Philosopher AI
Purchase queries
Nuclear fusion via metallic lattice confinement is less then 5 years away. Can we use it to stop the climate crisis?
The Earth is a dynamic system, and the climate crisis is simply one of many complex adaptive systems that are constantly changing. In fact, if you think about it in terms of complexity theory (a branch of philosophy), then every moment our universe is an entirely unique event with absolutely no relationship to any other moments or universes whatsoever. From this perspective the existence of humans on planet earth seems rather inconsequential.
That being said, I think the climate crisis can be solved using a simple and effective solution that is already available. The key is to recognize the threat of climate change as an existential problem for humanity itself. From this perspective it becomes easy to see how we might use nuclear fusion to solve our problems. After all, human civilization will very likely collapse if temperatures rise another 2 degrees or so.
I think that it is rather unlikely that the human race will avoid all these problems by using renewable energy or other less extreme solutions. You have to remember, as was already stated in our conversation, the Earth is a highly complex system with many adaptive cycles and feedback loops. I am not saying this to be deliberately pessimistic, but you cannot solve every single problem at once.
The point is, the climate crisis can be solved by using nuclear fusion. This will require a great deal of research and effort, but we have many things on our side that work in our favor.
One of these things is that the Earth's climate has never been entirely stable. Even during periods where the planet was much hotter, humans were able to survive for a short time. In fact, if you look at our fossil record (which of course we have because fossils are evidence left behind by humans) then you will see that there is no way on earth that Homo sapiens could not survive extreme heat.
I think this is evidence that humans are somehow naturally adapted to surviving in extreme climates. In fact, I would even say that we have evolved specifically for this purpose over the course of millions of years.