2016 hottest year ever recorded – and scientists say human activity to blame | Hacker News Reader

2016 hottest year ever recorded – and scientists say human activity to blame

theguardian.com

20 pointsj4mie6 comments

If "climate change" (really anthropogenic global warming) needs to be mitigated, a large scale rollout of nuclear power generation is needed. Natural gas is better than coal, but still results in plenty of CO2 entering the atmosphere.

Solar and wind are fine, but they are not a replacement for 24/7 reliable power. They also don't adequately address the requirement for more power over time, for instance to charge the larger numbers of electric cars projected.

Advanced nuclear provides an avenue to cheap, clean, plentiful power. It would also avoid penalizing developing nations that are still in the process of industrializing and would like to use coal - India for instance.

One company innovating in this area is Thorcon Power: http://thorconpower.com

Live near work. Ride a bicycle or take public transport. Don't fly. Eat less meat.

Those _can_ make significant impacts http://withouthotair.com/c2/page_22.shtml

Or we can just keep on keeping on.

These types of articles are so depressing to read; I feel so powerless. I can take public transport, recycle, and some day buy an electric car/solar panels when I have enough money, but there's no way these behaviors can make a significant impact.

I believe others who have studied the problem more than I suggest that the bigger impacts include: 1. Quit eating beef. 2. Stay off of airplanes. 3. Have as few children as you can get away with, preferably none.

Building that electric car and those solar panels seem to have a positive impact eventually, but you're still requesting that someone manufacture something. Driving the car you've already got until the wheels fall off is probably the better choice.

Thank you for the advice. Do you have a source for that or any further reading I can do?

Here is one: http://sustainability.stackexchange.com/a/2736

tl;dr: upgrading to a newer car with better efficiency saves about 10% in lifetime carbon footprint, vs 25% that is used pre-purchase. This is ICE, but I would guess the manufacture and disposal footprint of an electric is even higher.

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