this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2024
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New Zealand's glaciers shrinking faster, scientist warns (phys.org)
submitted 8 months ago by hanrahan@slrpnk.net to c/newzealand
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We flew to the southern-most glaciers, ones that we've not seen since 2018," said Lorrey on the back of this year's trip.

"One is now two thirds of the size it was on our last visit," he added.

The institute said that New Zealand had experienced seven of its hottest years on record over the past decade.

Even if this trend was to be reversed, Lorrey said that many glaciers were too far gone to be saved.

"Even if we got a few cooler seasons, they wouldn't be enough to undo the damage that's already been done," he said.

"That's how stark it is, and it's not just happening in New Zealand but all over the world."

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[–] Dave 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's a good question. My guess is that money will be driven to things that mitigate the effects of climate change (better cooling and insulation for houses, mass hydroponic buildings for crops, meat alternatives that can be grown in a factory), and poorer countries will see mass famine. Richer countries will start to send aid but it will be too little too late.

The other day there was that post about CFCs and how the whole world acted together to ban them and now the ozone layer is healing, and there was conversation about how the world acted swiftly and there was no leader-level denial. But I think a big difference here is that there was a single, known cause, and it had known alternatives that didn't involve anyone making big changes. Climate change is caused by a number of factors that interact with each other in ways it's hard for a layperson to understand ("why is it extra cold, I thought there was supposed to be global warming"), and there's no clear path to leading the same lifestyle without climate change.

I have near-zero faith that change will happen fast enough to mitigate the effects.

[–] NoRamyunForYou 2 points 8 months ago

Yeah, realistically I don't see enough change happening to mitigate everything.

Add in the fact that a lot of politics around the world seems to be adamant on speeding Climate Change, sometimes I get into mini spirals thinking about potential flow on effects and how it would impact our society, and our family etc.