Destruction is always fast and easy. Creating takes real effort

What we do in the present and future is a human decision. How bad it gets is up to us still, not something locked in by physics

We are past two important points:

• we passed the point where you would not be able to tell the difference something like 30 years ago
• we passed the point where we likely locked in 1.5°C of warming quite recently. That's roughly where you walk into a minefield of risking major ecosystems with each additional bit of warming, and the stretch goal that small island nations wanted because it might have left them habitable.

Importantly neither point is one where we expect civilization to suddenly end.

From what I see on social media, they had largely not written this year's report yet

Probably not. We're still in a place where it's probably possible to end up with a civilization-supporting planet. But it requires phasing out fossil fuels. And starting now. And the oil executives who bribed Trump don't like that.

It looks like a planned gradual turnup

I'm pointing to an old one because the causes are well known, there isn't any current propaganda campaign to confuse people about it, and its a wide-area unanticipated failure.

That kind of facility tends to have its own backup power, often with a week or so of fuel stockpiled on-site.

Back when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, there was a period where the only building with power was a datacenter. The lights prompted soldiers to break in, and the system admin wound up having to pretend that they'd discovered evidence of somebody nefarious forcing the door, so they'd clear the building and leave.

I think that one is coming from the UK Daily Mail which is generally unreliable.

During one of these events, it's really common for all kinds of misinformation and rumors to fly, and even to come from otherwise trustworthy people.

I'll note that the US had some very large-scale blackouts in the 1960s which were caused by fairly ordinary technical problems.

Sorry, but we're not likely to spend much time talking about that kind of ice in c/climate

In the US, the towers that provide mobile service are required to have a few hours worth of battery backup. The EU may require more, but I'd expect them to go down not too long after the main grid goes out.

Problem is that you need a chunk of that data to do things like figure out if people are cheating on taxes. It's hard to run an effective government without data.

Prosperity has never been his main aim. Tariffs serve to create attention for him, and leverage to collect bribes.

I pretty commonly hear:

• Trump disavowed it
• nobody would be that bad
• you've been brainwashed by the media.

Exactly. The problem here isnt that China did something bad; it's that the US government sabotaged the future prosperity of the US

It's not going to be just 25 when all is said and done. Multiple other countries are looking at ways to recruit American researchers or bring home their own nationals who have been working as professors in the US.

When you stand on your own you don't accomplish much beyond your own death. That's not a worthwhile move for me.

This is a not-so-crazy move in deeply Republican districts, but it requires getting folks to actually show up and vote in Republican primaries

There is a reason unions maintain a strike fund