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California Wildfires & the 1.5°C Barrier: Is Humanity Headed for Collapse? || Acharya Prashant(2025)
183.1K views
10 months ago
Climate Change
Mass Extinction
Feedback Loops
Paris Agreement
Consumption
Pleasure Seeking
Permafrost
Wildfires
Description

Acharya Prashant states that mankind has silently decided in favor of a collective suicide and is heading towards a mass extinction. This is our own choice, which is why we don't want to talk about it. He warns against being surprised by individual instances of wildfires, as these are symptoms of a larger, planetary problem and are going to become daily occurrences. While the symptoms might be local, the problem is planetary, yet most of us avoid even looking at it, let alone meeting it effectively. The speaker identifies the root of this crisis as the human "hunt for pleasure" and a flawed life philosophy centered on consumption. This pursuit is the real wildfire we are seeing. Consequently, there can be no purely political, legal, or technological solution to climate change. He describes climate change as the "final crisis" and the "end game," which requires a final solution. The writing is on the wall, and we don't need special assistance to read it. Acharya Prashant points out the failure to meet established climate goals, such as those in the Paris Agreement. The agreement's target to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius was already a lowly one, not even aiming for a reversal of climate change. To achieve this, a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030 was needed. However, current plans will only yield a 2.6% reduction, and in fact, we are set to increase our emissions. By the time we officially admit to breaching the 1.5-degree threshold, we might have already reached 3 or 4 degrees, and we do not have the 15 years it might take for this official admission. He emphasizes the danger of feedback cycles that get activated between a 1.5 and 2-degree temperature rise, making the situation irreversible and uncontrollable. He explains several of these cycles: melting ice exposes dark soil that absorbs more heat, leading to more melting; thawing permafrost releases vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas; and warming oceans evaporate more, creating more water vapor which is itself a greenhouse gas, while also reducing the ocean's capacity to absorb CO2. The decomposition of fallen trees also turns them from carbon absorbers into carbon emitters. Ultimately, the speaker asserts that the only feasible solution is a spiritual one. The problem is not merely "emission" but "emotion"—our flawed conditioning that equates happiness with consumption. To truly address climate change, we must inculcate wisdom and a right philosophy of life in human beings, enabling them to find right avenues of joy that are not exploitative towards the planet. While this may sound utopian or impractical, it is the only way forward.