Global averages are not the same as the temperature you are feeling right now. If that global average rises doesn't mean that your local temperature will rise that amount over what it used to be the same day 100 years ago. You should see it as the increase of the energy of the climate system, that will bring more extreme weather events (even cold ones) and reaching new peaks.
Think in the increase of surface sea temperature from https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/ that we are seeing today, that would be equivalent to maybe millions of times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb (to put it easier to understand terms). It is not that the planet heated that amount suddenly in the last few months, but that the extra heat we've been receiving and keeping all this years has been circulating through the system, something is being emitted back, some may had hit saturation points, and some positive feedback loops probably has been triggered.
And those feedback loops with their corresponding tipping points are the reason why we drew the line in 1.5ºC. Not because your thermostat would be 1.5ºC higher, but because by then the system may reach a stage where things will increasingly worsen a lot by themselves, even without our action.
Extreme weather events, not really a big deal. More rain, more snow, hurricanes aren’t a big deal if buildings are built up to code.
Crops dying could be a problem, except are crops really exposed to enough heat during the day that will kill them off entirely? Surely the night will provide cooler temperatures. Won’t some crops develop heat resistance? Can’t we change the times of year in which we plant and harvest?
The oceans dying and becoming devoid of life sucks, but aside from a lack of sea food what does it mean for humans? The ocean isn’t a place most of us will spend much time visiting, if at all. Maybe kelp farms will thrive.
Trying to find some hope in a world that will refuse to change its behavior.
Things won't stop changing, and they will do that for worse. That is the scary part of feedback loops, is easy to get exponential. We have feedback loops that increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (and don't forget that water vapor is one of the most powerful) and so increasing how much heat Earth retains, and and feedback loops that increase warming (like less albedo because less ice). And hitting tipping points mean that things will go irreversibly in that direction after hitting them.
At some point we will reach runaway climate change, and it will be game over.
Comments
Global averages are not the same as the temperature you are feeling right now. If that global average rises doesn't mean that your local temperature will rise that amount over what it used to be the same day 100 years ago. You should see it as the increase of the energy of the climate system, that will bring more extreme weather events (even cold ones) and reaching new peaks.
Think in the increase of surface sea temperature from https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/ that we are seeing today, that would be equivalent to maybe millions of times the energy of the Hiroshima bomb (to put it easier to understand terms). It is not that the planet heated that amount suddenly in the last few months, but that the extra heat we've been receiving and keeping all this years has been circulating through the system, something is being emitted back, some may had hit saturation points, and some positive feedback loops probably has been triggered.
And those feedback loops with their corresponding tipping points are the reason why we drew the line in 1.5ºC. Not because your thermostat would be 1.5ºC higher, but because by then the system may reach a stage where things will increasingly worsen a lot by themselves, even without our action.
But what is the human impact?
Extreme weather events, not really a big deal. More rain, more snow, hurricanes aren’t a big deal if buildings are built up to code.
Crops dying could be a problem, except are crops really exposed to enough heat during the day that will kill them off entirely? Surely the night will provide cooler temperatures. Won’t some crops develop heat resistance? Can’t we change the times of year in which we plant and harvest?
The oceans dying and becoming devoid of life sucks, but aside from a lack of sea food what does it mean for humans? The ocean isn’t a place most of us will spend much time visiting, if at all. Maybe kelp farms will thrive.
Trying to find some hope in a world that will refuse to change its behavior.
Things won't stop changing, and they will do that for worse. That is the scary part of feedback loops, is easy to get exponential. We have feedback loops that increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (and don't forget that water vapor is one of the most powerful) and so increasing how much heat Earth retains, and and feedback loops that increase warming (like less albedo because less ice). And hitting tipping points mean that things will go irreversibly in that direction after hitting them.
At some point we will reach runaway climate change, and it will be game over.