16 votes

2019 Annual Letter from Bill & Melinda Gates: "We didn’t see this coming"

3 comments

  1. [3]
    asoftbird
    Link
    What surprised me last and this year is how fast climate change is taking effect. Or, at least, how sudden it's so noticeable.

    What surprised me last and this year is how fast climate change is taking effect. Or, at least, how sudden it's so noticeable.

    7 votes
    1. [2]
      cfabbro
      Link Parent
      Let's just hope all the predictions of (and evidence pointing towards) potential total ecosystem collapse from the food chain failing at the base level due to the insect populations disappearing,...

      Let's just hope all the predictions of (and evidence pointing towards) potential total ecosystem collapse from the food chain failing at the base level due to the insect populations disappearing, ocean acidification wiping out huge swaths of the phytoplankton population, etc. don't come to pass any time soon... or the effect will probably be similarly sudden but significantly more devastating to us all. :/

      7 votes
      1. asoftbird
        Link Parent
        Last year's summer was hotter than anything we've ever had before. The Netherlands, usually a place with too much water, suddenly had drought issues. It didn't rain for weeks on end, temperatures...

        Last year's summer was hotter than anything we've ever had before. The Netherlands, usually a place with too much water, suddenly had drought issues. It didn't rain for weeks on end, temperatures reaching 41ºC at most. Up to the point where forests were crispy dry, like a blistering hot desert of dead wood and fallen brown leaves. A lot of plants died, and forecasts aren't too great for spring, where they might not develop properly.
        We even had some (thankfully small) forest fires.

        I've never experienced anything like that, I think the same goes for most of the rest of the country's inhabitants.
        And it wouldn't surprise me if this year would be similar. I worry for the future.

        6 votes