Thread

Climate is accumulating 4 Hiroshima atomic bombs worth of heat per second

60 points · 84 comments · blondie9x

TazeTSchnitzel · 1790689639 · focus · HN ↗
I guess that demonstrates the concept of “a drop in the ocean”, but turning a massacre of civilians into a unit of energy feels crass at best.
1. ygjb · 1790690192 · focus · HN ↗
  To be completely blunt, the humanitarian crisis being caused by runaway fossil fuel use is tantamount to massacre of civilians.
  The death toll from Hiroshima was between 90-160 thousand people. The amount of excess deaths due to heat waves in 2023 was around 178,000. There are projections that the El Nino related heat waves could cause up to half a million, and longer term projections grow to 300,000 a year just from heat in the next few years. Just from heat.
  Add in crop failure, ecosystem collapses, and other unexpected disasters, and it's easy to see why.
  It might be crass, but it's mostly poor people and poor countries that are going to be affected.
  1. prodigycorp · 1790690842 · focus · HN ↗
    This is disrespectful to the people of hiroshima who had to walk ankle deep through blood and bone just to find their family
    ygjb · 1790691278 · focus · HN ↗
    No, it isn't. It's a number, and implying that Japanese people would be more offended by this comparison that to they would be about the long term impacts of climate change on an island nation where up to 65% of the population lives in at risk coastal regions is basically a form of cultural white knighting.
    If I am wrong, I apologize, but politeness and tone policing to shut down discussion of crises is a recurring problem in society.
    scottLobster · 1790691810 · focus · HN ↗
    Yes, because the endless shallow catastrophizing of climate change has been famously effective messaging!
    You cracked the code, let's just try to equate climate change to Hiroshima! That'll convince people!
    sfn42 · 1790693472 · focus · HN ↗
    You can't catastrophize catastrophe.

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