this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2023
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For the ability to produce enough food. It's not the tax that's the issue it's that the climate will make industrial food production unviable. We will rapidly exit the conditions that underpin the viability of the modern economy. The only work of value will be making food and related tools in a volatile climatic environment. The bill will not be payable in money, is my point. That is, a tax will be woefully inadequate.
Certainly, it will be really "interesting" how to produce food for ~10 billion people in this uncertain future. But if we finally learn to accept that e.g. cattle isn't the way forward, I think it may be possible with plant-based food. Although something like vertical farming etc. is definitely not viable today, it may be in the future. And at least currently it's totally possible to sustainably produce enough (plant-based) food. I think we'll learn to adapt, that much I trust in agricultural-technological advancement etc. But it will be "meaty" for most people and conflicts will arise (as they already are, see e.g. the conflict in Sudan that is indirectly related to climate change already, similarly as Syria previously (there were quite a few droughts the years before))
The odds that the adaption is rapid and doesn't cause extreme changes in the daily conditions of everyone are vanishing.
Absolutely, and it's astonishing, that still so few people see how "deep in shit" we already are, and I really hope that very soon ( < 5 years or so) a lot more people through whatever means will start to see that. But I think it's not a good idea to go into the doomsday mood, I don't think that helps either (individually, say depression etc. inability for action). But yeah it's depressing how little this topic is still relevant in politics etc. and how little the scientific community is/was heard, that is telling us that we need to change like > 70 years ago (and a very soft transition would've been possible since than, not so much now unfortunately, whether we do it, or nature does it...).
I guess it's less doom and more, you can just use an ev, and magically, it's all ok. It will take significant social and economic changes that will radically alter how people in the first world live.