I’m having a hard time contributing anything intellectually interesting. This is emotionally terrifying to me.
What can be said?
simmerup•35m ago
I guess we can hope America starts taking climate change seriously again instead of chasing short term stock market returns
codyb•31m ago
Stand up, fight back now... gotta save democracy first sadly. What a thorn in my side it has been to trade one existential crises for humanity for a government that seems actively opposed to doing a god damn thing about it
sys32768•30m ago
And China too with its ~30-31% of world CO2.
John23832•20m ago
China is leading the world in renewable energy production. Nuclear buildout, wind farms, solar farms. There's even some minor thermal (even though they're not geographically suited for that).
Sure, they are starting from a high number as the worlds manufacturer, but they're are clearly making strides that the other major industrial nations (the US) are not.
simmerup•4m ago
Considering America is literally promoting fossil fuels over renewables and the US administration is publicly saying climate change is a scam, I think America deserves more flack than China here
kieranmaine•17m ago
You have to weigh up the negatives with the positives and look at trends. AI can gave you a more exhaustive list of positive developments, but some I've noticed:
* "FERC: Solar + wind made up 91% of new US power generating capacity in H1 2025" [1] - The rollback of the IRA will reduce the speed of the US transition.
* "Solar and wind growth exceeded global demand growth in the first half of 2025" [2]
* Perovskite solar panels could lead to even lower solar costs [3]
There's also increased investment in nuclear, exicting geothermal advances (eg. Fervo Energy), increasing EV sales, a massive expansion of battery storage, zero emissions concrete (https://sublime-systems.com/). There are lots of positive developments, so I'd recommend learning more about them to offset your current fears and introduce some hope.
If you are so emotionally attached to solid water you may find some comfort in the positive note that the article closes with: “The overall summer melt this year was therefore only 15 percent above the 2010-2020 average -- its lowest level in the past four years.”
boston_clone•2m ago
> If you are so emotionally attached to solid water [...]
That's an oddly personal remark to be making when global warming is a concern for humanity.
That final sentence is not a positive note, either: "we're still experiencing above average ice melt - but this year wasn't as bad and some other years!".
toomuchtodo•5m ago
China is building, domestically deploying, and exporting solar, wind, batteries, and EVs so fast that the world will have no choice but to rapidly move towards net zero simply due to economics. Existing excess atmospheric carbon emissions remain to be sequestered.
ncr100•38m ago
What can be said?
simmerup•35m ago
codyb•31m ago
sys32768•30m ago
John23832•20m ago
Sure, they are starting from a high number as the worlds manufacturer, but they're are clearly making strides that the other major industrial nations (the US) are not.
simmerup•4m ago
kieranmaine•17m ago
* "FERC: Solar + wind made up 91% of new US power generating capacity in H1 2025" [1] - The rollback of the IRA will reduce the speed of the US transition.
* "Solar and wind growth exceeded global demand growth in the first half of 2025" [2]
* Perovskite solar panels could lead to even lower solar costs [3]
There's also increased investment in nuclear, exicting geothermal advances (eg. Fervo Energy), increasing EV sales, a massive expansion of battery storage, zero emissions concrete (https://sublime-systems.com/). There are lots of positive developments, so I'd recommend learning more about them to offset your current fears and introduce some hope.
1. https://electrek.co/2025/09/03/ferc-solar-wind-91-percent-ne...
2. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-...
3. https://www.ft.com/content/a5095373-1762-41cd-a078-af533e264...
kgwgk•15m ago
boston_clone•2m ago
That's an oddly personal remark to be making when global warming is a concern for humanity.
That final sentence is not a positive note, either: "we're still experiencing above average ice melt - but this year wasn't as bad and some other years!".
toomuchtodo•5m ago
https://ember-energy.org/data/china-cleantech-exports-data-e...
China is quietly saving the world from climate change - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45253245 - September 2025