The news is that the state of a crucial oceanic circulation system has been reassessed by scientists. Some now believe that, as a result of climate breakdown changing the temperature and salinity of seawater, it is more likely than not to collapse. This system – known as the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) – delivers heat from the tropics to the North Atlantic.

Even when the countervailing effects of generalised global heating are taken into account, a further paper proposes, the net impact in northern Europe would be periods of extreme cold – including events in which temperatures in London fall to -19C, in Edinburgh to -30C and in Oslo to -48C.

A billionaire death cult has its fingers around humanity’s throat. It both causes and downplays our existential crisis. The oligarchs are not just a class enemy but, as they have always been, a societal enemy: a few thousand people can destroy civilisations. It’s the billions v the billionaires, and the stakes could not possibly be higher.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Collapse of Atlantic Ocean circulation? People have been talking about that for decades. It was even the subject of a big budget (but mostly terrible) movie called “The Day After Tomorrow” (2004 - 22 years ago).

    Really only notable for the scene where people were debating if it was OK to burn books in a library to keep from freezing:

    https://youtu.be/nucU0V44zUY

    • punksnotdead@slrpnk.net
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      8 days ago

      Burning books isn’t okay! Not because of their worth as passers of knowledge but because burning paper to stay warm is crap.

      If anyone ever finds themselves in a similar situation, burn the furniture, not the books. Large amounts of paper are more likely to smother your fire in ash, and then put it out, than keep you warm.

      • Riskable@programming.dev
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        8 days ago

        Not to mention that in a post-apocalyptic scenario, furniture would be plentiful while books would succumb to the elements pretty fast (once the air conditioning turns off).

        Also, the amount of energy required to make usable furniture is a fraction of the amount of making paper. Paper can be made from the byproduct of furniture-making but it still requires pressing, drying, and suitable inks require (minor) chemical processing. You can use soot and honey (aka lampblack ink) but it’s way more involved than drilling some holes in some wood and then hammering legs into said holes (the simplest form of “furniture”).

  • plyth@feddit.org
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    9 days ago

    Brilliant. The cooling for the AI datacenters is secured by burning fossil fuels.