I am terrified of the climate emergency but more terrified by how ambivalent others seem to be about it!

[CopperPatch]

Just that really, I see people sharing things on social media, commenting on threads, talking about climate change etc but actually changing their lives very, very little - or finding ways to justify not taking action.... it is not scaremongering, it is not a fear project, our planet will no longer sustain human life because of us but so, so many people seem to not care, or only care on a surface level - great click bait but changing their lives in any way seems a step to far. Yes we need wide-scale political and economic shifts but we also need every day action from every day people - and that is EVERYONE'S responsibility!!!! AIBU to expect more of everyone?!

Yep I've voted Green several times.

@ChardonnaysPrettySister
You say we have learned to tame our environment, I say we have learned to exploit it in the short term without any regard for the long term damage we are inflicting, the way they tame performing animals, with abuse.

But none of us would be here to talk about this if we hadn’t found a way to tame - maybe “manage” is a better word - our environment. We all almost certainly wouldn’t be here, our kids probably wouldn’t have survived and those of us who did make it would probably be living lives of unimaginable hardship.

Nature isn't a kind and gentle cuddly animal. It is absolutely brutal, and it is nothing short of a miracle that we found a way to use fossil fuels to create the incredible standard of living we enjoy today.

Humanity is just as brutal, if not worse. What is worse is the greed. We are greed driven to the point of destruction.

Manage is not the word as well, we aren’t managing anything, we are blundering and destroying.

Using —and abusing—for our own benefit might be a better choice of word. It’s suitably one sided and not considerate.

Yes but Jilly that can only be short lived as we are so destructive, greedy and ruthless, we are not managing our environment we are totally abusing and wrecking it.

Yes but Jilly that can only be short lived as we are so destructive, greedy and ruthless

But it’s not us aka the plebs it’s the sociopaths who are in charge who only care about themselves and their profits. The type of people who end up with all the power are much more likely to be sociopaths.

Well @Heshimiracle and @ChardonnaysPrettySister, you are both expressing a negative viewpoint about humanity that is currently very fashionable. And of course you’re fully entitled to hold that viewpoint and seek out more and more information that will corroborate this viewpoint - there’s plenty of it out there. But I can’t see how it helps you or anyone else.

In the midst of all the gloom and doom, however, bear in mind that global poverty levels have halved in the last 20 years. A great deal of that is to do with massive local and international aid projects, technological advancement and access to cheap, efficient energy. These advancements would not have been possible without “human greed” and our drive and determination to make hostile environments inhabitable.

Anyway I’ve just cone across an excellent article (below) that expresses exactly what I’m trying to say about a balanced perspective on all this: What society is currently failing to offer children is belief in humanity – that we have the capacity to make the world a safer and better place.. Some very good tips for all of us, perhaps.

www.spiked-online.com/2019/07/24/how-to-teach-kids-about-climate-without-scaring-them-stiff/

the truth is that none of us would last a week without them

Yup. Silly people on this thread and their naturalist fantasies. Let’s all go back to churning our own butter and patching up our socks we cannot sustain our current population without access to cheap fossil fuels.

One of the main issues is this line of reasoning that there is no point doing anything because of big business/china/USA/[insert excuse here].

If we just all took every step we feel able to take that would be a massive step in the right direction. The reality is we need to make this a way of living and buy ourselves more time to try to come up with other solutions.

I shall continue doing everything we can and hope that it is normalised as a way of behaving.

Yes, Mango well said. The miracle of light and heating at the touch of a button, hot water always on tap, safe reliable cooking facilities, refrigeration... we could not have our hospitals, medical capabilities, transportation system, offices, schools, roads, entertainment, factories, laboratories, internet any of it, without a) fossil fuels and b) human ingenuity. I know how cheesy this sounds but sometimes when I think about how god-awful life was (and still is) for the vast majority of people through the vast majority of human history I feel overwhelmed with gratitude to have been born when and where I was born.

It’s so strange that it has become fashionable to completely decry fossil fuels when we all literally owe our lives to them!

Well we did, but its now the case in the UK that the renewable energy capacity is greater than fossil fuel capacity.

Well we did, but its now the case in the UK that the renewable energy capacity is greater than fossil fuel capacity.

Well then that’s great. And again speaks to the fact that we ARE acting and that we WILL find solutions.

In the meantime we all move forward gently, not panicking, not making our kids panic, but doing the bit that we can do and genuinely appreciating what we’ve got.

That’s it, really.

All all the “advancements” got us where?

To the point of ecological catastrophe which endangers our own existence as human race.

So, you are entitled to your opinion, of course, and life might have been god awful as you claim, but it might not be much better in the future.

Humans are not above nature, we are part of it, as are the polar bears you so helpfully mentioned above, and we depend on it for our survival.

In the meantime we all move forward gently, not panicking, not making our kids panic, but doing the bit that we can do and genuinely appreciating what we’ve got.

Or, slightly tweaked - "in the meantime we all move forward recognising that this is an ongoing problem, stepping up our efforts to be part of the solution and not part of the problem and doing as much as we can and genuinely appreciating what we've got and acting so that our children and grandchildren can also have decent standards of living."

I drive a 1ltr low emission car because I need it and it massively improves me and my children's lives. Like hell am I giving it up when I see the amount of huge range rovers and other unnecessary 'look at me I'm such high status' vehicles on the road every day (and these people often drive like idiots and think they own the road), I won't be made guilty for not using the bloody bus with two young kids.

Many people can't afford to buy clothes anywhere other than cheap places like primark where they need replacing a lot.

We don't go on holiday abroad because I don't see the point with young kids who prefer their own beds at night, It's the well off who are destroying the world.

It's the well off who are destroying the world.

I’m not sure I agree. For one thing, who is “the well off”? By global standards most of us are in the category.

There’s also plenty of evidence the wealthier a nation becomes, the more concerned it becomes about impact on the environment. You have to have achieved a certain standard of living to have the time or the interest to even begin to care about melting ice caps.

It's the well off who are destroying the world

If you earn over £14k you’re in the global elite top 4% of earners so minimum wage earners in U.K. must be included in your divisive comment. Why does Mumsnet always come back to rich and poor. Such a chip on some people’s shoulders but not everyone can be a brain surgeon sadly.

And you’re also wrong. China India and Russia have half the global population and are amongst the worst contributors to CO2 with the other being USA of course. Most of their inhabitants live in far worse poverty than U.K. minimum wage and without any of the benefits either.

Many people can't afford to buy clothes anywhere other than cheap places like primark where they need replacing a lot.

Or need a car to get to their shift job in the rural area which is where they can afford rent and cannot afford an electric car or the like. I shop in Primark and do not throw away clothes, it's not 'throw away fashion' for a lot of people.

Man-made climate change is almost certainly real, and a serious threat to our children’s future. The only question is, what do we do about it?

[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jul/24/scientific-consensus-on-humans-causing-global-warming-passes-99]

Many people can't afford to buy clothes anywhere other than cheap places like primark where they need replacing a lot.

And many people could change their attitude and not need a new outfit for every duck face pout on Insta and not need the little pick me up of returning from town every Saturday with several large paper bags full of cheap looking junk clothing made in appealing conditions by children and or practical slaves, by one of the most polluting industries on the planet

But no, it’s the companies and the rich to blame

Better look up cobalt mining

www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jul/24/scientific-consensus-on-humans-causing-global-warming-passes-99

Plenty of people are not using Primark for that sort of thing, Short. They use it to clothe their backs and their children's backs because it's what they can afford. And for all the 'Buy secondhand' brigade, you don't always find what you need at the moment in charity shops/on Ebay.

Some of my Primark clothes have lasted 10 years or more. I don't really buy any clothes now apart from shoes and underwear, I have enough to last me.

I am vegan, have never owned or driven a car, one child, buy second hand where possible, recycle everything, very energy efficient, don't buy much, go abroad every 3 years, live a lovely simple life, earn 13k (so not global elite). I still ask myself all the time what more can I do? I don't worry about it because I think I'm doing all I can do.

earn 13k (so not global elite)

Our planet and equality are not a joking matter. You are very wealthy. Give your money to the true poor of the world as you would have your perception of ‘the wealthy’ do, or be a hypocrite.

Afghanistan average annual wage is £400. If you think you’re doing all you can by choosing a preferred diet of pulses and other slip, then you’re very much mistaken.

If we all do a little bit then it adds up to do something big.
Ok, you don't want to give up your car...fine but why not recycle or have a meat free day / week etc?
You can't be bothered to recycle? So walk to the corner shop instead of driving.
All these small things add up to something bigger.
Although i do find it odd that we as a society cannot give up our cars but moan when our kids get asthma, run over or increase in obesity as they hardly walk. It's like we have somehow lost the ability to see cause and effect; probably very lucrative for big business that we lack this awareness.