This was a problem. We just acted to ban CFCs, which solved the problem. Now the ozone hole is recovering. I wouldn’t say it turned out not to be a problem though. The human race just had the brains and corporation to come together and deal with it.
You missed the point. CFCs were mostly manufactured by a tiny number of manufacturers in a few specific industries. Things like refrigerants, spray cans, etc. Governments could easily regulate the handful of CFC producers. Alternative products were quickly found that didn’t require people to make major changes in their lives.
The climate change problem is a completely different animal. Billions of vehicles and fossil dependent supply chains sustain the lives of most of the human race. It’s taken decades of investment to even develop alternatives for these, let alone completely switching the fleets over. Plus electricity generation. Plus heating. Plus emissions from agriculture and land use. And on and on. Fossil fuels are not just some minor industrial compounds we can phase out and replace. We built an entire civilization around them. And that system is what’s currently keeping everyone alive.
We as a species are nature’s ultimate pyromaniacs, and we’ve been tasked with the problem of solving the global coordination problem of the regulation of fire itself.
Looking at the ozone situation and lamenting we haven’t solved climate change is like someone lamenting they can’t single-handedly take on a million man army, even though their combat prowess was proven when they stepped on an ant.
People just lump both problems into the category of “global environmental issues” and assume they’re even in the same universe of difficulty.
Thats not at all what i meant, and by no means i am belittling the issue. But the dependency is the the point. All official action is actively trying to not improve the situation and just continue running fullspeed against the wall. It is baffling to me how much influence anything fossil fuel related has to convince so many stakeholders to rather burn everything than accept losses. Then again maybe thats just capitalsm at heart.
No idea, just don’t say I am comparing the two as the same. Thanks for the clarification about the CFC producers being small fry, that makes sense. But rejecting the idea of any sort of change in terms of fossil fuels is just fucking stupid, and very common in my experience. And i’m talking about shit like german car producers advocating for their super optimized ICE over shitty woke batteries. Or neglecting the possibility of heating a house without burning shit because infrastructure isn’t in place at this very moment
The ozone layer hole. Managed to barely dodge that one, just to have fossil fuels eat all the climate benefits that brought us.
Dang boomer, prompt said 15 not 50
This was a problem. We just acted to ban CFCs, which solved the problem. Now the ozone hole is recovering. I wouldn’t say it turned out not to be a problem though. The human race just had the brains and corporation to come together and deal with it.
Why does that sound like such an absurd and faraway fantasy nowadays
Because it is I think. Welcome back to the Dark Ages, population: everyone, torches provided, critical thinking not included.
This is like a runner lamenting how they lossed at the Olympics saying, “how could this have happened? I was the star runner of my third grade class!”
It’s more like being frustrated how things can be so fucked up.
You missed the point. CFCs were mostly manufactured by a tiny number of manufacturers in a few specific industries. Things like refrigerants, spray cans, etc. Governments could easily regulate the handful of CFC producers. Alternative products were quickly found that didn’t require people to make major changes in their lives.
The climate change problem is a completely different animal. Billions of vehicles and fossil dependent supply chains sustain the lives of most of the human race. It’s taken decades of investment to even develop alternatives for these, let alone completely switching the fleets over. Plus electricity generation. Plus heating. Plus emissions from agriculture and land use. And on and on. Fossil fuels are not just some minor industrial compounds we can phase out and replace. We built an entire civilization around them. And that system is what’s currently keeping everyone alive.
We as a species are nature’s ultimate pyromaniacs, and we’ve been tasked with the problem of solving the global coordination problem of the regulation of fire itself.
Looking at the ozone situation and lamenting we haven’t solved climate change is like someone lamenting they can’t single-handedly take on a million man army, even though their combat prowess was proven when they stepped on an ant.
People just lump both problems into the category of “global environmental issues” and assume they’re even in the same universe of difficulty.
Thats not at all what i meant, and by no means i am belittling the issue. But the dependency is the the point. All official action is actively trying to not improve the situation and just continue running fullspeed against the wall. It is baffling to me how much influence anything fossil fuel related has to convince so many stakeholders to rather burn everything than accept losses. Then again maybe thats just capitalsm at heart.
No idea, just don’t say I am comparing the two as the same. Thanks for the clarification about the CFC producers being small fry, that makes sense. But rejecting the idea of any sort of change in terms of fossil fuels is just fucking stupid, and very common in my experience. And i’m talking about shit like german car producers advocating for their super optimized ICE over shitty woke batteries. Or neglecting the possibility of heating a house without burning shit because infrastructure isn’t in place at this very moment
And now it’s looking like all the LEO satellites they want to launch will recreate that problem. They all laughed at me when I suggested it.
It’s not out of the woods just yet!