To find it strange no one is talking about this?

[FruminousBandersnatch]

The latest IPCC report - a result of looking at 6000 climate change studies. It’s horrifying. The world as we know it is going to change so quickly and not enough is being done.

Why is this not being discussed here?

Fundamentally it is impossible to say whether these predictions are correct so nobody cares.

That is just not true!

Wind turbines aren't a good source of reliable energy? The industry is booming! But maybe you know something the industry experts don't?

Actually all your ideas sound a few years out of date, @Racecardriver. I'm not sure what you mean about "previous generations of climate scientists discrediting the field" or the reports not being "sceinitificalky" literate. Like any science it's cumulative, a growing body of work building on the work that's been done before. It's not all perfect but the consensus is now overwhelming that we are in for a rocky time of it.

We need to lead the way before asking poorer nations to restrict their consumption. Why should we have two or three cars per family, consume without consideration buying new clothes because they’re fashionable rather than to keep us warm, live and work in overheated boxes whilst telling India making cheap jeans is bad?

Our own greed and inability to accept individual responsibility for a serious global threat will be devastating. One only needs to look at the piles of plastic piled up alongside the roads in Sri Lanka and India to realise tourists don’t care about the damage they do.

We really do need to return to a more simple way of life with children walking to school, better public transport and less car parking, supertax second homes and cars, supertax flying and probably ban fossil fuel sales. That won’t happen because individuals won’t want to make the changes “I need my second car because Susan and Fred are only nine and can’t walk the two miles to school” and the government will worry about votes.

That said, maybe it’s unavoidable just as the ice age was.

Me and DH are far from perfect but do try and do what we can. We have both been vegetarian for over 30 years. We throw literally no food away (make soups, breadcrumbs etc), rarely buy clothes and when we do try and buy in charity shops, recycle, mend things rather than replacing (very lucky that DH is good at mending things), buy lots of things secondhand rather than new, use the car as little as possible, turn lights off (in the evenings we just have one small lamp in the living room, the rest of the house in darkness), have very quick showers etc.

But even if everyone did all that, and they won't, will it have any real effect?

“ChardonnaysPrettySister

It's not only the developing world as in their governments though, it's us, the consumers here who buy what they produce and who then ship our rubbish there.”

But that’s us, the consumers, as in the world wide population. You stop buying clothes tomorrow what about demand from the French? Spanish? Japanese? Indians? Thai?

I’m not trying to be defeatist but it’s really easy to say WE NEED TO CHANGE I’m going to stop eating meat, and feel really good about it, but when it makes zero difference to the situation isnt it just a distraction?

This subject has worried me so very much for sometime that I feel a complete sense of panic when I think about it. I really feel we are at a point of no return. How can we change this beautiful planet when so, so many people are in denial/uneducated or just not caring what happens to it. So many times I’ll say ‘It’s unseasonably hot/cold isn’t it?’ only for people to reply ‘well, if that’s global warming for you, bring it in, haha!!’. So many people just do not care because they don’t believe it’s happening. I had this conversation (row!) with dh and his friends the other day and they will not believe this is happening, apparently this is just the cycle of life, hot times/cold times! We have such a major battle on our hands, I just don’t think we will change peoples views. So many people I know flick the heating on the minute it turns cold, have hot baths every night (the whole family), always flush the toilet/leave taps running etc, use single use items (don’t even get me going on drive through coffee places!), drive gas guzzling vehicles, fly regularly, eat meat for every meal, leave lights on every room/lights on outside etc. I could go on and on as I’m very passionate about this but depressingly I feel it’s a lost cause, especially as governments don’t get on board, there is so much they can do, for instance stop food manufacturers double/triple wrapping every bloody food item and making stores switch their lights of through the night or stop them having heating pumping out of the bloody front doors when they are wide open- grrrr!

www.earthday.org/2018/10/08/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-ipcc-climate-report/

@cherrypavolova we are leading the way though aren’t we? In terms of environment, you can’t pump toxic materials into rivers here or toxic fumes into the environment.

You can in many other countries

In terms of reducing consumption to set and example to “the third world” how? Without being massively patronising? Cheap technology and equipment has transformed the third world. How can we expect them to follow our example and take it away because we don’t need 32 pairs of jeans and new clothes every payday? It’s not the same thing really is it?

@mydogisthebest

Thanks for the link. I knew it would happen but didn’t realise it was already happening. One of the reasons I voted remain.

The cynical part of me thinks it’s personal greed driving it but actually it is our MPs knowing how hard it’s going to be economically after Brexit

I do personally feel that it is too late. I still do as much as I can in my own way, but I find it shocking that young people in particular seem very ignorant of what is going on. The amount of waste and conspicuous consumerism for its own sake is horrific. We are all very spoilt in the West and time is running out. The recent programme on plastics in the ocean on TV a couple of weeks ago was just absolutely shocking. There is so much plastic in the sea now it will be there for thousands of years probably, and it is being added to every day. Fish are all full of plastic particles which we are ingesting. It's terrifying. There needs to be a blanket ban on plastic production across the world, and that is never going to happen, is it?
I was given a drink with four straws in it the other day. I asked if they were biodegradable. The person serving looked shocked, and said they didn't know. One of the other staff piped up 'yes they are, but you are the only person who has ever asked'. Why?

Sort of Capri . we're still pretty happy to import cheap clothing that has been produced in countries that destroy their environment (pump bleach into rivers etc). And we use a lot of plastic then export the waste to developing countries to danage their environments instead of ours. Our environmental protection laws are pretty good (thanks to the EU ironically) but we outsource a lot of damage.

Exactly barbarian! That’s my whole point. And how can we stop that? The only way is to legislate against it, and at the moment I just don’t see that as being a realistic prospect (and for good reason really)

Interestingly the company I work for have just done a huge consumer survey on this and it appears that most people believe that large companies and governments will fix this for them.

So maybe that's why people don't want to talk about it. The problem is enormous so it's comforting to get someone else to deal with it.

we are leading the way though aren’t we? In terms of environment, you can’t pump toxic materials into rivers here or toxic fumes into the environment

Leading the way? don't make me laugh! we ve some of the most polluted cities and towns in Europe- what do you think comes out of your cars exhaust? rose water?
Shockingly poor re cycling rates and much ends up in the 3rd world or land fill.

We also litter on an industrial scale.

People don't give a fcuk about the planet or climate change and only will when it impacts on their lives.

It is not the 3rd World that has put us where we are now but us, the West.

The best thing anyone can do is not have children, so must users of mumsnet have already haven't exactly helped matters

Yes, dh is convinced that the big energy problems are going to sort it all out so we switch to renewables. I mean, maybe he’s right; they will do it as soon as they can be sure they’ll make a fat profit OR if they realise they can no longer profit from fossil fuels. My biggest worry for the planet at the moment is Trump.

And his views on climate change I mean. Obviously his presidency is worrying in other ways too though.

Stonebake thank you for the reminder about over-population, I tend to blame the first thing I see and that's gobs and gobs of humans.

I eat a plant-based diet almost exclusively, very good for my health, pocketbook and delicious. I recycle like a maniac, and next summer will try growing some food. Where I live, we're allowed to have chickens within city limits but not sure how well that would go down with my neighbors.

ohello

You’re most welcome !

someone mentioned up thread of 'getting off this planet and colonising another one' . humans have managed to cock one up big time then moan about, a lot of people don't give a toss anyway, then there are those of us who want to do our bit for our dc and dgc.
But... who's to say moving to another planet doesn't mean that mistakes won't happen again and we'd trash that ? nature will survive but it's humans that are the problem, animals aren't consumers of cars, fast fashion et al.

I didn’t say that the third world put us where we are, I said we can not make a meaningful impact on the planet NOW with the third world continuing to to manufacture the way they do now (and yes, they are servicing the consumer demands of the rest of the world, not themselves)

Honestly, if the litter problems in the U.K. were solved tomorrow it wouldn’t have an impact on the demise of the planet

I personally don’t think ‘ordinary’ people will ever make it to another planet. I imagine it will be the preserve of the super rich, if it happens at all.

Germany went 100% renewable energy a few years ago, and I think a few other countries are close to that. Wish more countries would follow suit, especially China and the US. Germany makes enough energy in 6 months to power the entire year!

www.independent.co.uk/environment/renewable-energy-germany-six-months-year-solar-power-wind-farms-a8427356.html

I was a bit surprised to realise we had done most of the things being recommended for individuals. Electric vehicles, reduced number of flights per year from around a dozen to more like 2, only eat meat once a week, if that, and only had one child. Can't claim much moral high ground on the important one, the having only one child, as this was a result of mental breakdown more than ethical decision.

Clothes and plastic tat are the things we could still have a go at. We tend as a family to wear clothes till they fall apart, but given how infrequently we shop for clothes we could attempt be more environmentally concerned when purchasing.

I think everyone should first and foremost look to their christmas present piles this year. Your kids might want a pile of goodies now but in 20 years time they are going to be cursing every single unnecessary item for the shit its dumped them in.

Ditch the plastic tat!

@Caprisunorange

I watched the Stacey Dooley show and I'm a little bit releived to say that her documentary was very one sided.

There is an ENORMOUS amount still to do but the clothing industry is genuinely making changes.

If you google ZDHC, the greenpeace Detox campaign, Better Cotton Initiative or what Soex is doing with H&M you'd get a more balanced view.

The problem is, people don't ask for this stuff because they don't know about it, often because shows like Stacey Dooley's choose not to cover it. And I suspect I am correct in using the word 'choose' although I only have anecdotal evidence.

If consumers demand BCI cotton and proof that companies are recycling their old product, the market will respond.

No more £5 Pretty Little Thing dresses though!