Married couple from Bristol attract awe and abuse on X with photos that show ‘staggering’ changes in the Alps

A tourist has posted “staggering” photos of himself and his wife at the same spot in the Swiss Alps almost exactly 15 years apart, in a pair of photos that highlight the speed with which global heating is melting glaciers.

Duncan Porter, a software developer from Bristol, posted photos that were taken in the same spot at the Rhone glacier in August 2009 and August 2024. The white ice that filled the background has shrunk to reveal grey rock. A once-small pool at the bottom, out of sight in the original, has turned into a vast green lake.

“Not gonna lie, it made me cry,” Porter said in a viral post on social media platform X on Sunday night.

  • @NIBEnglish
    2•1 month ago

    You could argue that what we have isnt true capitalism, since our current system doesnt include the environmental cost. If we could do that, then the cost of doing things would greatly increase, thus forcing capitalism to be more environmentally friendly.

    I dont want to defend capitalism, but there is a potential version of capitalism that could work. Kinda how we use the replicative aggressive function of viruses for healing.

    The fact that in the West, right wings are often insane, doesnt mean much. 95% of new coal power plants are built in China. Are they right wing? I think they are but tankies think China is socialist.

    Obviously China has immense demand for power and it is in many ways a developing country. They took some measures to reduce the negative environmental effect. Their cities were covered in smog till recently, they had to do something.

    But despite that, they still value the growth/wealth of cheap electric power.

    • @[email protected]English
      -1•1 month ago

      You could argue that what we have isnt true capitalism

      No, I couldn’t. Capitalism doesn’t need to account for every externality to be capitalism.

      If we could do that

      We’ve been trying for 36 years with no result. That’s exactly my point. The people who benefit from the lack of account of externalities are the ones in control of the system.

      but there is a potential version of capitalism that could work

      That version of capitalism is “let’s make the public opinion guided by the scientific research make the environmental decisions”. At that point, why stop with accounting for externalities and planning the economy as a whole in a democratic fashion? Why this obsession with maintaining capitalism?

      Obviously China has immense demand for power and it is in many ways a developing country

      You got it. You can’t expect a developing county to rely on new and expensive tech instead of cheap and reliable one during the process of industrialization. But currently, China is by far the country installing most renewables. I personally don’t consider China to be very socialist, but saying they’re right wing is far from the truth as well.

      The problem with capitalism as well, is the competition not only between companies, but between geopolitical blocks. You can’t expect China or the US to degrow when they’re geopolitical enemies that are in theory threated by each other. In reality, the US is the main threatener, followed by Russia, since they’re both heavily capitalist and imperialist countries with opposing interests and different capitalists who fight each other for supremacy. Unless we eliminate these capitalist threats of geopolitical fights by transcending to worldwide socialism, degrowth simply will not occur, and climate deals that harm the economy of countries won’t be agreed on.