I Don’t Know How to Feel About 2023

So will 2023 be the best it ever was, or the worst it ever got?

I’m in graduate school for carbon management at Colorado state university. I’ve had these exact conversations with my professors and they have the same answer to the optimism/pessimism question. I love the phrase “climate doomerism to climate activism” we can do this

"Human resource use will eventually exceed resource availability, leading to societal collapse, social unrest or population decline."-Wikipedia
IOW
We do not have renewable energy from recycled solar panels and windmills. The blades are epoxy plastic and the panels use up scarce minerals. Mining will grind to a halt. We do not have space colonies to replace those depleted resources.
but don't give up...

In a way, humans are to the earth, the same as what a bacteria or virus is to us. We reproduce uncontrollably, we physically change our host, emit toxic gasses and our host heats up...

This channel is amazing!

June-July was almost an entire month without any rainfall in Denmark and even then 2023 is the year in Danish history with the most rainfall by a pretty large margin

House got washed away from a glacial flood in Alaska at the beginning of August and my next day back at work (I'm a whale watch guide) had someone ask my "opinion" on global warming 😂

A lot changed for me when I realized it isn’t “no pain no gains”, but rather “the person who went through the pain chose to make gains”. Training takes place in the comfort of safety and steps outside the door to face bigger challenges. Don’t give up on yourself. ❤

We will overcome and adapt. Climate change policies do more damage to people and economies than good. We should turn to natural gas and nuclear energy, making them cheaper and more efficient. Many more people worldwide die from the cold than from the heat because they can't properly heat their homes. Fossil fuel is cheap and should be made accessible for third world countries. There are many nuances to this issue thus meaning there is no one right answer to addressing the problem.

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Climate change deniers and corporate greed will kill us all... Happy new year

I love you guys. I want permission to challenge your thinking. I don't think "doomerism" is about the belief that the climate can't be changed for the better. It's about the belief that people can't be changed for the better. You say we need to "flip our mental switches from doomerism to activism," but the idea that the answer is "moar advocacy" hurts. If our only plans rely on an impossible level of consensus, how can good things ever happen? It's time to stop talking about advocacy and start talking about things we can do to improve the environment that don't require changing minds. I'm not talking about recycling and drinking from mushy straws, but plans with real impact that can be accomplished by 20% or less of the population with or without permission and government support. That's a tall order, but it's not impossible if we put our best minds to it NOW. The future is hopeful, but we must change the conversation to get there.

2 degrees or less is still catastrophic and way too low a bar to set

2023 has pretty good. Some challenges here and there but overall positive.

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Here's why you didn't save the planet in 2023

Ev are part of the problem at least until we severe our connections with fossil fuels. All evs are manufactured and shipped all with the help of fossil fuels and even electricity itself is generated by coal.

It is worth noting that while our changes so far are helping, nuclear can fix this. A breeder reactor could be run on our leftover depleted uranium or any number of fuels (thorium, uranium from oceans, separating fuel from "waste spent" fuel, etc. Nuclear is over 1 million times more energy-dense. In a year the world uses just under 14000 million tons of oil equivalent, which means it could run on 14,000 tons of uranium instead. That's about 700 cu meters of it - about 3 large backyard swimming pools worth. Bump it up another 10% and start getting serious about carbon capture too. With no more CO2 being dumped in, removal actually becomes plausible and useful.

I disagree. To avoid the worst requires limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. That won't happen now because of inaction. In my country, climate change has already contributed to deaths and inability to keep up with recovering from the damage. I expect that within a generation, it will lead to societal breakdown.

Great talk, but I would say electric car adoption isn't a great metric for progress, because we should be shifting away from auto centric planning. For those that want to be helpful, when you hear someone talk about electric cars, turn the argument on its side: what about public transit and bicycle lanes? Shifting away from automobiles will have greater impact not only for our climate, but from the standpoint of a healthy urban and social interconnectedness and our collective well-being. There is such thing as viable alternatives to the car, but most Americans don't experience it, and so we have a twisted thought process of what is normal, when automobile dependency is truly insane when you think about it.

This is also at or pretty close to the moment where individual contributions to reversing climate change is at it's strongest. This is a confusing one. In the past measures like taking less showers or recycling aren't meaningful or even a drop in the bucket. Today though we can eat less meat, put solar panels on our roof or get an EV all approachable within middle class incomes. (which are admittedly diminishing). We will need to do things on an individual level AND a collectively policy or regulatory level. We're just past the finger wagging phase of telling people to do things that make no difference as justification for the biggest sources of pollution.

Good job dude!⭐🙂👍

Great video and I appreciate the focus on optimism, but there is very much a sense in which our models have consistently underpredicted the amount of warming we are currently seeing. Any conversation that doesn't acknowledge that both as scientific fact and as a call to accelerate current efforts is missing a large piece of the puzzle. Simply look at the conversation around limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. Before this year, that seemed like a fine goal, but we're now realizing that we've probably already blown past it. That's a very scary place to be in.

The good news about global warming is not so much that it’s not being caused by increasing solar output or any other natural cause, but it is that mankind generally understands that it’s the ‘amplified greenhouse effect’ which is the source of increasing temperatures. With this in mind, it behooves us to rapidly advance and apply our scientific knowledge to the point that burning fossil fuels to produce electricity will become as antiquated as burning whale oil for light.
Quote: “Anxiety must go. It must be replaced by faith and solemn confidence in the outworking of the divine plan.”

You still keep me optimistic Joe. Thank you for everything you do!!

War in Ukraine also has caused several ecological catastrophes, that polluted the air. Russia needs to be stopped

Maybe it's my depression but that didn't uplift me a lot

I believe in climate change. The options that are better for the world and other animals are usually more expensive. Why does nobody ever mention celebs and politicians with their private jets? Makes it seem like it's up to the little people to do the hard work while the rich keep their benefits. It's just with the thousands of people flying everyday, how do we fight the repercussions?

I have to disagree though, that climate doomerism is the main obstacle. Money and capitalism is the main obstacle. The reason things arent getting done isnt because of doomerism or denial - it's because those in power, those with the power, those who are responsible, make money off of continuing to do nothing. Their goal is short term profits, which is why they dont care that everyone will be dead in 100 years. They dont care that people will be dead as a result of the increased heating in 20, 15, 10 years even. The long term isnt their concern. The only way we do what is necessary to stave off the worst of what is to come, or even reverse it, is by not only eradicating capitalism and consumerism, but getting rid of the concept of money itself. It is going to take A LOT of people to perform the labor necessary to do everything that has to be done, people that are otherwise going to be in retail or manufacturing jobs, office jobs, etc., unless we eliminate consumerism. People must have their food, clothing, transport, shelter, and communication guaranteed if they are going to leave these jobs to do the required work, and guaranteeing that across the board, will itself collapse capitalism. The problem is that if we dont, too much time will be spent deliberating how much this work should be compensated. Meanwhile, whatever the number, the whole time work is being done, capitalists will still be ever increasing the costs of goods and services. I've run the numbers. If we guarantee everyone that needs to work, which will probably be a bit more than half the human population - 6 billion people, between $25-30 USD an hour, which is what all wages should be minimum in accordance with inflation, for 12 hours every single day - then we would run out of all forms of currency and assets in less than 2 years, which totals $1.54Q USD. A year of wages under this framework would be $788T USD. That means liquidating all assets and stocks and companies. Again, effectively ending capitalism regardless.

Oh, no! Time to freak out and get depressed about something I have zero chance of changing.

so, first i want to say i work in nature and i wantg to make a chance, but i dont think saying we have electric cars and having solar pannels or windmills so we are doing good is the right anwser. the production and the winning of the materials and transport is so damn bad. solarpannels are good for 5 years. windmills are burried in fields here bc they cant be used after 10 yesr and the materials cant be reused. the production and insane transport of electric cars is so bad for nature. i dont think there is a future for gasses and stuff but this aind the way either

My biggest problem is that the people telling me to stop eating meat and to walk to work are jet setting around the world in their airplanes, driving convoys of cars and live in their 8 Million dollar homes. If these people do not understand this yet "Americans don't want to be told what they have to do by people that aren't doing it themselves!"

I mean, it is kind of Like Taking a Hockey Stick to the face.
However, I do not understand how people could not see the tactics behind those who are attempting to keep polluting. The truth is, a Business does not and never will care about you. That's why we have to make them, we can't just give in to their BS because it makes them a few extra bucks on the millions and billions they already have.
The fact that I knew all this growing up in the 90's still makes me wonder how we allow for politicians and people to be bought out by the problematic polluters/polluter supporters.
I think of 2023 like every year, I did my best to do as much right as a could and will keep trying to do better cause it's all I can do.

We haven't done enough yet because of Capitalism. Going renewable and eco-friendly is bad for oil and gas companies and the politicians they've bribed. The government (U.S.) doesn't actually care about us except for what money we can make them. They're rich, they can pretty much escape the effects of climate change. They don't care what happens to the rest of us. CEOs, Billionaires, Millionaires, aren't going to suddenly grow a conscience anytime soon. I agree we should do anything we can, it's just that the people in power are actively slowing us down for their own selfish benefit and the system is so corrupt that not every vote counts and we have to vote for the least bad option instead of an actual good option because there are no good options. And even if there are people running who act like good options now, they could just be liars as soon as they actually get elected. Peaceful protest isn't going to cut it, but the people can't physically overpower the governments forces. That leaves us stuck. And many people don't even have the time or energy to be able to help because they're burnt out from living pay check to pay check. I know doomerism doesn't help anything, but what I've said is just the truth, and the truth us depressing. We don't have enough power to stop climate change. How can we be optimistic against such impossible odds?

I think it boggles the mind that there are actual human beings...actual organizations....with the stated goal of making sure we don't do anything about climate change.

Human beings who are actively conspiring to bring about our extinction so they can make some more money right now.

That is some supervillain kind of bullshit.

I grew up watching TV shows like 'Captain Planet' and 'Seaburt' (The one with the baby seal that goes out to protect endangered animals). I remember thinking even back then that those villains couldn't be like actual people. Throughout my life, those villains were often cited as an example of so evil, that it defies all reason. Unrealistic like 'running the oil tanker into the beach just to teach the baby seals a lesson' kind of evil villainy. It's so ridiculous that it's a meme.

Except...those TV shows were made by those same villains in an attempt to shape climate activism into something toothless by focusing on 'personal responsibility' and bad apples and anything to make people think systemic change is unnecessary.

It's insane.

The shows were right about the villains all along. It turns out that that part was the most realistic part of the whole damn show!

Seaburt especially would focus on the hunters that kill endangered species, not on the markets that incentivize people who don't have many opportunities to make a decent life for themselves to do so.


So we live in a world where supervillains are sitting in board rooms, funding think tanks to figure out how to wipe out the human race.....and no one is trying to throw them in prison, drag them into the square to a waiting guillotine, or forming a justice league to fight them.

It's a sad state of affairs.

This is worse than what most scientists predicted.

Yeah, start from USA/China CO2 emission limits.Then tell ppl to stop using plastic bags/straws.

I am not a climate doomer because the technology and science are inadequate to fight/reverse it, I am a doomer because I don't believe our deeply entrenched politics and especially corporations are willing to change fast enough to match the science. I am proven correct by the fact we have known this was going to happen for 130 YEARS!!! but greed has kept us moving the same direction to the inevitable change to our planet making human life impossible.

Limit population growth. Wait, can't do that. Can't curb greed and selfishness.

I excited that solar and wind power are the cheapest form of electricity production. The grid is getting greener every day.

Cycles. Everything runs in cycles. Anything else is control.

Common sense prevails every time.

This is a great video

Can't help thinking, "thank Heavens it's Christmas!" cause I love you to bits, and my oh my! "You look as skinny as I did, when I was really unhappy! Treat yourself to a little climate sin, now that it's Christmas 🐷 it'll give you strength to fight on 💪❤️🤗

2023 year of dice and crack pipes

"Climate scientist" gets funded for this common story, and zero of it works towards solutions to reduce emissions and extract CO2 and the like. They are just alarmists, but not solutionists, so expect them to remain hysterical rather than productive.

I and millions of other folks pay some form of eco taxes for each watt of any form of energy used. Every single factory has strict filters and renewable or nuclear power is everywhere yet we are still not slowing down on that graph ... Why does it have zero effect ?

It's surprising that you haven't even mentioned transitioning to a more plant centric diet as one concrete action each of us can make to help the planet and us at the same time.
Forget about buying electric cars. Keep ur old one. Change it when u really need to change it. Focus on eating plants more and less animal products. If u can afford it get solar panels and ditch fossil fuels in ur home. Use public transport more. Compost as much as possible and fix/recycle more. But eating more plants and less aninals is the cheapest and more effective way to help climate change, at least that's what science says as of now and we can do it without waitng for policy changes or new products.

I have always really had a distaste for the idea that we should have a goal of keeping temps below 1.5 degrees C. To think that we can do that is ridiculous. Now, not only have we already hit 1.5 degrees C, midway through Nov. we hit a whopping 2 degrees C. We shouldnt have a "temperature goal" because everything will then be based around micromanaging the temperature. The goal should be to flat out decarbonize fully, not net zero, and then to build carbon capture infrastructure to take the CO2 in the atmosphere out. Focusing on keeping things below this temperature or that temperature is nothing more than a distraction, especially since thus far our temp goals that have been set have been unattainable even before they were set.