Climate change: just how f***ed are we?

[obsessedwithsleep]

Obviously it's on my mind at the moment and it seems that nothing of any significance is being done. Like we're just watching those juggernaut come down the road and not even trying to the move the car.

Anyway, as the title says: how awful will the future be? What is the most likely degree rise by 2100? What does this actually mean in reality?

Would love to hear people's thoughts and wisdom.

I agree with all the points about the dire state of things on this thread but thank you to the posters who are pointing out that all is not lost and advocating ways to change. The problem with climate doom is that it creates an inaction born of anxiety, exemplified by the term "we're fucked". We need to have hope and to understand (and get behind) what can be changed.

Also, the idea that eg an individual recycling their stuff means nothing always comes up but one thing we all have with enormous clout is a vote. MPs don't appear to be taking this seriously but they will if voters show that they do. I'd hope!

Absolutely. Just wait until one million try and cross the channel each year.

It’s East and West dearie.

In my opinion, this current brand of apocalyptic environmentalism doesn’t help much. Lots of ‘we’re fucked’ and ‘the planet is burning’ and few actual solutions. This type of language pushes away as many people as it attracts, and creates a siloed mudslinging culture which benefits no one except the corrupt and super-rich.

Fast fashion, I have 5 year old Primark T-shirts, how are they fast fashion? DH has jeans and T-shirts that are 25 years old.
Not everyone has a brilliant bus service and can WFH.
Someone is making loads of money.
People will also die this winter from the cold.

I would love to be wrong but I think it is far too late to do anything and we are totally fucked.

Me and DH decided 40 years ago not to have children because we thought then that the planet was overpopulated. We also thought the world was pretty shit and it has got shittier and shittier over those years. We are both so glad we chose not to have children.

I worry about the future my nieces and nephews will likely face and, the even worse future any children they may have, will face.

We do have an ageing population but I would bet, if asked, quite a lot of them would opt for euthanasia. We keep so many people alive long after they have anything like any quality of life.

My dad lived to be 94. He had always been active, walked miles (he never drove), kept his large garden immaculate etc. By the time he died he was completely bed bound, incontinent, suffering from dementia. I lost count of how many times he said he didn't want to be alive. He started saying that around the age of 85 before the dementia and incontinence. He wasn't bed bound then but he could barely walk.

I am 68 and am honestly petrified at the thought of living to be really old. I don't want to end up in a care home having to wear nappies. I want to know that when I feel I have had enough I can do something about it

Lots of solutions but it takes guts to implement any of them

Insulate homes for free : paid back on home sale
Reduce speed limit
Free public transport
Ration meat and dairy
Ration international flights
Ultra high taxes on any goods created with dirty electricity

@mydogisthebest I think you were wise and prescient in not having DC. I probably should have done that too, but I think I just blotted out all talk of climate change some 20 years ago. My DC say they won't be having any children; we shall have to see.

@MagicFox, I totally agree about voting for change but all our electorate is obsessed with is fucking tax cuts. They can't see the wood for the burning trees unfortunately 😩

2 days of hyped up heat, is it really that big a deal?

China calls itself communist, but isn't (I think that's probably obvious to most people but there are lots of great resources out there if not.)

And why the lol at the term state capitalism? It's a widely understood one which describes a state - of any political format - which undertakes business or commercial activities for profit . In doing so, it treats - must treat - the humans that are its primary resource just as democratic capitalism does: it mines their labour for profit. (Their market is usually external, ie other capitalist countries - though China's new internal market demonstrates capitalism's relentless drive to growth, even when that growth might bring about its host's ideological demise.)

Your post is exemplary. In the narrative of people like you, who usually have an investment of one kind or another in heading off any serious analysis of its overall utility, capitalism must be presented as simply "common sense". Alternatives - even the mere idea of serious people getting together to seriously consider alternative ways of living - become not just unnecessary but unthinkable. How we do things now is simply common sense.

But it's not. It's not 'common' anything, though that's its best lie.

Nor is it sense. When you look through the prism we are all looking through on this thread, it looks fucking insane, tbh.

Seriously? It’s 2022 and there are actually still people in denial about climate change?

Where has the free cavity wall insulation gone? We got free cavity wall in the 90’s. Also still have the rubbish energy efficient lightbulbs given free too.
There needs to be more done about built in obsolescence. Products needs to be repairable. There use to be businesses that repaired products.
Cars my DH use to be able to fix it, now everything is on a computer.

Scary that these deniers are likely to have kids!

I feel sorry for those poor kids

Just before I fuck off, @Discovereads: my entire point is that the dominant systems of the present and the past are universally inhumane in that they are or were dependent upon - powered by - inequality. One of those systems - capitalism -is going to kill us all, quite soon. We need something which isn't how things have previously been done. I know you are finding that hard to compute.

If you are looking for a possible path forward, you could do worse than look at the writings of Bordiga.

Ah, critical thinking. As endangered as orangutans, these days.

Bordiga? and his proposed theory of legalising cartels…only he calls it “Trade Union Communes” where all the owners of the corporations in the same industry get to collude on self-regulation and fix prices instead of a competitive market. Such a proposed system would result in even faster/greater economic growth because the consumer and government would lose all their powers to reign in corporate power. This is a system based increasing inequality by empowering corporations to be ascendant over consumer demand and government regulation.

I think what’s interesting about this heatwave is that you can see the same people who were incapable of acting in the interest of the broader population also pretend that isn’t a symptom of climate change. A significant minority of people are simply unable to think and act in the interests of others. Those people will have to be forced into action and sadly some of them wield significant power across the world. The rest of us will have to do something. A very significant amount of climate change is now inevitable, but it’s not too late to change and adapt.

I do wonder if China’s heatwaves might lead to a change in chinese government policy, which might be world changing.

“And why the lol at the term state capitalism?”

Because communism is not state capitalism. You don’t even know the basic definitions of capitalism or communism. Profit has fuck all to do with it.

I have no agenda, no narrative, but you obviously do have a narrative you are regurgitating with little to no understanding of the terminology you are employing.

I do wonder if China’s heatwaves might lead to a change in chinese government policy, which might be world changing.

That would be excellent. Maybe they could also think about the impact of war on climate change and have a word with Russia while reining in their own ambitions re Taiwan at the same time!

I do think there needs to be a huge high level change like this

But it's happening globally. Hot countries are getting hotter, water storage is failing. 2 days here this year, maybe 4 next year then a week the year after. At what point do we say enough.

Nah, my conspiracy theory is that Russia & China are in this together. China had the first pop at the world economy with Covid & just as that finished Russia picks a fight with Ukraine. I think this is a group effort to take over.

tttigress

2 days of hyped up heat, is it really that big a deal?

Are you really that thick or just trying to wind people up?

Yes on the NHS point we can’t keep going as we are, there need to be some tough conversations and sooner rather than later.
If to fund it properly means ever increasing taxation on a demographic that will be far more affected by climate change than the one we are subsidising, we should be clear on what it means. What is quality of life for a lot of those under NHS care long term? What should we be prioritising? I can see why politicians endlessly put it off.

@WaveyHair yes they're in it together, they've said as much. A friendship without limits. Russia, China and Iran are in a gross ménage a trois