage we are causing by eating meat or driving instead of commuting would have all meetings on climate change to be done online. They talk about the importance of going to electric vehicles which I thought sounded good until I heard about the batteries and the danger to the environment, that they aren't made of renewable products, they are hazardous to the environment and the mining of the needed resources to creat these batteries exploits the poorest of the poor who have to work on hazardous conditions. Plus they limit our ability to move around the country as we wait for them to recharge. Solar cells and wind generation aren't much friendly for the environment. Does that mean I think we should stop all efforts? Absolutely not, but we need to look at more ways to mitigate the damage we cause individually and separate our efforts from government efforts. The only thing government is more successful at then the private sector is war. By putting them in charge of mitigating climate change we are doomed to fail It has been killing me watching California go through it's droughts and whining that they aren't getting enough water sent from other states for their needs while they are drying up lake Mead and lake Powell. No suddenly they have too much rain and they are flooding. Can you imagine how much less flooding there would have been if even a third of the homes in the flooded area had water catchment systems of only 1-5 k gallons. How much would that have lessened some of the flooding and helped prepare for the dry season ahead. Yet all that water runs off creating problems. Big problems but needs small doable solutions by lots of people rather than us paying for all those important people to fly to tourist centers worldwide to be seen as taking care of the climate crisis. °

[@Buckshot99]

Humanity thrives when the temperature is warmer. No one reading this knows what the optimal temperature of the Earth is.

[@dan8375]

I worry most about collapsing agriculture production with persistent and widespread famine

[@geisaune793]

I think you are just alarmed enough. :) I think being too alarmist would risk creating more doomers, and doomerism and hopelessness are entirely unhelpful in solving any problem, especially one as complex as climate change. It's important to know that we definitely haven't done enough, but it's also important to celebrate the progress we have made and use that progress to inspire more progress.

[@joshclark3439]

3 degrees is an apocalypse. What are they talking about?

[@ritagreenwood9397]

I get irked when I hear people talk about the planet we are leaving to our children or future generations. It kind of has the feel of throwing ones hands up in the air and saying 'oh well'! All generations can do something to help now, I'm 48 and not dead, so I want to hear more of what each of us can do that helps, but also, it has to work alongside massive government intervention with the fossil fuel industries.

[@kerstinlyons4812]

Climate Optimist. I have the opportunity to participate in the shift towards a better world.

[@DelusionalDoug]

The “hockey stick graph”, which had been cited by the media frequently as evidence for out-of- control global warming over the past 20 years, is not supported by the current temperature record (Mann, M., Bradley, R. and Hughes, M. 1998). The graph is no longer seen in the print media.

[@ronaldpokatiloff5704]

A computer, outside our universe, fine tuned our planet. But we are ruining it.We need to rewind the program to a safe spot!

[@SuperThischannel]

At our current level of warming, 1.1 C, the days of the coral reefs are numbered. This is a total failure.

[@tesseg]

It's pretty basic to Google a graph of atmospheric co2 concentration over time and see its still at peak, meaning NO progress has been made at all.