How worried should we as Canadians be about climate change?

[Denscity]

I can't wait to eat local olives!

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

Yes they are.

Link please.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Link please.

Call me cynical but I know human nature. If you think the World is going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, you are in for a very unpleasant surprise.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

Call me cynical but I know human nature. If you think the World is going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, you are in for a very unpleasant surprise.

Your self-declared expertise in human nature is not a link. Nobody with any scientific credibility is predicting that “massively populated regions of the US” will be uninhabitable.

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Your self-declared expertise in human nature is not a link. Nobody with any scientific credibility is predicting that “massively populated regions of the US” will be uninhabitable.

Keep living in denial if it suits you.

[TorontoDrew]

• Video Link

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

• Video Link

Climate change will completely erase all of Florida? Bring it!

[TorontoDrew]

And D.C

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

• Video Link

Thanks for posting this. 2'000,000,000 displaced people. In perspective that is 400x the people displaced in Syria.

[acottawa]

Again, nobody is predicting all of the ice will melt. The high estimates for sea level rise are less than 1 m by 2100. 1m of sea level rise will inconvenience a lot of people, but it will not bring about the apocalypse.

[TorontoDrew]

Not Canada but the message holds ture here. Ontario's last election was proof of it.

• Video Link

[TorontoDrew]

Just swap out Trump with Ford, and that is how his supporters think about the environment.

• Video Link

[Doug]

I'm more worried about misguided and disingenuous climate change activism than climate change itself. Climate change is a convenient justification for expanded government scope, wealth transfer and decreased accountability as progress is difficult to measure.

Government action cannot address climate change. While carbon taxation would be the best academic solution, it would fail for numerous regions:
-governments can't help but play favorites, excepting some groups while unduly punishing others. A CO2 molecule need be taxed the same no matter it's source or impact to a group
-governments will never align carbon taxation regimes, creating arbitrage opportunities. Targeting oil and gas production in one region, for example, incents it in another
-carbon taxes are unpopular, pushing governments to rebate at least some of the revenue back. Rebates work counter to discouraging consumption through higher prices

[CityTech]

Ideally: A global carbon tax, imposed by a international organization. It can use the proceeds firstly to manage itself, secondly to enforce its tax, and thirdly for mitigation measures (disaster relief, seawalls, etc.)

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Doug

I'm more worried about misguided and disingenuous climate change activism than climate change itself. Climate change is a convenient justification for expanded government scope, wealth transfer and decreased accountability as progress is difficult to measure.

Government action cannot address climate change. While carbon taxation would be the best academic solution, it would fail for numerous regions:
-governments can't help but play favorites, excepting some groups while unduly punishing others. A CO2 molecule need be taxed the same no matter it's source or impact to a group
-governments will never align carbon taxation regimes, creating arbitrage opportunities. Targeting oil and gas production in one region, for example, incents it in another
-carbon taxes are unpopular, pushing governments to rebate at least some of the revenue back. Rebates work counter to discouraging consumption through higher prices

A typically Albertan response: do nothing.

If governments can't do anything, who can? Are you suggesting businesses will?

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by whatnext

A typically Albertan response: do nothing.

If governments can't do anything, who can? Are you suggesting businesses will?

Typical Lower Mainland BC response. Talk down to Alberta but enjoy the 100000 people in your province working in the oil and gas industry seasonally out of province since it's more profitable than logging and forestry in your own province.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by CityTech

Ideally: A global carbon tax, imposed by a international organization. It can use the proceeds firstly to manage itself, secondly to enforce its tax, and thirdly for mitigation measures (disaster relief, seawalls, etc.)

That’s a nice idea, but there is zero possibility major emitters like the US, China and Russia would ever agree.

[Hackslack]

We put a man on the moon in the sixties.

We landed a prob that travelled 6.4 billion kilometers over 10 years and landed on a comit ... just to learn more about our solar system.

We have a space probe that is now in interstellar space, having been launched in the 70s.

We can now detect gravitational waves from merging black holes millions of light years away.

I am pretty comfortable in saying that peoplekind have enough ingenuity to solve the problem of climate change, not just a f’n tax that is actually just wealth redistribution that will actually entice people to buy more things... unless of course those people just leave that cash under their pillow or buy trees to plant.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by whatnext

If governments can't do anything, who can? Are you suggesting businesses will?

Absolutely. The business opportunities are massive.
To date, the greatest innovation to combat climate change has been shale gas.

Government only impedes innovation. Besides adaptation, all government could do would be to reduce its own footprint by downsizing, or reducing immigration. Neither of those are politically feasible

[Jets4Life]

Originally Posted by acottawa

That’s a nice idea, but there is zero possibility major emitters like the US, China and Russia would ever agree.

This is precisely why the World is screwed. Nearly half the World's population lives in India and China, and they are determined to get their piece of the cake. China is now the leader of CO2 emissions, replacing the USA. Whatever Canada decides, it will be negligible. With 36.5 million people, we make up less than 0.5% of the population.