this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
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Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics.

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Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.

As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades: Graph of temperature as observed with significant warming, and simulated without added greenhouse gases and other anthropogentic changes, which shows no significant warming

How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world: IPCC AR6 Figure 2 - Thee bar charts: first chart: how much each gas has warmed the world.  About 1C of total warming.  Second chart:  about 1.5C of total warming from well-mixed greenhouse gases, offset by 0.4C of cooling from aerosols and negligible influence from changes to solar output, volcanoes, and internal variability.  Third chart: about 1.25C of warming from CO2, 0.5C from methane, and a bunch more in small quantities from other gases.  About 0.5C of cooling with large error bars from SO2.

Recommended actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the near future:

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I'll note that this is article is concentrated on individual action, not on political action to change policy, which has a far bigger impact than individual action can.

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[–] neanderthal@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (5 children)

As far as individual action:

By far the most effective thing form the least effort is don't waste food. I.e. eat your leftovers and meal plan to reduce waste. It saves time, money and GHG.

The other easy effective thing is eat less beef. It is as simple as getting chicken instead of beef at chipotle or getting a chicken sandwich instead of a cheeseburger at a drive thru. Order online ahead of time so you can save time, money,.and GHG emissions sitting in a drive thru.

[–] thbb@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Also, eating industrial food over organic:

First because, per calorie produced, organic farming emits 12 to 40% more green house gases.
(Depending on the study).
Second, because you'll be less healthy and die sooner.

[–] neanderthal@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I wasn't aware of that. That is bleak.

[–] thbb@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

In general, the price of a good in a competitive market is directly tied to its energy cost (either manual or machine labor), which is itself tied to its carbon footprint. If something is more expensive, it is very likely that its production emitted more GHG, or that you're getting scammed.

As an exemple, beef is more expensive than chicken, which is itself more expensive than vegetables.

That's why the best personal action to save on GHG emissions is still to become poorer/reduce your material comfort. Compensate with richer interactions with others and a sense of community.

[–] neanderthal@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

In general, the price of a good in a competitive market is directly tied to its energy cost

Yes. That is an old idea too. This is why doing things the FIRE movement promotes to save money is also beneficial for the environment.

Check this out:

https://www.madfientist.com/vicki-robin-interview/

Go to the transcript and find the text below and read through it. The whole interview is worth listening to IMO.

"There was a World Commission on Environmental Development"

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