Climate in the 21st Century

Will Humankind see the 22nd Century?

  • Not a fucking chance

    Votes: 44 28.0%
  • Maybe. if we get our act together

    Votes: 41 26.1%
  • Yes, we will survive

    Votes: 72 45.9%

  • Total voters
    157

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Too much radiation to content with unless shielded by a big chunk of rock. I assume people will be living Flintstone like on mars or underground. Maybe brief contracts to do the mining but I doubt people can be exposed for years to the extraterrestrial hazards.
I imagine deep-space communities will shelter behind at least a meter of vacuum-cast nickel-iron.

That will also protect against “coarse radiation” like space grit smaller than a centimeter. We’ll detect the bigger stuff in time to dodge or zap it.

A double hull with a large gap filled with foamed silicates can handle pretty big impingers. The outer hull will be holed, but brittle foam can consume a considerable amount of shock energy.

I ramble.
 

printer

Well-Known Member
I imagine deep-space communities will shelter behind at least a meter of vacuum-cast nickel-iron.

That will also protect against “coarse radiation” like space grit smaller than a centimeter. We’ll detect the bigger stuff in time to dodge or zap it.

A double hull with a large gap filled with foamed silicates can handle pretty big impingers. The outer hull will be holed, but brittle foam can consume a considerable amount of shock energy.

I ramble.
Was thinking more along the lines of sub-atomic particles from the sun and outside our solar system. The problem with using a big chunk of mass to shield against them is that you have to use up fuel moving the mass around. Tanks of water will help, still an issue though. More wave related harm from the Sun while particles from outside the solar system are high speed protons. They can be travelling close to the speed of light, the energy of a proton can have the energy of a baseball off the crack of a bat (most energetic proton detected).
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Are you subbing for DIY?
I don't think so as that article is on topic as it relates to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions which will help improve our climate in the 21st century.

I believe I've mentioned quite a while back about tapping into the caldera at the super-volcano in Yellowstone to produce enough power to eliminate fossil fuel electric generation in the US altogether. Also reduce the need to build more nuclear power plants with all the risks connected to that.

Could even remove more dams to help restore our failing salmon populations which would suit me just fine. :)

:peace:
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Are you subbing for DIY? ;)



The reason the depths are hot is because rock is a pretty good insulator. It will be interesting to see what the Bavarian project’s “available power half-life” will be. The equilibrium when the boreholes have made thick shells of cooled rock around themselves probably will be too low in power to support pumping.

As an extreme extrapolation, if this tech takes off and we pull terawatts out of the continental crust over generations, we might discover that cooling large parts of that crustal rock has unintended consequences. Global Warming might be joined by the calamity of Crustal Cooling.

One scenario I find only mildly fantastic would be that chilling the rock in seismic regions might temporarily freeze major quake activity. The strain will still accumulate, so when it finally breaks it’ll be a doozy.
Considering the immense volume of the molten earth's core and the depths this method extracts it's heat from I doubt that will be much of a concern but I haven't run the numbers. ;)

Advances in fusion tech will hopefully eliminate the need for extensive thermal installations within this century.

I can envision a time when due to our effective methods of eliminating the greenhouse effect we'll be looking for ways to prevent excess cooling of our planet leading to another ice age.

Could get rid of all those ugly wind towers too. There is discussion and plans to set those things up in our area and I do not want one of those erected in the large field beside my place which could happen. About 10 years ago surveyors were out in that field looking to put an oil well smack in the middle of my unobstructed view to the west. Luckily the farmer that owns it didn't want that crap in the middle of his field so it never went ahead. Bad enough that there's a gas plant less than a mile to the east that pollutes my night sky as it is.

Maybe some cooling of the caldera at Yellowstone will prevent it's eventual eruption which would devastate the lower 48 and quite likely large sections of Canada depending on the way the wind is blowing when it does happen.

:peace:
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
I thought of the rock cooling and it may cause quakes. Same as fracking, who would have thought it would cause them? Maybe it will get us until fusion is viable.
Fracking is done at much shallower depths tho. There have been minor quakes not far south of us due to fracking raising concerns in the area. There are hundreds if not thousands of of capped gas wells all over northern Alberta because they are too remote to tie into a pipeline network. If there was a cost effective way of getting that gas to market they wouldn't need to do any fracking at all.

Fingers crossed for fusion tech to make a breakthrough. That really seems like the way to get enough clean, cheap power for our foreseeable future needs. I likely won't see it in my remaining lifetime but would be nice to see it coming for my grandkids and their future descendants.

:peace:
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Was thinking more along the lines of sub-atomic particles from the sun and outside our solar system. The problem with using a big chunk of mass to shield against them is that you have to use up fuel moving the mass around. Tanks of water will help, still an issue though. More wave related harm from the Sun while particles from outside the solar system are high speed protons. They can be travelling close to the speed of light, the energy of a proton can have the energy of a baseball off the crack of a bat (most energetic proton detected).
That meter of metal provides almost as much protection against those as our atmosphere.

As for the cost of moving it around, that is a dealbreaker with chemical and most electrical propulsion technologies we currently have or can reasonably extrapolate. I figure fusion would eventually be a game changer.

I remember reading about the OMG particle! If one such hit the current station, it could conceivably hole it. Thicker metal would probably have a small but visible crater put in it, with a minuscule amount of energy penetrating as gamma rays and maybe some neutrons.

I do wonder what astrophysical process can produce such a screamer.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Considering the immense volume of the molten earth's core and the depths this method extracts it's heat from I doubt that will be much of a concern but I haven't run the numbers. ;)

Advances in fusion tech will hopefully eliminate the need for extensive thermal installations within this century.

I can envision a time when due to our effective methods of eliminating the greenhouse effect we'll be looking for ways to prevent excess cooling of our planet leading to another ice age.

Could get rid of all those ugly wind towers too. There is discussion and plans to set those things up in our area and I do not want one of those erected in the large field beside my place which could happen. About 10 years ago surveyors were out in that field looking to put an oil well smack in the middle of my unobstructed view to the west. Luckily the farmer that owns it didn't want that crap in the middle of his field so it never went ahead. Bad enough that there's a gas plant less than a mile to the east that pollutes my night sky as it is.

Maybe some cooling of the caldera at Yellowstone will prevent it's eventual eruption which would devastate the lower 48 and quite likely large sections of Canada depending on the way the wind is blowing when it does happen.

:peace:
I sorta like the Yellowstone idea! We just have to survive that first hole.

Campi Flegrei next if we don’t have an unplanned excursion in Wyoming. ;)
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Campi Flegrei next if we don’t have an unplanned excursion in Wyoming
That one is showing signs of a rude awakening in the not distant future and could have a devastating effect if it lets go. Any of the dozen or so super volcanoes on the planet could alter our climate to such an extent that efforts to restrict global warming will be moot for some time and may be eliminated altogether due to the reduction in earth's human population.

As horrible as it is to contemplate the most effective way to get our planet back to a more natural state is to greatly reduce the amount of people living on it. At least if it's a natural calamity we won't have to carry the burden of blame for messing it up ourselves. ;)

:peace:
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
That one is showing signs of a rude awakening in the not distant future and could have a devastating effect if it lets go. Any of the dozen or so super volcanoes on the planet could alter our climate to such an extent that efforts to restrict global warming will be moot for some time and may be eliminated altogether due to the reduction in earth's human population.

As horrible as it is to contemplate the most effective way to get our planet back to a more natural state is to greatly reduce the amount of people living on it. At least if it's a natural calamity we won't have to carry the burden of blame for messing it up ourselves. ;)

:peace:
The one bummer will be that the religious, specifically chiliasts, will ride it like they stole it.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
One beef I have is the cherry-picked ‘93 Mini Cooper. It weighed 635 kg because, as a 60s design, it had none of the safety and durability features that cars made today must have in a G7 nation.

I briefly and expensively lived in a place where walking and taking the metro was practical if I didn’t mind walking 3-5 miles to do the errands.*
However grocery shopping or visiting anywhere not in the metro map required a car. And taxis are shockingly expensive so not an option.

Many of the other points are better made.

*Now I live more cheaply and not in a city, where housing is priced out of the reach of all but salaried professionals. The car is a necessity, especially since the nearest grocery is 20 minutes away.
 

Nugnewbie

Well-Known Member
One beef I have is the cherry-picked ‘93 Mini Cooper. It weighed 635 kg because, as a 60s design, it had none of the safety and durability features that cars made today must have in a G7 nation.

I briefly and expensively lived in a place where walking and taking the metro was practical if I didn’t mind walking 3-5 miles to do the errands.*
However grocery shopping or visiting anywhere not in the metro map required a car. And taxis are shockingly expensive so not an option.

Many of the other points are better made.

*Now I live more cheaply and not in a city, where housing is priced out of the reach of all but salaried professionals. The car is a necessity, especially since the nearest grocery is 20 minutes away.
Transportation along with everything else has become increasingly expensive. But, it's a trend really with seemingly no end in sight. Taxis are regulated up the ying yang and is one major reason they are expensive. Fuel, repairs, have become far more expensive. Governments have allowed rideshare while stifling taxis with regulations. Billionaires hired lobbyists and convinced governments to allow the far less regulated rideshare companies to thrive. Taxi companies are REQUIRED to have a physical building for dispatch. City government sets what fares could be, UNTIL rideshare came along with predatory pricing, then they said you can lower the price of a taxi, but the regulation just costs taxi companies more.

It doesn't matter, we're fucked anyway as few with money and power seem overly interested in fixing the climate issue. Just look at COP28 with all the oil company people making the decisions. I finally placed my vote of whether we'll see the 22nd century. Not a fucking chance.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Transportation along with everything else has become increasingly expensive. But, it's a trend really with seemingly no end in sight. Taxis are regulated up the ying yang and is one major reason they are expensive. Fuel, repairs, have become far more expensive. Governments have allowed rideshare while stifling taxis with regulations. Billionaires hired lobbyists and convinced governments to allow the far less regulated rideshare companies to thrive. Taxi companies are REQUIRED to have a physical building for dispatch. City government sets what fares could be, UNTIL rideshare came along with predatory pricing, then they said you can lower the price of a taxi, but the regulation just costs taxi companies more.

It doesn't matter, we're fucked anyway as few with money and power seem overly interested in fixing the climate issue. Just look at COP28 with all the oil company people making the decisions. I finally placed my vote of whether we'll see the 22nd century. Not a fucking chance.
Locally not many real taxis. I was thinking Uber, which if I wanted to get a nice four-bone prime rib at the local grocer … the $60 ride would double the price.

As for Copout28 … part of the steady drizzle of corruption that’s a consequence of “free market” pseudolibertarian claptrap. :(
 

Grandpapy

Well-Known Member

View attachment 5350915
Thanks, it was interesting hole.

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