system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Climate change is serious, damaging, but not apocalyptic.

EDIT 3: Alright my opinion is somewhat changed. Coming into this I really didn't see how climate change could end the world, but I can see while there is no hard evidence to say it will, the chance is much higher than I had realized. Thanks I guess lol (*sad human noises*)

So I will admit I used to be a climate change denier. Not anymore, I'd like to think im less naive than I used to be. That said, even according to NASA's climate change page, basically what I pick up on is the weather will get more severe, coast lines will come in significantly, etc.

Perhaps the worst I've heard is that it will likely have a serious effect on our ability to grow crops, especially to the degree we do now. This will lead to a significant rise in starvation and we may well face famine.

Now, don't get me wrong. I absolutely see the severity of that, and it is infuriating how avoidable it is. But people act like the human species is about to die out. I just don't see that happening. Frankly it seems more likely to force humanity to adjust its course than to outright stop it. 

That's not to say some environmental damage we do isn't potentially extremely serious, for instance, letting major parts of the Amazon burn has long reaching effects beyond climate change. 

But as far as climate change itself, I really don't see it destroying humanity. A lot of people might die and that is obviously horrible and should be prevented, but humanity isn't going to go extinct and probably won't be the most devastating thing we've faced as a species.

For instance, the plague killed 60% of everyone in Europe. I might be missing something, but I don't think 60% of the world is going to die from this. And chances are, when consequences start coming in, we will probably figure something out as we always have as a species. EDIT: to be very clear, I dont think anywhere near 60% of the population will die from climate change as far as we know it right now. I'd be surprised by 10-15%, but thats mostly conjecture.

I very well might be misinformed or missing some important part of this, but it just doesn't seem world ending to me. CMV?

EDIT 2: I'm not at all saying climate change isn't serious and should be avoided. It is a very very bad thing. All I'm saying is people say it will bring humanity to extinction and that is not my understanding based on what I've seen.
gpt
So, the issue with climate change is that there is still a lot we do not know. There is also the very scary concept of the *runaway greenhouse effect*. As our planet warms, there are a variety of ‘tipping points’ that we may reach which will cause a cascade effect of further warming.

For example, let’s look at the melting of the ice caps. Why is it such a big deal? Well, it’s not simply because of rising ocean levels - it’s also because the ice caps melting will result in an influx of meltwater which will seriously mess with our ocean currents, which are essential to distributing warm water throughout the planet. 

Another tipping point is the melting of permafrost and the desiccation of forests - these will result in an increase of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Forests would normally play a role in absorbing carbon dioxide - they’re essential. Permafrost melting will release stored gases, and there’s also the potential of releasing previously unseen types of viruses/bacteria which could seriously effect us.

The goal is to not trigger these cascade effects. It is important to stop these dominoes from falling, do you understand? And the words ‘more severe weather’ do not really capture the danger - when we say ‘more severe weather’ we are talking about devastating hurricanes, cold snaps, wild fires, etc. Our infrastructure simply cannot cope with such things (demonstrated by the recent Texas fiasco).

And that’s only in first world countries - other areas will feel the effects of climate change in a much more morbid way. Look at cape town, for instance - an area running out of water to the point that people are dying of thirst. Look at areas of India, undergoing phases in which entire cities become blanketed in deadly gases. In the United States, we are somewhat shielded from the worst of things.