

Mysterious Siberian crater attributed to methane - Happer
http://www.nature.com/news/mysterious-siberian-crater-attributed-to-methane-1.15649

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not_that_noob
Methane from thawing permafrost can act as an accelerant to global warming,
and some models predict an exponential acceleration if this happens. This is
not good news at all.

See [http://motherboard.vice.com/read/if-we-release-a-small-
fract...](http://motherboard.vice.com/read/if-we-release-a-small-fraction-of-
arctic-carbon-were-fucked-climatologist)

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idlewords
The concentration of methane cited is above the lower explosive limit of
methane in air (4.4%). Let's hope no one throws a match down this crater
without filming it.

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CalRobert
I don't see how civilization as it is currently organized on this planet can
exist if climate change accelerates due to positive feedback. It seems
geoengineering, or rather ghoulishly, a massive die off of humans, are the
only possibilities for preventing this. Antibiotic resistance may provide the
latter, but I can hardly countenance it. We really need another planet.

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crpatino
And how would that _exactly_ benefit the 6+ billion people in the receiving
end of that cringing events?

Even assuming that a suitable planet is found in a time frame that matters,
and the required space travel technology is developed in a time frame that
matters... how many thousands of people would we be able to send in the
Colonizing ships?

That might save Humanity-the-species... Humanity-the-Actual-population would
remain just as screwed anyways...

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CalRobert
Oh it wouldn't - and I think it's 7+ now too. The vast majority would be
doomed.

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crpatino
Precisely!!!

More over Humanity-the-Species is most likely not at risk anyways. Our
ancestors went through multiple, radical and relatively rapid climate shifts
during the Ice Ages, so a plausible argument can be made that some remnant of
our species will get through the current round no matter what.

If this is the case, deep space travel is at this time a pretty escapist
fantasy. During times of economic expansion it is harmless enough, but right
now it is a dangerous diversion of limited resources. We should be focusing in
two things: Mitigating the worst effects of Climate Weirding in the short term
(specially with an eye towards humanitarian crisis), and Arresting the long
term climate disruption through bioremediation/geoengineering. I am not even
sure which one of those has the most priority.

What is very clear is that building escape probes for the rich and well-
connected to escape all consequences of their own actions ranks pretty low on
the list.

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CalRobert
For what it's worth I think we're largely having an agreement. Ensuring our
planet remains reasonably habitable should be the highest priority. That part
of me which desires to see humanity survive even if we fail in this endeavor
would like to see a backup planet (presumably Mars) at the species' disposal.

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crpatino
Given that Mars would be orders of magnitude harder to terraform than, well...
Terra. Why do we even have to consider it?

There's no plan B. Each of us is part of The Red Thin Line (href =
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Red_Line_%28Battle_of_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Red_Line_%28Battle_of_Balaclava%29)
), whether we like it or not. The only question worth asking is: Am I going to
hold my ground or not?

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dang
Url changed from [http://www.iflscience.com/environment/scientists-think-
they-...](http://www.iflscience.com/environment/scientists-think-they-may-
have-solved-siberian-crater-mystery), which points to this.

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autism_hurts
Nothing to see here folks. Let's just keep on with the status quo, I'm sure we
can build some epic structures to keep the ocean at bay and protect our
coastal cities, keep supply chains moving, etc.

Right?

