this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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collapse of the old society
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pretending that scientists' warnings and fears are exclusively about how climate change will 'kill all life on the planet' is entirely disingenuous
sure, there was still life after chicxulub. 75% of all species disappeared off the face of the earth, incomprehensible amounts of death and suffering, but there was still life
sure there will probably still be life, and humans, by the time this is done. the earth will be left unrecognisable, we will lose serious parts of global ecosystems, the number of animals going extinct will rise even more, diseases will thrive, food shortages will be everywhere, some cities will become uninhabitable, there will be ridiculous civil unrest, incomprehensible numbers will die
but yeah therell probably be humans left
If things get desperate enough direct conflict between nuclear powers of basic resources like food and water could be a thing as well. Sure, life will survive. Microbes for sure. Abyssal creatures probably won't notice too much of a difference if they aren't oxygen starved before then (not sure about how much of a risk that is)? Some species or plants and animals are hardy enough to survive and some will get lucky.
Exactly. The way we live now is unsustainable, but not for the planet. It's unsustainable for us. When a global ecosystem collapses, a new one will grow in to fill the void. Life abhors a vacuum. Unfortunately for humanity, it also abhors hoarding. Our systems of hoarding will break down and the everyone has the big sad about it. Humanity has had every chance to worry about the bigger picture but has consistently chosen short term profit over longterm sustainability pretty much since we started writing shit down. I just wish we'd be more like the great central American cultures and accidentally leave behind a bunch of bitchin rainforest. Probably more like a bunch of mad max style endless badlands. Great for lizards, not so much the hairless water chimps.
Regular people are not alarmed. They still buy fireworks, go on road trips, and consume like they've been taught their entire lives. The select few that ARE alarmed can't do anything with a system built from the ground up to reward indifference to the environment. You need to worry about your fellow man a lot more than you need to worry about hunger or fire if you are privileged enough to even be a part of this conversation. And that's the whole problem. Humanity, as a species, is violent, duplicitous, and primarily motivated by self enrichment. The best thing we as a species could do for the cosmos is build the machines that will keep us occupied here instead of strip mining the stars. We can't be trusted with not destroying the universe to make the ultimate fidget spinner.