Welcome to Atheist Discussion, a new community created by former members of The Thinking Atheist forum.

Thread Rating:
  • 1 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Climate Change

Climate Change
(09-28-2021, 08:35 PM)KevinM1 Wrote: Good on her for choosing JavaScript at the start.  I wish I focused more on it, but in my day the web was essentially PHP on the back end, with JS primarily used for simple Web 2.0 (remember when that was new and exciting?) AJAX stuff.

PHP really seems like it's taken a backseat over the last 5-6 years.  A lot of it is either WordPress (yuck) or maintenance work.
That is my impression of PHP also.

I have been strictly a back-end guy in recent years with C# as my primary language but have of late gotten back into some front-end coding in what can best described as something that once was pre-MVC ASP.NET and now has a bunch of very idiosyncratic and proprietary JavaScript and XML slathered over the top of it with jQuery and occasionally Knockout in the mix. And I am just now starting to maintain a micro services hub, which is where everything on the back end seems to be heading, whether it makes sense or not. And on the side, I have had to maintain an ancient app written in, of all things, Scheme.

As long as the work environment and team and their expectations are reasonable, I don't really care (much) what the language is. Once you've learned 3 or 4, additional ones aren't a big deal. In fact, to me, learning the tooling and ecosystem are more of a PITA than languages. It's why I've stuck with the Microsoft stack for the most part. Though I have been kicking the tires of Elixir and the Erlang runtime of late, as I think it's a more comprehensive solution for multitasking than Microsoft's F#.
The following 1 user Likes mordant's post:
  • KevinM1
Reply

Climate Change
(09-30-2021, 10:46 AM)Vera Wrote: A friend posted this (I avoid The Graud as much as I can, even though this is actually not written by them)

Joe Manchin, America’s climate decider-in-chief, is a coal baron

"Joe Manchin has never been this famous. People around the world now know that the West Virginia Democrat is the essential 50th vote in the US Senate that president Joe Biden needs to pass his agenda into law. That includes Biden’s climate agenda. Which doesn’t bode well for defusing the climate emergency, given Manchin’s longstanding opposition to ambitious climate action.

It turns out that the Senator wielding this awesome power – America’s climate decider-in-chief, one might call him – has a massive climate conflict of interest. Joe Manchin, investigative journalism has revealed, is a modern-day coal baron.

Financial records detailed by reporter Alex Kotch for the Center for Media and Democracy and published in the Guardian show that Manchin makes roughly half a million dollars a year in dividends from millions of dollars of coal company stock he owns. The stock is held in Enersystems, Inc, a company Manchin started in 1988 and later gave to his son, Joseph, to run.

The idea of eliminating fossil fuels is “very, very disturbing”, Manchin said in July when specifics of Biden’s climate agenda surfaced. Behind the scenes, Manchin reportedly has objected to Biden’s plan to penalize electric utilities that don’t quit coal as fast as science dictates.

[...]

Apparently keen to delay a vote on the bill – but not on the bipartisan infrastructure bill containing billions in subsidies for climate harming programs like making hydrogen from methane – Manchin asked on CNN, “What is the urgency?” of passing the larger bill. Like ExxonMobil, the senator appears to have jettisoned outright climate denial in favor of its more presentable, but no less lethal, cousin: climate delay."
One must always follow the money. Journalism that doesn't ask the question, "who pays these guys to do this crap?" are missing the point.
The following 3 users Like mordant's post:
  • Inkubus, Bucky Ball, KevinM1
Reply

Climate Change
Humans don't possess the intellectual capacity to manage their own population let alone deal with climate change
 All I know is that I know nothing
Reply

Climate Change
(10-03-2021, 07:03 PM)Antonio Wrote: Humans don't possess the intellectual capacity to manage their own population let alone deal with climate change

...which is why we rely on experts, and which is also why so many of us are too ill-informed to understand who the experts really are.
Reply

Climate Change
(10-03-2021, 08:05 PM)Alan V Wrote:
(10-03-2021, 07:03 PM)Antonio Wrote: Humans don't possess the intellectual capacity to manage their own population let alone deal with climate change

...which is why we rely on experts, and which is also why so many of us are too ill-informed to understand who the experts really are.

These experts are humans right
 All I know is that I know nothing
Reply

Climate Change
(10-03-2021, 08:40 PM)Antonio Wrote:
(10-03-2021, 08:05 PM)Alan V Wrote:
(10-03-2021, 07:03 PM)Antonio Wrote: Humans don't possess the intellectual capacity to manage their own population let alone deal with climate change

...which is why we rely on experts, and which is also why so many of us are too ill-informed to understand who the experts really are.

These experts are humans right?

Scientists to be specific, whose studies are evidence-based and qualified by probabilities, and who go through the standard peer-review processes.
Reply

Climate Change
Then I guess humans have everything under control
 All I know is that I know nothing
The following 1 user Likes Antonio's post:
  • mordant
Reply

Climate Change
It looks as though recycling/reclamation is a major problem with electric vehicle batteries.

It’s time to get serious about recycling lithium-ion batteries.

In Australia, only 2–3% of Li-ion batteries are collected and sent offshore for recycling, according
to an environmental scientist at Australia’s CSIRO. The recycling rates in the European Union and
the US—less than 5%—aren’t much higher.

Because the Li-ion battery industry lacks a clear path to large-scale economical recycling, battery
researchers and manufacturers have traditionally not focussed on improving recyclability.  Instead,
they've worked to lower costs and increase battery longevity and charge capacity. And because
researchers have made only modest progress improving recyclability, relatively few Li-ion batteries
end up being recycled.

According to the CSIRO report, 50% of the world’s production of cobalt comes from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and is tied to armed conflict, illegal mining, human rights abuses, and harmful
environmental practices.

And 11 million tonnes of Li-ion batteries are expected to reach the end of their service life by 2030.

—At least, at my age, I won't be adding anything to that quantity.     Chuckle
I'm a creationist;   I believe that man created God.
The following 2 users Like SYZ's post:
  • Alan V, Antonio
Reply

Climate Change
Humans have a long history of shitting in their drinking water
 All I know is that I know nothing
Reply

Climate Change
(10-03-2021, 09:13 PM)Antonio Wrote: Then I guess humans have everything under control

You obviously think people are unable to deal with climate change.  I disagree.  We are able to do so in my opinion.  The question is whether we will or not.
The following 1 user Likes Alan V's post:
  • Cavebear
Reply

Climate Change
(10-04-2021, 05:31 PM)Alan V Wrote:
(10-03-2021, 09:13 PM)Antonio Wrote: Then I guess humans have everything under control

You obviously think people are unable to deal with climate change.  I disagree.  We are able to do so in my opinion.  The question is whether we will or not.

I agree we will. But it is gonna be costly. And harsh...
Never try to catch a dropped kitchen knife!
The following 1 user Likes Cavebear's post:
  • Alan V
Reply

Climate Change
(10-04-2021, 06:09 PM)Cavebear Wrote: I agree we will.  But it is gonna be costly.  And harsh...

But less costly and harsh than the alternatives. The problem right now is that we seem to want the people of the future pay for our own mistakes. They won't think well of us if we do so.
The following 1 user Likes Alan V's post:
  • Cavebear
Reply

Climate Change
And too late
 All I know is that I know nothing
The following 1 user Likes Antonio's post:
  • Cavebear
Reply

Climate Change
(10-04-2021, 06:40 PM)Alan V Wrote:
(10-04-2021, 06:09 PM)Cavebear Wrote: I agree we will.  But it is gonna be costly.  And harsh...

But less costly and harsh than the alternatives.  The problem right now is that we seem to want the people of the future pay for our own mistakes.  They won't think well of us if we do so.

Yes, and we have always sent the problems of the present into the future. But there comes a time when we can't. The bill is due. A demand is here in our own lifetimes, so no more kicking the bucket down the road.
Never try to catch a dropped kitchen knife!
Reply

Climate Change
(10-04-2021, 06:58 PM)Antonio Wrote: And too late

Late, but not "too late".  This a problem we can solve in our own time if we have the will do do it.
Never try to catch a dropped kitchen knife!
The following 1 user Likes Cavebear's post:
  • Antonio
Reply

Climate Change
How many years will it take to decide who's going to pay for it
 All I know is that I know nothing
The following 1 user Likes Antonio's post:
  • Cavebear
Reply

Climate Change
(10-04-2021, 07:42 PM)Antonio Wrote: How many years will it take to decide who's going to pay for it

Starting now. Raise my taxes for that specific purpose...
Never try to catch a dropped kitchen knife!
Reply

Climate Change
(10-04-2021, 07:59 PM)Cavebear Wrote:
(10-04-2021, 07:42 PM)Antonio Wrote: How many years will it take to decide who's going to pay for it

Starting now.  Raise my taxes for that specific purpose...


I'm going to take a wild guess that you're neither a billionaire nor an influential politician . If I'm wrong I apologize . In any case that is a generous gesture
 All I know is that I know nothing
The following 1 user Likes Antonio's post:
  • Cavebear
Reply

Climate Change
(10-04-2021, 08:22 PM)Antonio Wrote:
(10-04-2021, 07:59 PM)Cavebear Wrote:
(10-04-2021, 07:42 PM)Antonio Wrote: How many years will it take to decide who's going to pay for it

Starting now.  Raise my taxes for that specific purpose...


I'm going to take a wild guess that you're neither a billionaire nor an influential politician . If I'm wrong I apologize . In any case that is a generous gesture

You would be correct, but I have taxable assets. If wealthier people than I can stand a better share of support for the rest, I can too.
Never try to catch a dropped kitchen knife!
Reply

Climate Change
Quote:From CNN:

Nearly 200 countries have pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the worst consequences of the climate crisis, but there is still a huge gap between what's been promised and what scientists say is needed, according to a report by the UN Environment Programme.

With just five days left until leaders meet at the UN's COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, dozens of nations have not yet officially updated their pledges to reduce emissions, as they are supposed to do under the rules of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Of the G20 countries, which account for 80% of the world's emissions, only six nations have formally increased their targets. The report also found that six G20 nations, including the United States, never met their old targets. The others were Canada, Australia, Brazil, South Korea and Mexico.

The U.S. shortfall is not surprising, given the Trump presidency.
The following 1 user Likes Alan V's post:
  • GenesisNemesis
Reply

Climate Change
[Image: Screenshot-2021-10-27-at-10-43-26-Fossil...eveals.png]
I'm a creationist;   I believe that man created God.
The following 3 users Like SYZ's post:
  • Alan V, brunumb, GenesisNemesis
Reply

Climate Change
We're fucked.
Reply

Climate Change
Quote:CNN:

Human activity and climate change-fueled disasters have turned 10 of the planet's internationally recognized forests, also known as World Heritage sites, from carbon absorbers into carbon emitters, researchers have found.

The report from UNESCO found these sites can absorb approximately 190 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year -- roughly half the amount of the United Kingdom's annual fossil fuel emissions.

But in the past 20 years, many of these sites showed an increase in emissions, some even exceeded how much carbon they were removing from the atmosphere.

UNESCO researchers said two main factors are causing forests to flip from sinks to sources: climate change-fueled extreme weather events including wildfires, storm and drought; and human land-use pressures such as illegal logging, wood harvesting and agricultural practices such as livestock grazing.
The following 2 users Like Alan V's post:
  • GenesisNemesis, Dānu
Reply

Climate Change
Quote:CNN:

The Biden administration is proposing new rules from a number of federal agencies with the same goal: Slashing planet-warming methane emissions.

At the center of the announcement is a regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency that would push oil and gas companies to more accurately detect, monitor and repair methane leaks from new and existing wells, pipelines and other equipment.

The EPA estimates it would cut 41 million tons of methane emissions from 2023 to 2035 -- more than all the carbon dioxide emitted by all US passenger cars and commercial planes in 2019.

Methane is a greenhouse gas around 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term, and experts have told CNN that reducing methane leaks is among the easiest ways to slow global warming. It is the main component of natural gas, which powers close to 40% of the US electricity sector. It can enter the atmosphere through leaks from oil and natural gas wells, natural gas pipelines and the processing equipment itself. Landfills and agriculture are also a source of methane emissions.
Reply

Climate Change
Although I'm all for green power generation, and the phasing out of
coal-sourced or gas-sourced energy (I favour nuclear) I think this image
which repeatedly appears with media climate change reports actually
does a disservice to the green push—by being a misrepresentation.

[Image: 3626.jpg?width=1020&quality=85&auto=form...140f6e854d]

Of course, what we're seeing here is actually water vapour from the four cooling towers.
In fact, we can't see any pollutants being emitted from the stack in the middle—but
there are in fact invisible toxic gasses emitted; particularly sulphur dioxide (SO2) and
Nitrogen oxides (NOx), and mercury, lead and other heavy metals.

My point is that the image is used merely for dramatic effect, which IMHO is wrong.
It's also been captured in the early morning (looking east) with the site's sodium
vapour lighting adding to the effect.

This brown coal-fired power station is Loy Yang here in Gippsland;  I frequently drive
along that road which actually bisects the the site, with the feed conveyors running under
the road from the adjacent open cut pit.  It currently(!) provides a third of Victoria's
electricity needs.

This pie chart represents Australia's means of electricity generation last year:

[Image: 2016-11-17-fig-1-senate.jpg]

Note our 77% reliance on coal.   Ouch.    Shake
I'm a creationist;   I believe that man created God.
The following 3 users Like SYZ's post:
  • Alan V, Mr Greene, Inkubus
Reply




Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)