Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[PTTG??]

Here's my general source. I checked a few other places but I'd love some contradicting ones.

[Johnfalcon99977]

I believe that the Climate change won't be SO bad, but if we don't take steps to stop it before its too late, it will.

And honestly, the Government and Rich not trying to help is just kind of expected. The rich and powerful are selfish, entitled jerks, a fact that has actually been proven by science, and it would not faze me in the slightest if they decided to grab there own money over the well-being of Humanity. Its one of the reasons that I swear that if I ever win the Lottery, the frist thing i'll do with the money is give it all to charity, even if I hit a jackpot.

[Sir Finkus]

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE UNWILLING TO SAVE THE WORLD BECAUSE OF MONEY!?

*ahem*
yes, governments need to do something about it, and NOW, but they pull out the excuse 'it'll harm our economy!'

there won't be a human race, let alone an economy at this rate, you twats!

Even if every government in the world made reducing carbon emissions their top priority it probably wouldn't help much.  It isn't necessarily a matter of money, but of resources and technology.  I doubt it will be as serious as the op seems to think it will be, but it will be interesting to see what changes.

Frankly, at this point I'd be looking at ways to actively stop the problem.  Maybe some method of pumping some kind of non-toxic particulate matter into the air to block sunlight, that kind of thing.  Of course the danger of something like that is we'll grow to rely on it until the next crisis hits. Human history shows that tends to be how we operate.  As a species, we aren't very good at planning ahead.

[Bauglir]

It worked pretty well when the biggest problem was bears, about which we could do nothing.

[lordcooper]

Basically, we all need to fuck off to a different planet.  Until we mess that one up and move on again, leaving a trail of barren rocks in our wake.  We are the pestilence that was promised.

[Grek]

Geologist chiming in:
I'm not super worried. Climate change is real, and it will occur, but the realistic worst case for climate change is that A] alot of buildings get wrecked all across the globe as sea levels change, rivers shift course, etc. and B] farm subsidies switch over from paying farmers to produce less food to paying them to produce more.

[mainiac]

Geologist chiming in:
I'm not super worried. Climate change is real, and it will occur, but the realistic worst case for climate change is that A] alot of buildings get wrecked all across the globe as sea levels change, rivers shift course, etc. and B] farm subsidies switch over from paying farmers to produce less food to paying them to produce more.

What about the massive distributional effects?  Sustenance farmers in the 3rd world won't starve less because agri-business in the 1st world has  surplus.  It's the 3rd world where this will be felt most strongly.

[Trapezohedron]

I hope to die before a massive tsunami engulfs this island archipelago nation called the Philippines.

[PTTG??]

Well, Tsunamis are one phenomenon not really connected to climate change. Also the Philippines will be one of the places to actually get somewhat more rainfall per year on average. All things considered, while sea level might rise by half a meter or so, they'll be OKish.

[Neonivek]

Oddly enough my knowledge of economics suggests that in a scarcity the price will increase, as price increases supply will increase.

[PTTG??]

Which is why there are now so many Carrier Pigeons, diamonds, and canisters of antimater laying around.

[Bauglir]

Actually that middle one... We can totally make synthetic diamonds, you know that, right?

EDIT: This is such a pointless derail I'm starting here.

[PTTG??]

Small ones. Still not that easy to make nice big jewelry ones.

As for the context of the original question, the point is that there will be an expensive and troubling transition period as people farm more food with less water and worse weather. Food will get more expensive during this time because production can't keep up with demand. With luck, food production will eventually adapt, but prices WILL increase in the meantime.

As for oil, despite the fact that demand will increase over time, the production of it will probably decrease going forward. We've more or less definitely reached peak oil production. If not, it's because the economy died four years ago and producers cut back. There might be a few "production sprints" or something as suppliers put a great deal of stress on mines and refineries, but the oil that's still here will be harder to get to and/or require more refining that previous barrels, and the average annual output as a whole will trend gradually down.

[mainiac]

Oddly enough my knowledge of economics suggests that in a scarcity the price will increase, as price increases supply will increase.

Yes, there will be an adjustment so that we get sufficient food at a higher price equilibrium.  That price equilibrium will probably not be vastly higher either.  But that food will be grown in different places.  How will the poor people in the 3rd world be able to afford that food?  So far the track record of feeding the 3rd world poor with 1st world surpluses does not instill confidence.

[PTTG??]

Maniac, have you met Greatorder before?