Does this weather change your attitude to climate change?

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It seems like everyone is taking about the weather but no one is thinking about their own personal responsibility to climate change as a result, AIBU to think we are all abdicating responsibility while we can see the dramatic effects all around us? I feel sometimes like in the only one concerned

Thanks for your views. I think in all of us there is an inherent selfishness so we deny it so we don't have to change our lives and feel guilty or we think e are inconsequential. Personally I'm really frustrated the Labour Party seemed to have drawn back in this space, we need some really leadership not compromised by sponsorship from carbon polluting giant companies.

I do what I can, haven't flown for 17 years but just me isn't going to make a difference, but I guess me trying to, normalises it and tries to create a culture where we start to bear collective responsibility. I dunt know how we can influence big business without also holding out politicians to account and until we change the culture around us, its not a popular message

I’ll repeat whilst I do not agree with what Biden did, do you think him not doing that as a token gesture (your words) makes ANY difference to the “urgent looming catastrophe”.

Or, he gets taken out and Trump the climate change denier is President - what a result for COP eh?!

I do wonder about people’s critical thinking skills sometimes. I don’t view world leaders as some great god who I must follow everything they do. I am able to distinguish between the person, the symbolism of the role, and what part I do or don’t play.

@Freshair1 But I do have morals. I care a lot about the environment and about other people. But there's something off about this. The very people who are telling us that the doomsday apocalypse is right around the corner are not changing their own behaviours in any way; rather, they are trying to condemn the poor and elderly to sit in freezing houses and disabled and frail people to stay in their homes because they can't ride a bike. They don't want our children to leave this country. Ever. No flying. Just stay in the miserable dump you were born in and keep quiet. Meanwhile they fly overhead en route to their holiday villas. Can you explain to me why I should think this is ok? Why are the Government not curtailing the behaviours of the rich? Surely this would be the logical way to ensure resources were not squandered.

I’ll repeat whilst I do not agree with what Biden did, do you think him not doing that as a token gesture (your words) makes ANY difference to the “urgent looming catastrophe”.

No, I don't - my point is that he personally doesn't appear to believe what he is declaring to the rest of us. Not saying that he is right or wrong to have that personal opinion, but it seems a trifle unfair when he is in charge of signing off far-reaching laws off the back of it that millions of ordinary Americans have to adhere to.

Maybe he does believe it wholeheartedly, but figures that as he is old, he simply doesn't care - although he does have grandchildren, so who knows? I'm also not saying that Trump would be any better.

@FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper You are correct. It is the same as Boris and Partygate. They must lead by example. If they want us to live a certain way because it is a dire emergency, then let's see them all doing it - riding on bicycles, never going abroad, downsizing into terraced houses. Yes, I would be very impressed if they did and it would motivate me to believe in what they were saying.

I do wonder about people’s critical thinking skills sometimes.

Fair enough, so you don't think that leaders should set an example that everybody else is expected/mandated to follow? Maybe I am very simple/stupid as you seem to be implying, but I generally look at people's express behaviours as quite a handy guide as to what they really believe, especially when what they say is completely different. And that holds the same to me whether they're a market trader in Bathgate or the president of the USA.

Yes!!!! I watch documentaries/programmes (nothing to do with climate change) and when you see boats pissing oil into the ocean in the background etc you think WE (the small fry) are not the big problem here!

For a lot of people, worrying about the environment is a privilege they do not have. Someone just said on this thread that they're on their way to buy an electric car. That person has choices. I used to work with service users who are living day to day and they weren't particularly poor. There is vast amount of inequality in the UK and I'm afraid this topic is at the bottom of the pile for the ordinary man and woman.

A very good point.

Flights are a tiny, tiny proportion of the problem. Pretending that never flying will solve the crisis is simply inaccurate

@Glowie I'm fascinated by this, I'd like to share the info (Russia 4% etc)
Do you have a link?
And also Australia flies under the radar here, esp. with fossil fuels. I'd appreciate any further facts & figures for a college assignment (with a ref I can check out).

At the same time, @EddyF, the real victims are in developing countries, they are the ones suffering the worst droughts, heatwaves and floods in silence, and they live with an even lower carbon footprint than the poorest in the UK... Because even education and infrastructure has a carbon cost.
We've all got to reduce our carbon footprint. It goes without saying that if you hardly drive, and never fly, it will be lower, so you don't need to do much more to maintain your annual footprint at 2 tons of CO2e per capita per year.
No-one is going to be made super poor because of green measures.

No kids and no plans to. There's far too many humans on this planet and adding to them is what's got us to where we are.

Tbh, I can't say I'd be too worried about 75% of the human race spontaneously combusting once I'm dead lol.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-66229286

And this link about people 'celebrating' the highest temp on Earth - watch until the guy at the end.
It makes me mad that so many ~Daily Fail~ readers will think HE'S the nutcase.

Anyone else read this and impact on sea level and climate change?

Popular Mechanics:

Earth Has Tilted 31.5 Inches. That Shouldn't Happen.

Humans pumping groundwater has a substantial impact on the tilt of Earth’s rotation.
Additionally, a new study documents just how much of an influence groundwater pumping has on climate change.
Understanding this relatively recent data may provide a better understanding of how to help stave off sea-level rise.
Water has power. So much power, in fact, that pumping Earth’s groundwater can change the planet’s tilt and rotation.

Pumping groundwater appears to have a greater consequence than ever previously thought. But now—thanks to a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters—we can see that, in less than two decades, Earth has tilted 31.5 inches as a result of pumping groundwater. This equates to .24 inches of sea level rise

I completely agree with @RumandSpinach and @ohfook

I used to do "my bit" at a cost to my purse and time and effort and mental load, and have come to the same conclusion that it's all a complete waste of time unless governments and big business do something drastic and significant.

I came to the realisation that the government and local government trying to get us to reuse and recycle and use a compost bin etc etc is just a distraction at that costs only the "ordinary people", and diverts our attention away from the fact that they are pretty much doing fuck all to do anything meaningful to pull us back from the now, very obvious, blossoming climate crisis.

Totally agree with you

I also can't actually believe there are still people denying man made climate change!!

Sorry but I'm still going to travel as much as I can for long as it's affordable for business and leisure. Mostly by plane.

But

I will switch to an electric car when they become affordable and when there are enough charging stations to make it practical (I live in Scotland)

I've got solar panels and am diligent about recycling.

I only eat meat a couple of times a week.

So I'm not completely evil.

They are so heavy though and some one has to make the batteries

I don’t think electric cars are the saviour though. There isn’t enough lithium for the demand.

And the battery required to power a hgv is apparently around 7 tons!

Lazyusername

The elite, as individuals, are using up far more of the world's resources than the rest of us. Govenrments need to start with them. Show the public they are serious. Because until they do, why the hell should we all suffer? We get little enough as it is.

Well, it is true that the few wealthiest on the planet have the highest carbon footprints. Can’t argue with that. However…

1. It’s not the ‘elite’ asking ‘us’ to change. It’s the thousands of climate scientists who have known this was coming for years and are getting depressed because they can’t make us see, it’s the poorest masses in the world that create the least carbon but will be hit first and worst. And it’s people like me. Parents who lie awake at night worrying about their children’s future. That’s who’s asking ‘us’ to change.
2. Why compare what you do to the wealthiest 2%. Why not compare what you do to the poorest 2%? Because you are desperately trying to find reasons to keep doing the things you know contribute to the problem.

One thing that might help is to start with a change you do feel happy with. Start small. So if giving up meat sounds awful, just have a meat free day. Or stop eating meat for one meal of the day. If stopping flying seems to hard, cut back. One less flight. If changing your lifestyle to s an absolute no way for you then write to your MP to ask them to vote for greener policies when the time arrives. Switch banks/pensions to a greener option. Change electricity provider.

You ask ‘why the hell should we suffer?’ The suffering that is coming with climate chaos is far far worse than quitting meat or flying.

FeigningConcern · Today 22:46
I also can't actually believe there are still people denying man made climate change!!

It’s hard to understand how that’s possible. But the media aren’t really reporting on it fully. The Guardian does a fairly good job.