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FreyrPrime t1_jbpp22m wrote

Reply to comment by jetstobrazil in La Niña, which worsens Atlantic hurricanes and Western droughts, is gone by LifeTableWithChairs

Weather would have to become pretty apocalyptic on a pretty frequent scale to really decimate trade.. I'm not saying we wouldn't see a slow down, or enhanced costs, but a complete collapse of global trade? That feels like a stretch.

Trade routes connecting much of the world have existed for thousands of years, during times when the means to traverse such distances was fraught with peril.

I think our technology is gonna be a pretty enormous mitigating factor too, especially as we continue to creep towards more and more automation.

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jetstobrazil t1_jbpwi01 wrote

A big part of the reason weather is predictable now is because of the reliability of the jet stream and Gulf Stream, which are both weakening due to climate change. Once these are sufficiently weakened, predictability of weather patterns critical for travel through air or weather will absolutely be affected enough to all but halt these methods of travel, unless we innovate or begin delivering in subs.

It’s hard to tell how quickly all of this will happen of course and to what degree it will affect us when, but my own personal belief is that with every study seeming to underestimate the effects, it doesn’t seem far enough off to not plan for.

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FreyrPrime t1_jbpxj31 wrote

Yeah, the Jet and Gulf streams are serious causes for concerns, and would absolutely play havoc with the world that we know.

I'm just of the opinion that our technology will insulate us against the worst of it. I could easily be wrong, in fact history says I likely will be.

We've experienced collapses in civilization and 'dark ages' because of climate change at least once before, the Bronze Age.

I think our current civilization is both more resilient than ancient cultures, and at the same time much more fragile. Our technology should make it considerably more difficult to experience a significant collapse, but once it starts I think we we would be much worse off than previous civilizations.

Billions would die from stuff we take for granted on a daily basis.

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jetstobrazil t1_jbq0g19 wrote

I mean you have a point.it’s now literally impossible to grasp the achievements we will be capable of soon, even with this early success of ai. Sufficiently capable ai could present opportunities once thought impossible and we will be able to build things far beyond our current abilities.

I suppose I’ll wait and see how things shake out

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