Fears for the future and children

[Archie1989]

I have a lot of anxiety for what is happening in the world, and this gives me a lot of fear for my son in future, that he will live through awful times due to climate change impacts and then anxiety for human nature….things like the advance of the Taliban and those poor people being left to deal with it.

Me and my husband have been trying to have a second child…..but the last month has left me questioning this. What would that child have to live through and is it selfish to bring another child into the world. I feel selfish for bringing my son into the world, knowing the heartache and difficulties he will live in due to the effects of climate change.

AIBU for worrying so much?

@GoodMorrowFairMaiden your DCs sound awesome.

That is how we should be bringing up our children - peddling a “we’re doomed for extinction” attitude is a recipe for despair (as well as scientifically inaccurate).

Human extinction means every single human being being wiped out entirely and utterly. This is extremely unlikely

That's what we like to think, but it's sheer arrogance.

No, human extinction is nowhere near imminent. We have millions of years to go. Humans have already survived much more extreme climate changes to include atmospheres with much higher CO2. The current climate changes are not going to kill every last human on the planet. What utter idiocy. And yes I do blame you peddling doomsaying online where vulnerable teens can read it and go suicidal. I’m not point scoring, I’m stating fact. Your scaremongering is actually scaring impressionable young people to be suicidal. That’s something you should seriously think about because yes, you have free speech but you need to think about the consequences and impacts of what you say.

@Qwerty789 you sound almost gleeful about the prospect of extinction, with that same desperate conviction that a conspiracy theorist has.

Yes, fewer children is a reasonable response. Life is going to change dramatically for our kids. We can’t predict exactly what will happen in detail, and we can’t conclude life won’t be worth living for absolutely everyone. I’m trying to bring up my kids to be responsible, if I create two tree hugging activists I’ll consult a job well done.

For the next few hundred years I think it'll be more about nations fighting over dwindling resources - clean water and fertile land. Human life will go on (until it doesn't) but life will look quite different.

Climate change is already forcing humans out of certain parts of the plant...now imagine if everything within a thousand miles of the equator became too hot to grow crops and raise livestock. How many climate refugees would that force to the north and south? A few billion? Theres going to be a lot of people crammed in to not much space.

Good piece on the NYT about this:

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/23/magazine/climate-migration.html

We are a pretty disgusting, greedy, all consuming form of life and unless we all stop eating meat, dont fly anywhere, give up our reliance on oil, stop the cycle of perpetual growth to shareholders and come up with some really smart ideas very quickly, I think we're doomed. (FYI - we wont do any of these things)

But there ya go!

People may not like the doomsday thinking, but it’s the only way to make people change, surely? As Greta Thunberg said, act as if your house is on fire. It is an emergency and not treating it like an emergency will mean we’re being too slow to act

Are we being unrealistic though by expecting the climate to stay the same temperature when almost everything else is in constant change ?
What about the Ice Age ?
Life evolved but it didn't stop, it carried on.
Fear is only imaginery, we had access to so much information now, but how accurate is it ? Who knows for sure ?
I personally don't watch the tv, ever, or pay much attention to the news. I feel a lot better mentally for it. Life is so short and l refuse to waste it in a constant state of fear. P!us you inadvertently pass those fears on to your children.
Life is for living, there is an excellent series of short beautifully filmed videos on YouTube called Green Renaissance, so good for the soul. Each tells a different story by people who have found the real meaning of life.

Actually many studies have shown that fear isn’t a great motivator @Archie1989. Look up the phenomenon of learned helplessness.

I read that when Christina Figueres (the architect of the Paris Agreement) was working on the best way to get countries to engage, she avoided using fear as a tool - she said it only makes people feel helpless and less inclined to act.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/17/exxon-oil-drilling-guyana-disaster-risk

So glad I don't have children.

@PlanDeRaccordement

No, human extinction is nowhere near imminent. We have millions of years to go. Humans have already survived much more extreme climate changes to include atmospheres with much higher CO2. The current climate changes are not going to kill every last human on the planet. What utter idiocy. And yes I do blame you peddling doomsaying online where vulnerable teens can read it and go suicidal. I’m not point scoring, I’m stating fact. Your scaremongering is actually scaring impressionable young people to be suicidal. That’s something you should seriously think about because yes, you have free speech but you need to think about the consequences and impacts of what you say.

No-one said it was imminent, but that also depends on your definition of imminent.

The consequences of what we say might be to shake people like you from their idiotic complacency. If you're not scared, you're not paying attention.

The number one thing we can do to reduce climate change is to stop re-producing. So if you feel that strongly, then don’t have another.

@Moonface123

Are we being unrealistic though by expecting the climate to stay the same temperature when almost everything else is in constant change ? What about the Ice Age ? Life evolved but it didn't stop, it carried on. Fear is only imaginery, we had access to so much information now, but how accurate is it ? Who knows for sure ? I personally don't watch the tv, ever, or pay much attention to the news. I feel a lot better mentally for it. Life is so short and l refuse to waste it in a constant state of fear. P!us you inadvertently pass those fears on to your children. Life is for living, there is an excellent series of short beautifully filmed videos on YouTube called Green Renaissance, so good for the soul. Each tells a different story by people who have found the real meaning of life.

But never has it changed so much...

This chart is an excellent illustration

xkcd.com/1732/

@Hyperion100 that illustration is powerful. I hope people who don’t think this is an imminent issue take it in

@Hyperion100 thanks for that link, shows the change so clearly

I think the biggest threat is over population. It terrifies me when I see the rate the world population is growing at. For some prople it's climate change. For others terrorism. I think they are all valid fears and threats to our way of life.

@Hyperion100
Please stop posting that ridiculous cartoon from a Black Livres Matter website. It is not reflective of the actual temperature changes through prehistory and history.

Try reading the The Geological Society of London’s Statement on Climate Change too. It says specifically that the planet has warmed just as fast before and we survived. I’m not saying climate change isn’t real or not a problem. All I am saying is that humans will survive it as we have before.
euanmearns.com/the-geological-society-of-londons-statement-on-climate-change/

There is plenty to be hopeful about.

For example, we currently have the technology to convert CO2 to oxygen. Look up MOXIE. It’s an experiment on the Mars Rover that has been done and was successful.

It’s currently taking CO2 out of the atmosphere on Mars and converting it to oxygen. Imagine bigger versions built all over Earth. It can be done. Probably will be. We don’t have to live with the CO2 already produced. We can reduce our carbon footprint AND deploy MOXIES to further reduce CO2.

mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/instruments/moxie/

@Viviennemary

I think the biggest threat is over population. It terrifies me when I see the rate the world population is growing at. For some prople it's climate change. For others terrorism. I think they are all valid fears and threats to our way of life.

Does it terrify you? Well, birth rates have dropped off a cliff and the declining birth rate is rather big threat to our lives...

www.irishtimes.com/news/science/reducing-world-population-may-be-a-bad-idea-1.4461284

[quote PlanDeRaccordement]Try reading the The Geological Society of London’s Statement on Climate Change too. It says specifically that the planet has warmed just as fast before and we survived. I’m not saying climate change isn’t real or not a problem. All I am saying is that humans will survive it as we have before.
euanmearns.com/the-geological-society-of-londons-statement-on-climate-change/[/quote]
It's late so forgive me - but isn't that report from 2010 and sponsored by the oil industry?