AIBU to feel frightened about the risk of AMOC collapse?

[rockinrobins]

The likelihood of an apocalyptic ice age scenario happening in our lifetimes is now higher than not.

Is no one else scared about this for themselves and their children? Why aren't we talking about it?

If the AMOC collapses, we will be living in temperatures of -20 to -30 degrees Celsius within our lifetime. There is nothing we can do, but it's terrifying, and no one is discussing it.

From Google:

Recent studies suggest a high likelihood of an Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) collapse, with some projections estimating a 42%–76% chance of collapse before 2050 or 50%–70% within this century. A 2026 study predicts a 42%-58% slowdown by 2100, which is likely to end in collapse. This is no longer seen as a low-likelihood event.

It’s terrifying and utterly mind blowing. However worrying about it will achieve nothing. Cross the bridge if it happens. Live in the now not the if.

Read the latest Marc Elsberg novel, it deals with sudden extreme climate collapse, and might give you some ideas on how to prepare.

I worry about this too. All my eco efforts feel pretty feeble compared to what might happen.

You've got to live in the now. Do your bit for the world - live sustainably, but realistically one person's efforts are not going to change anything. You'd need a massive swing in cultural attitude to make big differences. Our shops would look very different if we lived in a society that was actually going to make a change to our climate impact.

The movie 'the day after tomorrow' is about APOC collapse isn't it? I remember watching it with my uni housemates when we had the flu and all getting really upset.

This is how I feel.

We can’t do anything about it. I’m unfortunately very ill so getting involved with Extinction Rebellion and the like isn’t an option for me (I can’t even cook dinner sometimes).

The way we humans behave is insane. I keep on with my tiny contribution but I can’t impact the big picture (if only due to health as mentioned above). So I do my best not to worry.

My children are screwed and it’s devastating.

The world kept turning and earth survived the last Ice Age to thrive and now be overpopulated. It takes millenia for that to happen and to recover.

I haven't looked into AMOC or much about that kind of thing lately. Too many other immediate (financial and political) catastrophes happening that will definitely affect all of us.

As pps have said, I really cannot do much about it over and above what I am trying to do at present (which does seem somewhat futile). So every day I wake up and am alive to see another day, especially with the sun shining like it is now, is a bonus.

I don't know about this so will read up. But it sounds a bit like the south sea anomaly in that there's zero control so zero point stressing.

I find it humbling in a way. What with all the madness and evil and war. Man has very little power at all. You think Trimp could stop the war tomorrow but he can't do jack shit about this. Neither can the best of humanity. We don't have control. It's an illusion.

If the south sea anomaly got to the point we was lost to solar wide there's no coming back ever for even for a virus. Life is fragile on earth and it's hard to see that on a day to day basis. But it's really just a fleeting miracle we take for granted that it's permanent and will continue after we die.

There's so much to worry about at the moment, OP, I think people just can't give headspace to something that might happen. It's honestly so depressing & worrying - but when people are worrying about next week's food & energy bills, or having a job, or whatever, it just gets put to the back of the mind.

I first heard about AMOC back in the early 2000s - called Gulf Stream Reversal back then. I found govt disaster planning notes for it online - they referred to "low risk of happening, high impact if it does happen" - so it's pretty terrifying to know that the risk of it happening has increased over a few short years. We seem most worried about the warming of the planet, but in fact there is also a risk of ice age. Just how much can the human brain, or one individual, worry about this on a daily basis?

It makes sense that people don't have headspace with everything else going on... but also I just think it's a strange thing about human nature how much we stick our heads in the sand.

This thread currently has 17 votes and 9 replies and it is literally about the end of the world within our lifetimes and horrible deaths for us and our children, of either starvation or cold or both. That is now more likely than not going to be our future.

...Whereas there is a thread about grandchildren's inheritance which is trending and has 800+ votes on the AIBU.

The truth is your grandchildren are more than likely going to inherit an ice age and there is little that any amount of money will do to save them :(

I thought it would be freezing winters but scorching dry summers.
So not just coping with extreme cold, but also coping with extreme heat.

Humans always expect the near-future to be like the near-past, on a timescale of about 50 years before and after 'now'.
We are not as intelligent as we like to think we are.

This is an example of how the internet can have negative affects on mental health.

How have you even come across this information?

I think you need to take this as a bit of a warning sign to youself to curtil your internet usage.

If a teen child approached with such concerns any sensible parent would restrict internet usage and ensure discussions were had about what sensible usage looks like and not consuming random info to the detriment of our mental health.

Human brains were not designed to consume all the "world is ending" info in the way that can be done via the internet. But just because you can doesnt mean you should and thats where ensuring moderation and sensible usage needs to be ensured.

Ive not read your link, nor taken on board what your saying cos Ive zero interest.

Give yourself an internet detox, check out some library books, go for a walk in nature every day for 6 weeks and see if you feel a little better.

If the world ends, you worrying about it isnt going to make a difference and you clearly cant absorb the severity of these topics (which no normal human can) so kick back and relax and enjoy your life as best you can.

Not a damn thing any of us normal people can do about . Britain can do it's bit but it's the large consumers like USA ,China Russia that need to make the big changes .
How much fuel and impact did the recent space trip cost ? And was anything significant to humans discovered.

Can only worry about my small piece of the human existence and the rest is out of my control .

The lack of engagement is possibly because people don’t know what the AMOC collapse is until they open the thread, so don’t bother opening it. Until I read the opening post, I assumed it was a political thing - maybe an expected change of governance somewhere.

I don't worry about the world ending - I don't go down rabbit holes telling me 'the end is nigh'. I ignore scaremongering articles on the Internet.
I just get on with my life, doing the best I can in the here and now.
Today the sun is shining, the garden is coming into flower and I am enjoying the day.

Erm, it was in the Guardian this week. A hard copy newspaper.

How have you even come across this information?
It has been covered recently in The Guardian, USA Today, The Irish Times, Met Eireann. Lots of science websites are talking about it.

I’m with this. We just do what we can and enjoy the short time we have on this earth. We could be dead tomorrow anyway.

I don’t know why you’d even give this any headspace tbh.

But did you know about the South Sea anomaly OP? If you break it down in terms of science, we don't as a species look for trouble outside of our little ecosystem. Little point worrying about the magnetosphere if your house is being repossessed.

Because if we did. If we thought logically and with a bigger, longterm worldview, we wouldn't have children. If we was all highly aware and clever and logical it would make sence to Jack it in as a species. But that's not good for evolution. Surving in the moment keeps you alive in terms of our hunting roots.

I did a Environmental Biology degree decades ago. The conclusion of which is that we are fucked. I must be on adverage the most aware and yet the least worried.

But I firmly believe in nature and as I say find comfort that we can't control everything.

If you got every reader on MN to make worrying about this a top priority, what would it achieve? If you got every top scientist to work on this what would it achieve?

Also, a bit like all these disaster films, if you know that that humanity would die out in five years, what would you do? Carry on or raid the shops?

I'm also extremely worried about AI as someone who was a senior programmer..I was laughing at how shit it was 15 years ago. It's evolved so fast it's surpassed us now. So what world ending sanario should I worry about as someone who knows more than most about the environment and IT?

I just can't freak out and get up in the morning and see the point. One day earth will die when the sun dies. This isn't forever. At that point, in all of eternity, even if another planet forms life, there will be no trace at all that humanity ever existed. Every find, discovery, peace of art, civilisation. Utterly obliterated. That's not a high possibility. It's a proven fact as all stars / sun's die.

Yet I'm up doing my washing. Unless your religious. It's all just a meaningless happy accident life. Enjoy as it's short and you never, ever come back.

Not much us little people can do about it really. I won’t spend what time I do have worrying about things I can’t change.

The world won't end, but the British Isles will get significantly colder. Look to northern Canada for an example, we're on a parallel with Labrador and Newfoundland. But also Norway and Sweden. Insulate your house and learn cross country skiing?

I don't worry about things I can't control, that way does madness lay.

My children are already here, that choice has already been made. All I can do is the best I can with what's currently in front of me.

With an aside that climate change models always seem to over predict rather than underpredict (I assume for more news coverage and the hope for more action!) so I cling to hope (maybe a fools hope) that whilst changes are coming, they won't be as extreme as predicted.

Or OP think of it like this. Will you be regretting on your death bed that you didn't spend more time working/ lobbying against things like eg Trump and his contribution towards destabilising the West? Because I'm not sure that worrying is something we look back on as a good use of our limited time on earth.

What’s the title of it please?