Profile pic is from Jason Box, depicting a projection of Arctic warming to the year 2100 based on current trends.

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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: March 3rd, 2024

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  • From a science pov it makes sense that it’s something to pursue, even as just a renewable biofuel. Algae grows fast, it’s where oil comes from, it’s a biological “fix”. It’s perfect. Except it didn’t work nearly as well as hoped.

    I looked into it a long time ago as a “solution” to how to best pull carbon of out the air and sequester it. Algae farms over deep water areas, grown and culled and the dead carbon sunk deep to stay out of the loop. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?

    But in both scenarios there are so many costs and variables to consider that are left out when proponents are selling it. Some are just the “forgotten” costs of running a process that pollutes on their own and take energy (that requires emissions too). Some are effects outside the process that damage the environment in other ways. And the costs and effects of feeding the algae itself, it just won’t grow in a vat of water alone. So many things that change the net result. And with the case for fuel (which doesn’t lock the carbon away so it’s not a help to existing carbon in the air) assuming the fuel percentage per weight would be high enough to justify the rest of the costs. Which Exxon figured out it was not, while selling it as a miracle.














  • The first Earth Day was in 1970. It might have been too late even back then to avoid any consequences because nature had been absorbing what we had already done for a long time, but it sure would have helped to slam on the brakes. We should absolutely keep trying to get those brakes pressed, but it’s debatable if we’re already over the cliff.

    You’re not a doomer if you’re seeing all the evidence and putting it together. You’re a realist. The label “doomer” is just reactionary from those who want to keep the status quo and don’t like people pointing out reality.





  • You’ll know. When her behavior gets to the point where she’s not having good quality of life, if she starts hiding all the time, panicking regularly, or finding dark places to be alone, or grooming/litterbox issues. I think if she just has bouts of memory loss but they return and she’s happy, it’s not time yet. I’ve been “fortunate” with my pets in that whatever the issue was, each time it became obvious very quickly and made the decision easy (but still hard to deal with, it always is).