Recent comments in /f/nottheonion

Eberid t1_j46vbx1 wrote

Okay, to explain how.

Wind - Unfortunately, one of the effects of climate change is that wind patterns will shift. And, in fact, already are; this is what is causing Europe's energy shortage and forcing Germany to build more coal power plants. Effectively, this means the vast majority, if not all, of existing wind turbines are built in the wrong locations for both the short and long term. Notably, the only way they are disruptive is if you build massively more than needed for power generation in one area, so ignore that conspiracy theory.

Solar - Increased amount of water in the oceans is projected to cause increased volcanic eruptions, which are projected to increase the amount of silicates in the air... which will, in turn, decrease solar panel efficiency. Meaning we're currently building solar power plants for efficiency scales that will simply not be true when we need them the most. Oh, and then there is their contribution to the heat island effect and how that disrupts climate, but that's a different nightmare.

Water - Hydroelectric is problematic without climate change as a factor. It's becoming even more problematic as climate change impacts water supplies and lowers rivers and lakes. Pretty much, if it relies on water, we should be trying to reduce it as much as possible right now.

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willstr1 t1_j46rrl0 wrote

It makes a good off beat story. No national news should be making it front page (unless maybe if it was a news agency focused on LGBTQ+ politics) but it makes for a fun paragraph to fill a gap in a page halfway through a paper, mainly just so some cub reporter has an excuse to come up with some good James Bond (007) jokes

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Omegalazarus t1_j46rc5x wrote

Your point about pursuing a trade or other technical is good, but I think you're giving not enough credit to normal colleges.

Elon musk has an arts degree. I'm not using his name as some sort of "he's a genius". I'm just letting you know that his degree is highly technical, but it's also an arts degree and not a science degree. Technically it has a lot of science base.

When I went to school I got all the way to my last 12 credit hours and I had a choice between chemistry and political science. I chose political science as a bachelor of science degree. I can go to any other school I want to and do a single year come out with a chemistry degree.

A lot of college is what you make it and you can take your core credits any way you want. If you choose to do what I did and take most of your core credits in physics and calculus, then you can come out of it with a very strong basis for a stem degree. If however, you choose to go in and do most of your core credits in literature and history then yeah you're going to have a hard time transitioning to stem after that.

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Eberid t1_j46q4wg wrote

There was a serious proposal to do exactly that back in the early 2000s.

The proposal is based on the fact that more rapid heating, with all of the increased water vapor in the air, will result in an ice age setting in sooner than natural. The goal is to cause that to start as soon as possible, then use the ice age to fix our reliance upon fossil fuels without worries about the long-term effects of too much heat.

Strangely enough, it's still a viable solution. Just, well... it should be obvious why no one is considering it.

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