I agree with you binntho. Humans are rather resilient.
Different people in this discussion are defining the problem differently. I agree that humans won't go extinct. But wrecking the climate system we depend on to feed 7.5 billion people, forced migration from large areas of densely populated coastal areas, more forced migration by altered monsoon patterns, heat waves/flooding/drought etc. will lead to horrific consequences for many millions, and probably billions of human beings. Humans will persist, but human civilization would/will suffer major involuntary evolution.
And while I have the pulpit -- I agree that a 1 million km2 Sept. BOE definition is arbitrary, but it is not meaningless. It serves as an important marker for when systemic change has passed an easily observable, intuitive (and thus politically significant), and functionally important milestone. The threshold isn't zero because there will continue to a fraction of the original September Extent that hangs on much longer, but going below 1M km2 signifies a huge change from the preindustrial condition (the 1979-1984 average Sept. Extent was ca. 7.3M km2).
Comparing trend lines for Extent, Volume, and Thickness, and remembering that E = V/T, shows that when Extent reaches 1M km2, average Sept. Thickness will be at about 0.8 meter, and average Sept. Volume will be at about 0.8K km3. The linear trend for volume decline indicates that there is a 50% chance of 0.8K km3 and Sept. BOE by 2029 (with a 95% confidence interval of 2024--2036), i.e. not long from now on our current trajectory.
Extent is an incomplete measure of the status of the Arctic sea ice. But an 87% reduction in September ice cover has major ecological and physical systemic consequences, such as the effect on subsequent ocean water insulation vs. heat exchange to the atmosphere leading into winter.
I suppose the albedo effect from Extent loss in September is probably minimal because the sun is so low in the Arctic sky by then, but once Sept. starts hitting "BOE", August will only be a few years behind. And as August approaches 1M km2, that means that July is losing ice cover too. The albedo impact from a reduction in ice cover Extent in August, and especially July, would have a strong effect on Arctic energy dynamics.
More scary news: The current year to date global average surface temperature is running well ahead of where it "should" be, given that we are near the bottom of the solar cycle and in ENSO neutral territory. Even accounting for incremental year-to-year warming from rising CO2e, 2020 should run a bit cooler than 2019 and well behind the current record holder for the warmest year in 2016. But a projection for the final year-end 2020 average temperature is running just behind 2016 and ahead of 2019. This suggests that the warming rate is accelerating. None other than James Hansen noted the same in monthly NASA GISStemp message today.
As bad as the COVID pandemic is, all expectations are for it to subside within a few months (or a year or two at most). If we disrupt the climate, the inertia of that system (ocean heat) and multi-decadal lag for surface weather impacts means we will be stuck with the damage for decades at the very least even with remedial GHG removals (for which we do not yet have scaleable methods), and more likely multiple centuries. This is not a drill. This is really happening. I have to remind myself about that regularly because it is so hard to fathom.
It's a real morality tale. I agree with those who recognize the absolutely stunning pace of scientific knowledge acquisition and technological innovation occurring at the same time as we wreck the life support system of the only planet we have. If we all pull in the same direction, and get rid of "leaders" who mislead, there is a chance for the disaster not to fully unfold. But we are already too late to avoid the damage entirely as more than a little has already happened, and a lot more is coming in the next 20 years.