If it’s that bad, why aren’t we panicking more??

[Nightgardenisodd]

Climate change.
I keep reading posts about it and it’s scaring the crap out of me for my DD’s future.
How bad is it? Anyone have any positivity about it?

I fear that if the problem is not taken seriously internationally, by governments, that the general attitude is likely to be that it either can’t be as serious as they say, or, if it is, then best to enjoy life as much as you can before you die in the inferno or flood. It really is farcical to tie people’s ability to survive to their ability to earn money, and then tell individual people they have the power to fix things and make big business change its polluting ways. Like hell they do in a global, capitalist economy. Who deliberately trashes the industry which provides them with the income they live on when they will effectively just be punished for it by becoming unemployed/losing their retirement income/going bust? That’s like expecting everyone to isolate without furlough pay.

I agree I dont think its fair necessarily to tell people they should only have 1 child or no children but I think 2 is reasonable. But its just advice, it's not making people do anything.

Something needs to be done around awareness of having too many children in this climate, theres a thread right now about wanting a 3rd child and the ones encouraging the 3rd child arent even considering the environmental impact.

I don't see any limit on children in this country being enforced as it couldn't be done ethically, so I think the best anyone can do is strongly advise people to consider the environment and make people aware that a decision to have a 3rd/4th/5th child is contributing to the potential threat to humanity.

It can't be that bad though. No government seems to care so much as to put any serious messages across.

I and millions of others have become accustomed to a life full of luxury fuelled by consumerism. Nobody really wants to say goodbye to that.

I think there should definitely be a strong message to stuck to a max of 2 DC though, for so many reasons

man won't be satisfied until everything has gone,,& then he still won't be satisfied

individual consumerism has been driven and manipulated by businesses, for over a century, getting increasingly worse. And for about a century there has been a practice of intentional limited life spans of goods - hence huge piles of rubbish - for the benefit of increasing profits. It isn't individuals driving consumerism. It is consumers being manipulated and also forced to buy things with limited lifespans as nothing else available.

Biodiversity in the sea has dramatically reduced and we are on track to have a sea full of nothing but jellyfish in about 80 years... Acidification from pollution from oil, plastic, piles of junk and fishing practices which involve huge numbers of ocean life not suitable for eating being caught and thrown back into the sea dead.

Some governments are acting in other parts of the world, but not enough - to turn things back would mean to get rid of entire huge industries which have basically dominated politics. There is also probably a lack of awareness of how bad it is - cabinet ministers will not necessarily have much more understanding than your average person because you have to really look to find the info - we just get the stark warnings, no specifics about what needs to be done about industries and consumerism - and there is no incentive for industries to spread the word.

Trying to push responsibility onto individuals is going to do very little other than cause tension between the individuals who want to live differently and those who don't

It's not a bad thing though if we don't last as a species...it serves us right. We have the knowledge and capability to form a great sustainable civilisation on earth and we have royally spaffed our opportunity up the wall. Lets hope we can change before it's too late.

Quite why people want large families is beyond me for different reasons but that is for another thread!

There are threads where people are asking if they should have the 3rd or 4th child 🙄 which I find extraordinary this week. We stopped at 2 don’t expect me to endorse some randomers decision to add to over population because sorry (not sorry) I’m in no mood this week to gush how marvellous large families are 🙄.

@MsTSwift - there is inconsistency in the messaging over children and families, though - China already has a massive population, but has had to reverse its one-child policy, because an ageing, shrinking society is not sustainable. So, after reducing births, you are then looking at ways of reducing numbers of elderly, infirm or otherwise vulnerable for the notion of population reduction to be viable, which makes the idea seem somewhat less appealing.

man won't be satisfied until everything has gone,,& then he still won't be satisfied

Capitalism won't be satisfied until everything has gone,,& then it still won't be satisfied

I and millions of others have become accustomed to a life full of luxury fuelled by consumerism. Nobody really wants to say goodbye to that.
In a nutshell. I was a sixties child and our lifestyle was far greener than most people's now..

It's not just births that contribute to a growing population.

People live longer too.

@derxa

I and millions of others have become accustomed to a life full of luxury fuelled by consumerism. Nobody really wants to say goodbye to that. In a nutshell. I was a sixties child and our lifestyle was far greener than most people's now..

The Boomers hit the jackpot as a generation. It looks bleak for the younger folk now.

Serious question, but is there any benefit to continuing the human race. I'm sure our peak achievements are behind us in terms of culture, art, music, invention. Short of repopulating another planet, I can't see much point having billions of us roaming. I'd reward those with no children .

Well it depends how much you like people. There’s no point to us really - also no point to orangutans or bees.

Well if you can't see any point hope you weren't advocating for lockdowns to save people's lives then, should of let covid rip through the population around the world.

If they couldnt get together to stop nuclear weapons, isnt a chance in hell for this.

Bees polinate and spread nature

The thing is orangutangs and bees live harmoniously with nature within their ecological niche whereas we don't.
It's bizarre to be alive at this time in our history when we are aware of our own destruction.

Vote!

😂

@Dreamstate

Well we have peolle here telling other people that they shouldn't have children whilst they have had multiple children themselves

Don't you see how utterly disgusting that is. So you want other people to stop doing the very thing you've done.

Deny other people the experience of having children because all of a sudden your concerned about the environment

And if as some others say there are too many people on the planet then wasn't covid the right time to depopulate then? Instead people didn't want anyone to die.

So you eveb listen to yourselves when you spiut utter tripe like that

Thats not really a whole lot different from Attenborough though is it?

He has spent his life time travelling to the most environmentally fragile parts of the world, with a big film crew - he is/was still doing it when climate change was well known about.

But now tells us all we can't!

However, that doesn't make his and others message on CC any less valid.
Anyhow, the UK's birth rate is the lowest on record @ 1.6 kids, so we are in decline.

We need to keep having kids but maybe we don't all need more than 2, let alone 7 or 8 as some have.

A few million dying of CV makes zero difference, as well you should know.

@derxa

I and millions of others have become accustomed to a life full of luxury fuelled by consumerism. Nobody really wants to say goodbye to that. In a nutshell. I was a sixties child and our lifestyle was far greener than most people's now..

Odd that, i seem to recall the UK was called the Dirty Man of Europe in the 70s and 80s? such was our terrible pollution, river and air quality was shockingly bad. The Thames was little more than an open sewer and industrial waste poured out into the N. Sea.

Our generation used far less plastics than now but the polution we put up in the atmosphere is whats causing the changes we all see now.

I think Caroline Lucas had a tweet earlier this week where she said something along the lines of we will be the first species to monitor our own destruction. That feels exactly like what we are doing.

Odd that, i seem to recall the UK was called the Dirty Man of Europe in the 70s and 80s? such was our terrible pollution, river and air quality was shockingly bad. The Thames was little more than an open sewer and industrial waste poured out into the N. Sea.Our generation used far less plastics than now but the polution we put up in the atmosphere is whats causing the changes we all see now.
I can't disagree with that I should have posted on the thread about things we can do personally to help the environment. The 'sacrifices' people are talking about seem a bit laughable. I don't think people want to wake up to frost on the inside of windows, little consumer choice, no foreign travel etc.

It will take government control and centralisation of the level we had in WW2. People wont accept that and will spout the same old cold war propaganda bullshit whilst the water is around their neck.