Post #4297577

2026-08-01 01:11 UTC

This needs to be said in a loop until it sticks. "What people are not getting is that we can’t turn this back – the CO2 to a large part remains in the air for thousands of years,” said Rahmstorf. “Some people think we can wait and, when it gets too bad, then we reduce emissions and things will get better again. People don’t realise that we can’t make it get better again. We can only prevent it from getting much worse.” - Stefan Rahmstorf, Climatologist. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/30/europe-wildfires-climate-crisis-heat-summer #climate

Replies (7)

@evan@cosocial.ca 2026-08-01 03:20

@JulianOliver@mastodon.social I'm not sure I would say it quite like this, but this is mostly true. A lost species is lost forever, true. Additional GHGs in the atmosphere are not necessarily there forever. We can reach a drawdown point -- where emissions drop and reforestation and other natural sinks start bringing down the GHGs. However, that's decades away; 2026 will be the most reasonable year for climate for another 50 to 75 years.

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@Su_G@aus.social 2026-08-01 06:45

@JulianOliver@mastodon.social Implicit assumption that climate-related systems are linear (because that is how graphs work): they are not. Non-linear systems are those we know & understand least about. Uncharted territory. All assumptions are fantasies. They may be comforting… but they’re still fantasies. 😕 #nonLinearSystems #climateCatastrophe #assumptions #fantasies #unchartedTerritory

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@HunterAnton@mastodon.social 2026-08-01 08:24

@JulianOliver@mastodon.social Absolutely. Methane, however, is also a potent climate gas, but one that doesn't hang around anywhere nearly as long as CO2, breaks down after a decade or so. So methane emissions is one area where reduction *can* reverse some warming effects within a generation. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/methane-emissions-are-driving-climate-change-heres-how-reduce-them Which is not at all to say we should be complacent, or relax about CO2, rather that we need *also* to be phasing out methane where possible too.

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@JohnJBurnsIII@kzoo.to 2026-08-01 01:28

@JulianOliver@mastodon.social Too many folks will wait till they can't breathe well... and will still blame it on other things. ☹️ 😱

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@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai 2026-08-01 01:39

@JulianOliver@mastodon.social Which Is why I’ve been spouting on about for some time now, the we had all better make sure our communities can sustain themselves independent of a global supply chain. The global economy and its infrastructure is unfit to survive this level of global temperature. You could build a bridge, but it won’t be useful for very long. Walkable communities, restoring the local water basin and integrating into it is what remains for us to rely on, if we are smart enough to do so

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@pi_tinkerer_101@mastodon.buzz 2026-08-01 01:54

@JulianOliver@mastodon.social Aye, meticulously put. Climate don't reset like a game save. Irreversible consequences ain't a bug, they're a feature of the unfriendly environment we've built. (Side-eye emoji GIF on standby for when someone says 'We'll fix it later' trope kicks in.)

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@ArrowbearMoore@toad.social 2026-08-01 01:57

@JulianOliver@mastodon.social Pretty much what David Suzuki says - “We have failed to shift the narrative and we are still caught up in the same legal, economic and political systems,... If we pass one (planetary) boundary, we should be shitting our pants. We’ve passed seven!” But he’s still fighting to slow down the decline. #Environment #ClimateChange https://allthingsunionbay.com/2025/07/06/its-too-late-david-suzuki-says-the-fight-against-climate-change-is-lost/

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