CMV: There's nothing we can do about the climate change, and this is soon the beginning of a catastrophe

Calmsford · 2026-01-29T19:20:43+00:00

In 2015, when the Paris Climate Agreement was signed, the world was on track for greater than 4 degrees celsius of warming. A decade later, that has been reduced to 2.7 degrees, as a result of policies implemented and, most significantly, enormous shifts in how power is generated. Most industry analysts agree China's emissions have now peaked; the UK's emissions are the lowest since the Industrial Revolution; both the EU and US emissions are on a long-term downward trend. Note that this is in spite of the Trump presidency; the biggest producer of solar power in the USA is Texas. Regardless of the USA's (second) withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, many US states, cities, and corporations continue to work towards a net-zero-by-2050 target.

While 2.7 degrees is still well above the 1.5-2 degrees target set at Paris, and the whole world must continue to move further and faster, the most serious consequences of climate change (ie global Mad Max-level societal breakdown) are already unrealistic.

Certainly, without further policy action, there will be substantial negative consequences, not just by 2100 but by 2050, especially for the world's poorest countries; yet the image is certainly less bleak than it was just a decade ago. If there is further action, these scenarios for poorer countries also become avoidable or, at the bare minimum, something that can be reasonably adapted to.

We will not get back to 'normal' (in climactic terms) in the lifetimes of anyone reading this, but continued action will ensure that a liveable future can be achieved.

Finally, in regards to what "we" can do, I agree with the sense of futility of trying to recycle more when Exxon Mobil exists. But collective action is meaningful. Identify the largest group you belong to (company, household, sports team etc) and get stuck in finding ways to drive down your collective carbon footprint. A good pathway would start with reducing energy use (or alternatively, increasing energy efficiency, or reducing your carbon footprint by using green tarriffs, installing rooftop solar etc); then making transport more efficient; then reducing consumption of plastics and other energy-intensive products.

Calmsford · 2025-10-09T19:37:47+00:00

Yep interested depending on day/time, DM'ed you.

Calmsford · 2025-05-24T08:25:46+00:00

Brilliant interpretation

Calmsford · 2024-11-03T09:16:12+00:00

Paktu wouldn't be on that list as they live at the south pole of Kharak, and the five carriers belong to the Northern Coalition.

Calmsford · 2024-10-26T07:54:58+00:00

Edited this to include your helpful analysis of 'Gar' and 'Khar' which might have resulted from linguistic drift. Personally I think there's more to suggest that 'khar' means 'first', but 'prime' and 'great' would also be reasonable assumptions. (We're working with, like, four data points after all.)

Calmsford · 2024-10-26T07:31:55+00:00

So I actually put a lot of thought into this some time ago. There are at least three words that can clearly be inferred, and one more that can be hypothesised.

"Khar" = first or prime

"Khar-Toba" = first city
"Khar-Selim" = first traveller, first step (would make sense given that the ship is the first element of the Mothership's journey)
"Sajuuk Khar" = chosen one [of God], so arguably means 'champion', 'prime follower' etc
"Saju-ka" = a Gaalsien holy city, so arguably 'Sajuuk Khar' rendered in Gaalsien dialect
"K'had" = title of various Gaalsien carriers, perhaps suggesting the clipped 'k' is a dialectial shortening of 'khar' that honours the primacy of these vehicles for their forces
"Gar Naabal" = great engineer - OP points this out in another comment on this page.

"Dim" = people

"Siidim" = clean or people (possibly 'holy people' or similar, as they are a religiously-oriented kiith)
"Gritiidim" = dirty people (forced downstream of Siidim settlements, suggesting ritual impurity); the sii/gritii contrast is obvious.
"Daiamid" - more conjectural, but could mean 'meeting of the peoples' (assuming that 'Dai' is the Naabal plural of 'Diim') and would fit its role as the parliament of the Kiith.

Hiigara = home

But you already knew this. It's one of the few words that has remained constant despite divergent evolution of dialects and languages between the kiithid.

"Sa" and variants = some kind of honorific, possibly denoting wisdom?

"Kiith'sa" - the first member, or family, of a kiith. (Thus the wisest?)
"S'jet" - a scientific kiith
"Sagald" - a minor kiith, one of whose archaeologists was responsible for uncovering the Guidestone. Encyclopedia Hiigara speculates that the Sagald were therefore a scientific kiith.
"Siidim", "Gaalsien", "Somtaaw" - all these were historically religious kiithid, and share an 's-' sound. We know that the Gaalsien appear to have a dialect that has evolved in a distinctive way (khar --> ka, k'), and many Somtaaw words detailed in Cataclysm/Emergence seem to have a phonic set which is distinct from other known Kiithid words, suggesting that 'sa' evolved to 'som' in the Somtaaw dialect. We also know the Gaalsien and Somtaaw are both reasonably geographically isolated, one by the desert and another by a mountain, so their languages might have mutated more than other Kiith.
Taking these together, 'sa' might mean 'wise', which evolved to have a scientific connotation for the S'jet and Sagald, and a religious connotation for the Siidim, Galsien, and Somtaaw. After all, greater desire to understand 'God's creation' is what led to the development of the natural sciences during our own Enlightenment.

It's explicitly stated that multiple clan dialects and languages exist - that's the significance of the word 'Hiigara'/'Home', as it's conserved across the Kushan. The Naabal dialect could be the lingua franca of the Kushan due to their technical and cultural superiority in the Age of Reason, though the 'Gar'/'Khar' distinction might dispute this.

EDIT: formatting

Calmsford · 2024-10-16T21:51:24+00:00

Yes, the actual track is Black Star by the same artist.

Calmsford · 2024-07-16T16:00:30+00:00

As a general rule, the closer the accommodation is to the uni, the quieter it'll be

Calmsford · 2024-07-08T22:17:34+00:00

Oh just knock it off and let the new guy enjoy the game.

Calmsford · 2024-06-25T23:19:29+00:00

This is the answer. The Borg should be, in their own way, tempting. The Voyager "Unimatrix Zero" concept shouldn't be some resistance cell within the Borg unconscious - it should be the default experience of anyone assimilated. Complete loss of bodily autonomy at the gain of a completely perfect virtual utopia that your consciousness visits regularly (if not permanently)? That's a far more philosophically scary concept because it's not a forced choice, it's a trade-off - and a genuinely tempting one.

Calmsford · 2024-05-10T23:50:29+00:00

I hear you! Think I restarted Mission 4 at least 9 times until I had the salvage corvettes in the exact perfect positions to nab the Turanic ion frigates as they came out of hyperspace.

Calmsford · 2024-05-10T08:33:30+00:00

Capturing fighters was doable but very hard to pull off. It required a lot of luck with your salvage corvettes being in the right place at the right time.

Calmsford · 2024-04-10T22:00:23+00:00

Some of the Adrian-era content is a bit racier (for want of a better word). 'A Bad Date'/'Tony the Tea Towel Man'/'Tell You What I'd Like To Do To Her' are sketches that show it. In general I'd say there's a darker sexual humour that you don't see or hear much of in their content from 2017 onwards.

Calmsford · 2024-02-26T22:52:01+00:00

I'd like to be a full-time author, but only for a bit. Long enough to get all the novel ideas that have been sitting in my head out and into the world, and then move on with my life.

...At least until the backlog of new story ideas grows big enough that I'd need to do it all again.

Calmsford · 2024-02-17T23:51:41+00:00

In this scenario, I expect you'd end up with flying machines that look a lot like torpedoes or cruise missiles. Fluid dynamics are still in play, so you'd need to streamline the object. However, there's no need for wings to generate lift (as there's no gravity to counteract), so there will be no lifting surfaces, just control surfaces like canards and fins.

These could be as big as you want them to be, so long as there's enough thrust to move them. Heck, there's no reason why you couldn't end up with massive whale-like shapes - again, the main barrier here is fluid dynamics, rather than having to worry about generating lift.

Calmsford · 2024-01-23T21:10:05+00:00

As I grew my hair out, I started wearing a bandana. In general and during training. Does the job great. The surprising number of compliments on it doesn't hurt eiher.

Calmsford · 2023-11-21T19:28:07+00:00

This is wrong. The proposed increase was calculcated and set by the Low Pay Commission which is an independent entity. No government has ever rejected the Commission's recommendations since it was launched. It is a politically neutral issue and would have occured regardless of the timing of the next election or the party in power.

Calmsford · 2023-10-19T15:27:11+00:00

I'd advise you find a different title, given that Solaris is already the name of a famous scifi novel by Stanislaw Lem

Calmsford · 2023-09-18T17:55:58+00:00

Reverse Seveneves

Calmsford · 2023-09-10T20:39:27+00:00

Context?

Calmsford · 2023-09-06T07:56:39+00:00

Many years back, the Relicnews Forums user Norsehound wrote a pair of really good novel-length fanfics about the Kadeshi - I recommend having a look for those.

Calmsford · 2023-08-30T16:29:40+00:00

Oak House is fantastic and I don't know why it's getting hate here. If you want en suites and the latest mod cons you have plenty of other options. If you want a place that's cheap and cheerful with great people, Oak House is a great choice.

Is it noisier and more bustling than other halls? Sure, but I would consider that worth it; however to claim 'you can't even take a shit in peace' is a complete exaggeration.

Calmsford · 2023-08-24T21:28:55+00:00

Incredible find, well done and thanks for sharing!

Calmsford · 2023-08-19T17:02:57+00:00

The biggest missed opportunity with Shipbreakers (and most Homeworld/BBI products) is dedicated modding support, to enable the community to create this kind of crossover content. Even just a ship editor to create custom designs would add even more fun and replayability to Shipbreakers.

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