Hot Stuff
SPF 100, please
Get smarter in 5 minutes with Morning Brew (it's free) There's a reason over 4 million people start their day with Morning Brew - the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn't have to be boring...make your mornings more enjoyable, for free. Sign up!
Friends,
Thanks for bearing with me on my break. The Aegean Sea gave me and my family a first-hand feel for 45-degree afternoons. It felt like a return to my time in Abu Dhabi, but without the extensive air conditioning. I could certainly feel the burn and I’m now 50 or so shades darker.
As we start to look at solutions for this climate omen, we start to see facekinis becoming a thing in China where Beijing is seeing records broken. The future of our existence depends on our ability to tackle climate change.
“A growing number of climate scientists now believe we may be careening toward so-called tipping points, where incremental steps along the same trajectory could push Earth’s systems into abrupt or irreversible change—leading to transformations that cannot be stopped even if emissions were suddenly halted. “The Earth may have left a ‘safe’ climate state beyond 1°C global warming,” David Armstrong McKay [University of Exeter] and his co-authors concluded in Science last fall. If these thresholds are passed, some of global warming’s effects—like the thaw of permafrost or the loss of the world’s coral reefs—are likely to happen more quickly than expected. On the whole, however, the implications of blowing past these tipping points remain among climate change’s most consequential unknowns: We don’t really know when or how fast things will fall apart.”
If we didn't quite feel the effect of climate change, we are certainly feeling it now. July brought the hottest days in history, on subsequent days. The warmest eight years have all been since 2015, with 2016, 2019 and 2020 constituting the top three. 2023 is on course to also be one of the hottest.
The critical impact of the climate crisis is affecting both atmospheric and oceanic heat waves. These events are not only causing harm to coastal communities but also posing a significant threat to marine ecosystems, affecting a vital food source for humans. The observed mass die-offs of marine life, exemplified by the tragic 2021 "heat dome" incident along Canada's Pacific coast, with an estimated 1 billion marine animal deaths, are clear indications of the severity of the situation.
It is essential to recognize that marine heatwaves often go unnoticed and undervalued in comparison to their terrestrial counterparts. However, their consequences can be devastating, particularly for sensitive ecosystems accustomed to stable temperatures, such as tropical oceans. Tropical coral reefs, for instance, are highly vulnerable, and even a 2C temperature increase can spell their demise, impacting the highest biodiversity found globally and affecting the livelihoods of over 500 million people, predominantly in impoverished regions.
On land, the effects of extreme heat are equally concerning, as research indicates that under high-emission scenarios, a significant portion of land vertebrates could experience extreme thermal events by the end of the century. Such conditions can disrupt growth, fertility, immunity, and behavioural patterns in various species, leading to potentially dire consequences for entire ecosystems.
In response to rising temperatures, species are attempting to adapt by moving towards cooler regions. However, this migration also poses a risk, as it can lead to the extinction of many species. Thus, there is an urgent need for comprehensive climate action to mitigate these effects and protect biodiversity and ecological stability.
The situation is dire. But we can’t give up. I wonder if AI can solve the climate crisis, more so than just predicting the temperature to forecast doom and gloom. Companies like Eugenie.ai - an emission intelligence platform - are designed to help manufacturers that work in the metal and mining, oil, and gas industries decarbonize their operations. The SaaS combines data from satellite images with machine and process data to provide a comprehensive overview of operations. Their AI then analyzes this data to help companies track, trace, and reduce emissions by 20-30%.
But, for me, the solution is about reinvention - how do we do things differently? Or do we have to rely on hypothetical solar reengineering? Developing technology to deflect the sun is a last resort but it may become the long term bet from a technology company with big pockets. Google Deepmind is opening up to the industry to try and find a solution. It’s not going to be one company that saves the world. It’s gonna take a bunch of brains.
The climate clock is ticking. We have 5 years to limit temperature rises to 1.5C - or stability will continue throughout our lifetime - if we survive.
Stay Curious (and cool) - and don’t forget to be amazing,
PS. This viral video currently circulating, showing the power of tech (and if you think about it - the power of manipulation). Worth a watch to the end if you haven’t seen it:
Here are my recommendations for this week:
Now
News Without Motives: 1440 is the daily newsletter helping 2M+ people stay informed—it’s news without motives, edited to be unbiased as humanly possible. A five-minute read each morning, 100% free: Sign up now!
How a Vast Demographic Shift Will Reshape the World: The world’s demographics have already been transformed. Europe is shrinking. China is shrinking, with India, a much younger country, overtaking it this year as the world’s most populous nation.
When Barbie Broke the Glass Ceiling: The iconic doll travelled to space, flew with the Thunderbirds and joined the NBA, beating real-life women to an array of career milestones. Also see: The Often Wacky, Sometimes Wicked, and Always Wondrous Eras of Barbie
How to Cheat Without Being a Cheater: We use motivated reasoning to be dishonest and not see ourselves as immoral.
AI Is a Lot of Work - As the technology becomes ubiquitous, a vast tasker underclass is emerging — and not going anywhere. Also see: ‘Training My Replacement’: Inside a Call Center Worker’s Battle With A.I., AI That Teaches Other AI,
People Just Want to Lose Weight - We go on yo-yo diets, but we also have a yo-yo relationship to dieting. Also see: 11 Exercises Top Trainers Do Every Time They Work Out
AI Tool Report: Learn AI in 5 Minutes a Day We'll teach you how to save time and earn more with AI. Join 70,000+ free daily readers for trending tools, productivity-boosting prompts, the latest news, and more. Sign up for free
Next
Trends.vc: Join 50,000+ founders and investors discovering new markets and ideas. Our readers are saving 2,000+ hours of market research with free 5-minute reports on AI, Crypto and more. Sign up now!
McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2023: Mckinsey takes stock of what is going on with not only Generative AI, but with other realms of tech. After a tumultuous 2022 for technology investment and talent, the first half of 2023 has seen a resurgence of enthusiasm about technology’s potential to catalyze progress in business and society. Generative AI deserves much of the credit for ushering in this revival, but it stands as just one of many advances on the horizon that could drive sustainable, inclusive growth and solve complex global challenges.
Elon Musk’s liberal-trolling AI plan has a core audience: Elon Musk wants his latest politically incorrect startup to become the Tesla of AI — a household name synonymous with cutting-edge technology. Related: Meta Unveils a More Powerful A.I. and Isn’t Fretting Over Who Uses It
Yes, AI could profoundly disrupt education. But maybe that’s not a bad thing: Humans need to excel at things AI can’t do – and that means more creativity and critical thinking and less memorisation
The last Bitcoin: What will happen once all BTC are mined? According to some experts, miners will always be essential to the Bitcoin ecosystem, even after mining the last coins.
AI to create South Park-like TV shows with you as the star: Fable, a San Francisco startup running a big project dubbed The Simulation, has released Showrunner AI technology, dubbed SHOW-1, which can generate new episodes of TV shows with you as the star.
Get smarter in 5 minutes with Morning Brew (it's free) There's a reason over 4 million people start their day with Morning Brew - the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn't have to be boring...make your mornings more enjoyable, for free. Sign up!
If you enjoyed this edition of Box of Amazing, please share and help me grow this group. If you share it on Twitter or LinkedIn, please tag me so that I can thank you.