This is it - climate change is really beginning to bite

Pessimism is such a danger because people who don't realise their own power think it's pointless to change.

But there is so much that can be done - to pull out of the worst of the crisis, in time, and to help those who need help to adapt.

We can absolutely pull together and do this. I really believe in our collective power to make things better.

My DM started in the 60s, thank you very much. I grew up among books on self sufficiency, healthy eating, and a long exposure to recycling and (as I say) "saving the planet" as it was called then. Maybe this is why I have a very low threshold for todays eco bollocks.

I remember this sort of weather decades ago. No need to panic.🤷‍♀️

^ been doing most of that for decades. I’ve always done what I can, while being poor and so not having much control over energy supplies (beyond picking one - I still remember my joy when I actually got that option from a landlord and went for a green option before they were compulsory).

It is the well off who can afford SUVs and foreign holidays who have done the most damage and are continuing to do so despite having the most power over choices. Sort yourselves out! And be told!

Thank you, that is a brilliant post. I don't and won't be having children, I don’t fly anywhere, and try my best to recycle. Never ever buy new clothes etc (always charity shops and Vinted), and don't buy the shite from Shein, Temu etc, so I'm doing my bit!

We are currently experiencing the not uncommon feature of the Azores High, along with other countries in its path.

Nothing unusual about it. Its been around since Adam was a boy.

Speaking of climatic changes impacts on humans, try something closer to home.
The ancient temple culture of Malta may well have collapsed due to that 4.2 ky event. It may also have driven the bell beaker folk to spread widely across Europe (and send their culture everywhere they didn’t physically go). They’re likely the reason we have Indo-European languages everywhere today.

something else that defeats the object is when the walls get hot. The walls that have light switches and plug sockets attatched to them.

Climate refugees are already on the move.

It’s worth remembering that AI is driving vast energy use and water use - doubling Googles environmental footprint. This is technology that we cannot afford, and I question its value added anyway.

We could not have had a worse concatenation of events with tech and economic global ideologies at the same time. We need to pull back on the economic ideologies. But yes, too many people can’t think won’t think and just want the convenience of being told what to do by AI. I despair.

Especially if you moved with the times and installed air conditioning

You think their stoicism will be boosted by looking back and knowing we knowingly ignored the experts in pursuit of profits and a tan?

Does it make you feel better to make fun of people who are making changes in their own lives to try to slow this down? At least you'll never know the sky is falling if you keep your head buried in the sand.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. Are you saying that reducing emissions of CO2 and methane won't make a difference to the increase in temperatures?

I'm not trying to 'win over' selfish and uneducated people. They won't be won over, they need to be stopped from what they are doing. Selfish people are going to be pissed off because they don't care about the rest of us. They want to continue doing what they are used to doing. And if I 'make myself cross' then that would be a small price to pay for restricting emissions and giving future generations a better future.

We berate selfish people all the time. They get pissed off. They are forced to change and society benefits.

Goady..not graduate 😁

Yup, the "movement" started in the 80s, but people were laughed at and ridiculed.

Yup, typically "oldie" pulling up the draw bridge behind them! It was OK for them to "enjoy" things, but not for the next generations! Sheer hypocrisy!

Weather is chaotic. Climate isn't. Unless you're talking about positive feedback loops. We don't know if and when they will happen but they can be avoided by limiting the amount of CO2 and methane emitted.

Do you think we have come to the point of no return? If so, is there any point in aiming for net zero? I'm not being graduate, just genuinely interested and wondering what I can do personally.

I have no idea but I do know at this point it's irreversible and the climate in one way or another has always changed. We were warned for a long time. We just have to manage with it as best we can now.

50 years ago, my DM was trying to do her best to save the planet.

It's possible to have holidays without wrecking the planet. I haven't flown in a decade, yet I've had adventures everywhere from Helsinki to Valletta, County Mayo to Bucharest.

This sentiment was heard quite a bit around 2018-19 when Extinction Rebellion mobilised tens of thousands across the country and journalists were exploring the widening of the Overton window in endless column inches. Many, both activists and commentators, were mature men and women who had indeed benefited from frequent travel to remote places, seen the many wonders of the natural world, and were now suggesting we all curtail our flying for the good of the planet. "Hypocrites!" cried many. "That's all very well for you!".
And of course "I'm not having anyone telling me what to do."
And "I bet they have children though."
And "Did you type that on a smart phone?"
And "You drove to work, didn't you?"

This illustrates the purity trap which people try to set, effectively removing any sense or expectation of personal responsibility. You can call anyone a hypocrite and be done.

The truth is, of course, that the writer which Finteq is referring to correct. It would be better if we all stopped flying. There is no way to argue that this isn't so. "But now he had come to his senses" -yes, that's it. And truth often exists independently of what feels fair. Science has made us more aware if the scale of the problem and better equipped to find ways to solve it. These don't necessarily align with what we want for ourselves or feel we somehow deserve because people before us had those things, while living in blissful ignorance.

@PencilsInSpace I think my post may have come across as a bit po-faced and much harsher than I intended; I'm in no way saying that we ought to live in despair, only that, if despair arises in our awareness in response to the heating climate, we allow ourselves to feel it. Ditto anger, helplessness and all the rest of it. That said, of course we continue to live day to day, finding joy and comfort and inspiration in the ordinary things we experience. Like you say, we can hold both the dread and the delight simultaneously. I too take comfort in my relative smallness and the transience of all things. Far from living in despair, there is a lot of joy in my life.

My post was really a direct comment on a PP's post, where a woman expressed worry about the climate and mused as to whether she ought to adopt another poster's somewhat more glib outlook. I was suggesting that we're generally better off allowing ourselves to feel what we feel rather than trying to convince ourselves otherwise.

20+ years ago I watched a TV programme about the role of the gulf steam and what will happen if it weakens and fails. It certainly stayed with me. It will be the end for us, basically.