AIBU to feel people are far too complacent about climate change?

Well there are a fair few climate modlers who think those model that came to those conclusions are deeply flawed.

They have the generational double-counting flaw - it double-counts emissions by allocating the exact same carbon footprint to the parent, the child, and the grandchild simultaneously and assumes that future generations will have no agency of their own.

The "Static Future" Fallacy these models freeze today's high-carbon infrastructure and assume it will remain identical for the next 100 years when it gone down in last decade.

Ignore the Consumption vs. Population issues - the environmental impact of having a child is vastly dictated by where* *they are born and how they live, rather than the mere act of birth.

Often when the generational compounding math and look purely at direct, lifetime individual impacts, the data shifts heavily away from reproductive choices and toward immediate lifestyle and policy changes.

Given that a large section of any country population still has children that a huge swath of people including next generation who you are saying can ignore any envronmental messaging going forward and not bother with any changes - which TBH seems an odd stance when population changes are needed.

No, I'm talking about climate change as a whole. Me getting rid of my gas boiler is not going to mean the planet survives for any longer than it is already.

I agree, but a lot of them will survive. I don't want to be flippant, but I just don't have the energy to worry about this. I don't have any children, and that is why I don't really care. The planet has gone through trauma before and come out the other side. Humans are such frail, expendable creatures. If we die out, so be it.

I live by the sea. Over the last 2 years we have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of dolphins, seals, octopus, sunfish and blue fin tuna! The ocean marine life is shifting massively and that impacts on everything else. It’s great for the tourism and SOME fishermen ££££ but for others their livelihoods have been decimated by it (eg crab/lobster)

I’m a scientist and yes it does concern me. I havnt seen anywhere in the press warning of a massive increase in food costs over the next year due to drought and crops not producing well. That includes the winter feed for animals. They are already having to supplement due to lack of grass.

we are preparing for our future now. Creating veg/fruit beds and installed a woodburner for heat using free wood that we collect over the winter. 5 bed house so a lot to heat! We also plan to install solar and a storage battery.

It's not just about survival of the planet though. It's about the lives of people in the coming decades and how they're going to be impacted.

If they die, they die. So be it.

Hmm, link did.not appear in my post above

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/climate-crisis-or-climate-progress-two-leading-scientists-separate-fear-fact

Well if people are comfortable with that, i.e. their children dying then that's fine. I don't have children.

I havnt seen anywhere in the press warning of a massive increase in food costs over the next year due to drought and crops not producing well. That includes the winter feed for animals. They are already having to supplement due to lack of grass.

I have - the welsh show has journalists and farmers mentioning it. The real eye opener has been Clarkson farm TV show - plus there is often an article on them in main stream press covering that that then mentions wider farming issues.

Potatoes plants go domanat above 25 degree been mentioned a lot - which I didn't know prior to hot weather this summer and suggestion this means higher prices in coming months and smaller potatoes. It may be catching my eye as I'm growing some at home this year.

Neither do I, which is why I don't really care. Some people might call that callous. I just think it's honest and unhypocritical.

Well we don’t have a ‘World’ leader, so all that you think we can do is stardust and rainbows.

Climate change is a fact of life and science.
How much human activity is impacting it is questionable.
How much we (in the UK) could do about it in a world with such diverse levels of income and wealth is infinitesimally small.

Yep, and I don't believe there's anything you or I can do that will make the blindest bit of difference.

YANBU but I find attitudes on here astounding.

"Why should we suffer when the US's climate impact is so much worse?"

"We've had heatwaves before"

"Drill, baby, drill"

I still volunteer with a climate action organisation and do everything I can to lobby my MP, county councillors, take part in national campaigns - protesting Rosebank, testing river water for pollution, biodiversity initiatives such as The Big Butterfly Count, organising local community action like swap events, I helped host a screening of The National Emergency Briefing.

A lot of the time I'm hopeful we can rally for change but sometimes I see attitudes like the ones I've quoted above on here and it's depressing. Especially as I've got a young toddler whose future I worry about. It's just baffling that people don't want to know - the positive thing is the solutions exist to mitigate the climate emergency IF governments take action. Also a few quick points before I continue with my evening:

• China, while one of the world's biggest polluters, is also one of if not the world's biggest investor in renewable energy. They're not silly, as Chris Packham said, they will be selling it to the rest of the world.

• The oil from Rosebank and Jackdaw won't be owned by the UK government. It will be sold on the global market ie "back to us at a premium" (as my local MP claimed Norway would be doing). It won't save anyone money on their energy bills or help with the cost of living.

• Climate change has been named the biggest threat to national security. See the National Emergency Briefing and a senior Ministry of Defence official. Also see what's happening in Ceuta and Melilla right now - imagine how this will continue in future as the climate emergency makes warmer climates unfarmable. Look at what's already happening in Europe and the UK with wildfires and the impact on agriculture of extreme weather events, for goodness' sake.

It is the main umbrella topic under which all other issues fall IMO and we should be demanding action from our MPs.

Local county councillors told me they have to log the subject of any issue raised by constituents when we email in. Absolutely worth setting a reminder to keep emailing county councillors about different environmental issues. As this councillor said, "the parties don't know what they stand for right now and they will pay attention to what voters want".

There are lots of reasons OP.

Individually, people's contributions are the tiniest drop in the ocean. So how to keep motivated when others/the powers that be aren't bothering?

We are all tired of being lectured by politicians/celebs/royal family/the super rich, whose carbon footprint knocks ordinary people out of the park. It just seems like virtue signalling.

The sustainability angle tends to get ignored on issues when it's not convenient. Look at data centres and the energy requirements of AI?

The messaging has been going on for so long now and there are plenty of other things to be worried about.

The narrative needs to change. Making ordinary people feel guilty for their one foreign holiday a year achieves nothing. This needs to be tackled at a global level.

We also need technological solutions rather than expecting people to worsen their quality of life. All of this is happening in the background, but we aren't hearing enough about it.

This is not the individual's problem to solve. They can't keep worrying about it indefinitely.

A bit of warm weather?? 😆😆😆 I assume you're joking? I'm in the SE & it's been horrendous. I definitely haven't been enjoying it.

I'm complacent, I admit it. This is largely because I think there is almost nothing I can do to make a difference, and I'm not willing to make my life harder when the big polluters who contribute to it, and who can make a significant difference, do nothing. They can go first.

Need action make life harder? Heat pumps, solar panels, EV, train travel, eating plant-based, seasonal and local, recycling, buying second-hand, gardening, supporting nature... clearly there's a cost in some cases but do they make life harder? Aren't some of these just objective improvements or sources of happiness?

I do a lot of those already. I do them because I enjoy them and I want to, not because of any environmental impact (except for the animals and nature, they deserve all the love). I am not getting solar panels though. EV is an example of something that not everyone can afford (I prefer a hybrid and I drive all over the place to get into nature in all sorts of different areas). I garden because I enjoy it. The train isn't practical for me most of the time. Second hand - things aren't made like they used to be often, so don't always last that kind of distance.

If human life on this planet comes to an end, it's just another stage in the earth's history. The animals and plants will find a new way.

I love these heatwaves. I am 70 and I go cycling every day. I hope it just goes on and on.

because even if the public turned into grettas overnight, what about all the venture capitalists, the lobbying companies that have far more influence than the general public, not to mention we need the whole industry and big tech etc / darpa to develop various techs to save the planet. so overall for the mega projects needed to save the globe its down to big business.

besides do you think they would shut all farms, all airlines, all cars down etc in the name of saving the planet ?1

I've lost hope and trust in humanity. As the most intelligent species on the planet, all together we're pretty stupid, really. We're walking into our own demise, which we are manufacturing ourselves, like a moth flying into the flame that will kill her. But we're also carrying some more tinder with us and spread it around us as we walk.

I am grateful every day that I haven't had children, because I know the near future is going to be horrendous for the young people of today. And I just hope I am no longer here to experience what is coming, because it's not going to be pretty.

It will. It will, until the air in your lungs burns. And there will be no water to drink. But perhaps you won't even make it to that day, because the hordes of people fleeing worse places may kill you first.

well then may be big business and industry should have thought of that before they fucked the earth

eventually we could just colonise other planets and leave earth ?

Exactly. They are the ones who need to act.