Triple jeopardy: Children face dark future of climate disasters

[Stevicus]

Triple jeopardy: Children face dark future of climate disasters (nbcnews.com)

A study shows stark intergenerational inequities across the board, but the researchers say climate change will affect children in developing countries even more acutely.

A child born in 2021 will live on average through seven times as many heat waves, twice as many wildfires and nearly three times as many droughts, crop failures and river floods as their grandparents, according to a study released Sunday that looks at how different generations will be affected by climate change.

The results, published in the journal Science, found that global warming will disproportionately affect the lives of young people and children, particularly when it comes to extreme events worsened by climate change. The research is the first to extensively model extreme events and future climate scenarios and to apply the projections across demographic groups to quantify how people in different age groups around the world will experience climate disasters across their lifetimes.


The outlook is troubling if the pace of global warming continues unchecked, said Wim Thiery, a climate scientist at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium, who led the research.

"We found that everyone under 40 today will live an unprecedented life in terms of their lifetime exposure to heat waves, droughts and floods," Thiery said. "This is true even under the most conservative scenarios."

Wow, according to the article, everyone under 40 today will "live an unprecedented life in terms of their exposure to heat waves, droughts, and floods."

The study shows stark intergenerational inequities across the board, but the researchers said climate change will affect children in developing countries even more acutely. The burden will remain disproportionate even with cuts in greenhouse gas emissions that countries have pledged under the Paris Agreement, a global climate pact signed by more than 190 countries.

With what has currently been pledged, 172 million children in sub-Saharan Africa could live through 50 times more heat waves and a sixfold increase in extreme events over their lifetimes, compared to 53 million children in the same age group in Europe and Central Asia, the researchers said.

While the results are already worrisome, Thiery said it's likely that impacts on people's lives will be even greater than the study estimates. That's because the researchers focused only on the frequency of extreme events, which doesn't take into account how long and severe they are.

Studies have shown that climate change is making events like heat waves, droughts and wildfires not only more likely to occur, but also more intense.

We'll be leaving posterity with quite a mess.

 

[Revoltingest]

We'll be leaving posterity with quite a mess.

I'll wager that they'll continue messing things up.

 

[Stevicus]

I'll wager that they'll continue messing things up.

Well, you never know. Kids may be smarter in the years to come.

In any case, I'm sure the Earth will eventually recover from all of this, but humans may not be around to see it.

 

[The Hammer]

I'll wager that they'll continue messing things up.

You think we're gonna screw it up, as to our own demise?

I sure hope not.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

In any case, I'm sure the Earth will eventually recover from all of this, but humans may not be around to see it.

That's what my money's on.

 

[Revoltingest]

Well, you never know. Kids may be smarter in the years to come.

I doubt it. The only time humans address crises is when
they've already been punched in the snoot. Over-population
will continue long after you & I have merged with the infinite.

In any case, I'm sure the Earth will eventually recover from all of this, but humans may not be around to see it.

Humans will be around.
Like roaches, we're survivors.
Earth just won't be so verdant a place.
More favored critters will be extinctified.
The seas will be emptied of life due to over-fishing.
Land will be covered with buildings & pavement.

 

[Revoltingest]

You think we're gonna screw it up, as to our own demise?

I sure hope not.

I don't see demise.
Just a lower quality of life due to
over-population & degraded environment.

 

[Kooky]

In any case, I'm sure the Earth will eventually recover from all of this, but humans may not be around to see it.

I'm sure there'll be a couple who survive. It's our industrialized civilization we may kiss goodbye in a century or so.

It may well turn out that Marx was right after all: Capitalism eventually leads to either socialism, or barbarism; except Marx was clearly too optimistic in how people would choose between those two options.

 

[Stevicus]

I doubt it. The only time humans address crises is when
they've already been punched in the snoot. Over-population
will continue long after you & I have merged with the infinite.

It usually depends on how the politicians and pundits present it to the public. There have been times when the powers that be have been able to mobilize the public in times of crisis or grave threat (real or imagined).

Humans will be around.
Like roaches, we're survivors.
Earth just won't be so verdant a place.
More favored critters will be extinctified.
The seas will be emptied of life due to over-fishing.
Land will be covered with buildings & pavement.

Well, it's not something that would happen overnight. But as our numbers dwindle and our ability to pollute the world diminishes, the Earth will start to recover.

The article said that in the decades to come, we will certainly see more fires, floods, hurricanes, and other extreme events with greater frequency and intensity. But we'll have diminished capacity for rescue, recovery, and rebuilding.

 

[Revoltingest]

It usually depends on how the politicians and pundits present it to the public. There have been times when the powers that be have been able to mobilize the public in times of crisis or grave threat (real or imagined).



Well, it's not something that would happen overnight. But as our numbers dwindle and our ability to pollute the world diminishes, the Earth will start to recover.

The article said that in the decades to come, we will certainly see more fires, floods, hurricanes, and other extreme events with greater frequency and intensity. But we'll have diminished capacity for rescue, recovery, and rebuilding.

We shall see.

 

[Valjean]

I don't see demise.
Just a lower quality of life due to
over-population & degraded environment.

I see more than just a lower quality of life. We've exceeded the carrying capacity of the planet for some time now, and I anticipate the collapse of one or more of the planet's biological cycles. It's more than just warming; it's desertification and bio- collapse of vital ecosystems; it's billions of eco-refugees.
How will an economically and technologically challenged world deal with billions of starving people fleeing uninhabitable homelands?
How will western Europe deal with a Canadian climate when the Atlantic conveyor circulation (AMOC) shuts down? How will we deal with lowering oxygen levels due to deforestation and oceanic destruction of phytoplankton? What desperate, self-preservation measures will the industrialized countries take?

 

[Twilight Hue]

Triple jeopardy: Children face dark future of climate disasters (nbcnews.com)





Wow, according to the article, everyone under 40 today will "live an unprecedented life in terms of their exposure to heat waves, droughts, and floods."



We'll be leaving posterity with quite a mess.

Don't forget Bidens new quest for the holy grail.

The Democrat gold / platinum card with a wonderfully limitless ceiling.

Future generations can simply use that , and pass it on to the next future generation who will pass it on to the next generation.

Absolutely nothing could ever go wrong.

It's limitless you see.

 

[Valjean]

I'm sure there'll be a couple who survive. It's our industrialized civilization we may kiss goodbye in a century or so.

It may well turn out that Marx was right after all: Capitalism eventually leads to either socialism, or barbarism; except Marx was clearly too optimistic in how people would choose between those two options.

A century or so? I think you're being overly optimistic.

Perhaps the roots of the problem are deeper than economic policies. I'd look to our own psychology. We're not wired for long term planning or life in large, complex civilizations. Motivating people to act beyond their own, immediate concerns is problematic.

 

[Stevicus]

I see more than just a lower quality of life. We've exceeded the carrying capacity of the planet for some time now, and I anticipate the collapse of one or more of the planet's biological cycles. It's more than just warming; it's desertification and bio- collapse of vital ecosystems; it's billions of eco-refugees.
How will an economically and technologically challenged world deal with billions of starving people fleeing uninhabitable homelands?
How will western Europe deal with a Canadian climate when the Atlantic conveyor circulation (AMOC) shuts down? How will we deal with lowering oxygen levels due to deforestation and oceanic destruction of phytoplankton? What desperate, self-preservation measures will the industrialized countries take?

As to the question of how these various governments will deal with and handle this mess, I think they'll handle it very badly. But it's not really any one person's fault.

We should have gotten a wake-up call back in the 60s and 70s. (Well, probably sooner than that, but there was a noticeable push towards environmentalism in those decades.) Like everything else, society seemed to waver on this issue in the years since. We knew what the consequences were back then. Spilled milk now, but I can't help but think that if we had truly gotten serious on environmental issues 50 years ago, it might have softened the blow we're feeling today, which is only going to get worse.

And we are stuck in a bit of a technology trap already.

Maybe some alien race will take pity on us and give us advanced technology to clean up the planet and restore the ecosystem.

 

[Valjean]

Don't forget Bidens new quest for the holy grail.

The Democrat gold / platinum card with a wonderfully limitless ceiling.

Future generations can simply use that , and pass it on to the next future generation who will pass it on to the next generation.

Absolutely nothing could ever go wrong.

It's limitless you see.

Is it spending, or investment?
Didn't we spend our way out of the Great depression? Didn't our postwar investment in the G-I Bill or interstate highway system not only pull the country out of it's massive war debt, but pay huge dividends in the long run?
Social and infrastructure spending creates both jobs and profits, if you're willing to look beyond the next couple quarters.

"Democrat gold/platinum card?" You might want to review Wanniski's two Santa Clause theory:
How the GOP Used a Two Santa Clauses Tactic to Con America for Nearly 40 Years

 

[Valjean]

As to the question of how these various governments will deal with and handle this mess, I think they'll handle it very badly. But it's not really any one person's fault.

We should have gotten a wake-up call back in the 60s and 70s. (Well, probably sooner than that, but there was a noticeable push towards environmentalism in those decades.) Like everything else, society seemed to waver on this issue in the years since. We knew what the consequences were back then. Spilled milk now, but I can't help but think that if we had truly gotten serious on environmental issues 50 years ago, it might have softened the blow we're feeling today, which is only going to get worse.

And we are stuck in a bit of a technology trap already.

Maybe some alien race will take pity on us and give us advanced technology to clean up the planet and restore the ecosystem.

I'm hoping for a visit from Klaatu and Gort.

 

[Kooky]

A century or so? I think you're being overly optimistic.

I probably am.

 

[Secret Chief]

What desperate, self-preservation measures will the industrialized countries take?

I think we all know the three letter answer to that one.

 

[Kooky]

Humans will be around.
Like roaches, we're survivors..

So what you're saying is that in cold climates, humans would die in droves without central heating.
Because, y'know, that's what happens with roaches - they can't handle the cold at all.

 

[Revoltingest]

I see more than just a lower quality of life. We've exceeded the carrying capacity of the planet for some time now, and I anticipate the collapse of one or more of the planet's biological cycles. It's more than just warming; it's desertification and bio- collapse of vital ecosystems; it's billions of eco-refugees.
How will an economically and technologically challenged world deal with billions of starving people fleeing uninhabitable homelands?
How will western Europe deal with a Canadian climate when the Atlantic conveyor circulation (AMOC) shuts down? How will we deal with lowering oxygen levels due to deforestation and oceanic destruction of phytoplankton? What desperate, self-preservation measures will the industrialized countries take?

I agree about the specific degradation.

In the news....
U.S. to declare 23 species, including ivory-billed woodpecker, extinct - media