To feel really worried about climate change in this heatwave

[Fulbe]

This heatwave has been caused by climate change but there seems to be hardly any discussion about this at all. It seems that people are focused so much on getting air con or massive paddling/ swimming pools without thinking how that might be actually contributing to the problem. People outside the school gates idling their engines to keep their air con turned on whilst creating more pollution.

I think I remember reading somewhere that we've released 6 million years' worth of CO2 in the past 150 years. Something needs to stop but consumption and car use seem to be increasing.

Am I the only one to be concerned about this and that we're just slipping into a future of more dangerous heatwaves?

It looks like it is but it really isn’t. Just 1% of the global popilation is responsible for half of all aviation emissions. These people are super polluters.

Yes, as I said, that’s 13% of the bill. Subsidies are in place to encourage more investment. These have reduced over time and will continue to. On the other hand, the 35% increase in wholesale price impacts your bill by more than the subsidy being paid.

I agree Elon Musk could do a lot of good with his money but we ALL could wake up in the morning and think “who will I help today?”

We could ALL give up things to help the planet but we don’t want to. We want someone else to because they have more money!!!

That's not true. We need more countries to be brave and divest economies away from fossil fuels. Nordic countries are doing this successfully. We might have been up there if we didn't decide to do economic kamikaze via Brexit.

Scandi economies have grown by around 12% per year due to green investment and policies. They are an interesting case study on green vs. AI economics. Lots of investment in AI too but the returns are not matching the investment yet.

We do have the power if we stop voting in chicken shit governments that are in the pocket of fossil fuel lobbyists. There is a lot of money to be made for a greater variety of people, but that's not in the best interest of BP shareholders is it?

You think Musk has no impact on global politics? You clearly haven’t been paying attention.

How do you go on multiple multiple foreign holidays?

The poor old earth is going to get hotter. And we caused it this time. Our doing.

But, the climate has always changed dramatically: the earth has endured hot ages and ice ages before. All is not lost. The human population will fall and no doubt adapt. Life will go on.

I'm glad your DD gets to go abroad to see a bit of the world instead of just doing it on a screen..good memories.

My DH works across for many ME clients. He could do it all online (and did for a few months during the war). Now that the war is over, he's back out there.

You have left out the worst polluter.
my guess is because a lot of middle class Mumsnetters have them. Wood burners and open fires.

Its frustrating. Dh and i live in a wealthy area where people can afford to make environmentally sensible choices, but hardly anyone does! We are running down an old petrol car (but limiting its use) before buying elec, and got solar panels 4 years ago. We holiday in uk and resist work travel that involves flying. We both get train to work and cycle a lot with the DC. We try to choose locally produced in season food.

We watch as all our neighbours replace their range rovers every 3 or 4 years, no solar, flying abroad all the time. Its heart breaking.

Yep. Me too.

I don't think it is any different to the bacteria populations that you learn about in biology at school they grow and grow until they have competed for all the resources and then died off again. Just humans are using the planet instead of a petri-dish.

There is no point trying pretend that we have any greater purpose.

Money.

Not to mention..... AI

It uses so much energy and chugs out heat yet the americans are desperate for us to adopt it!!

This is about not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

If it was about that we would never be pursuing net zero for the sake of pursuing net zero in the first place. We would be replacing fossil fuels where it was economically favourable to do so.

Our renewables is heavily slanted towards wind and solar, and if we want to be able to turn the lights on at any time then we have to have 100% backup of that generation. So currently that is either gas or nuclear, or hoping that some other country turns up on the interconnectors. The expense of this makes renewables a hell of a lot more costly. Gas stations sitting idle for a considerable proportion of the time and being paid to do so. The idea of doing this with nuclear is eye watering. We can't even construct enough at the moment to meet our baseload commitments.

I think renewables definitely have a part to play in the energy mix but they can't be the whole solution.

I would love to see more money going into things like the Severn Barrage and the Mersey barrage, because they would diversify the energy mix, provide storage capacity and the construction would boost the economy all at the same time. But no. In order to achieve net zero we are slated to spend 20 billion on carbon capture which is a total vanity project and is going to do nothing to help our strategic energy resource. This is the kind of consequence you get when you pursue ideology like net zero. Fortunately I don't believe the government is ever going to spend this money.

It funny I was talking about this yesterday, the climate seems here in the UK to have such extremes now, I’m in Lincolnshire it was a very wet winter and spring, just constant rain. Now it’s boiling hot. We seem to be having more storms as well which when I was growing up a storms were few and far between. It feels positively tropical now.

I was referring to your understanding of language. Congratulations on proving what I suspected.

I want this particular guy to do it because he has ALL the money, and he gets it by leveraging capital and assets taking them out of reach of people like you and I. His wealth exceeds the annual economic output of over 160 countries. That is obscene.

I spend approximately 5% of my annual income on good causes, whether it be local, national or international. As a higher rate taxpayer, in percentage terms I contribute more of my money to government than he does. How can that be right?

As I said, this isn’t about him doing more than me, it’s about him doing the same as me. Or him doing the same as many of the philanthropic billionaires who understand they wouldn’t have what they have if they hadn’t been taking it from other people, and who still enjoy a hugely comfortable life.

Musk isn’t hoarding wealth for any other reason than he wants to be the richest man on the planet. If you can’t see the problem with that, or the difference between him and most other wealth people, I can’t help you.

A lot of this has been helped by Westminster, as well as private investors and the Scottish government. Now they need to invest heavily in England, so can all benefit.

And lots of spare time….

But it is that. Because people appear to be suggesting we shouldn’t be investing in renewables at all, that they aren’t suitable for our needs. They absolutely are, we need to have the right mix to give us consistency and the right infrastructure to use them effectively. This is happening. “Net-zero” has become a buzzword, but when you look at what leads to net zero, it is all of these elements, and more.

If you look at the whole picture - all consumers are responsible.

Everyone who regularly purchases brand new stuff, whether that be clothes, toys, furniture, white goods, kitchens, out of season foodstuffs - is responsible for this.

People can try and blame the 1%, but at the end of the day it is the consumer that has the power to force industry to change. There are literally billions of us.

The issue is like most things you get zealots on each side of the argument with no nuance.

Net zero zealots claiming everything has to be about net zero and costing huge amounts of money in process trying to achieve impractical goals and spending on stupid things like carbon capture.

And the other lot (not sure what I call these) who think we should abandon all renewables and go back entirely to fossil fuels when renewables clearly have an important part to play in the energy mix to help reduce emissions.

There is a better pragmatic balance between these two extreme points that both reduces our emissions at a more reasonable cost. But at the moment IMO we are not finding it.

Government policy on this should really be about walking the tighrope between the two extreme points. Not adopting one or the other and pursuing it regardless of cost. In my opinion anyway.

If you adopt the zealots approach the odds are someone will come along and see enough political capital in change to turn the policy. The Tories are already seeing this, I am hoping Burham will too - in fact he probably will have to to head Reform and the Tories off at the pass.

You might like the podcast below, he has a very soothing voice luckily as it's a heavy subject and an important one.

https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/the-great-simplification-with-nate-hagens/3782393
About
The Great Simplification is a podcast that explores the systems science underpinning the human predicament. Through conversations with experts and leaders hosted by Dr. Nate Hagens, we explore topics spanning ecology, economics, energy, geopolitics, human behavior, and monetary/financial systems. Our goal is to provide a simple educational resource for the complex energetic, physical, and social constraints ahead, and to inspire people to play a role in our collective future. Ultimately, we aim to normalize these conversations and, in doing so, change the initial conditions of future events.

I agree with you about consumer power. I wish more people did. We’re in the minority though, sadly.

But that doesn’t alter the fact that just 1% of the global population are responsible for half of all aviation emissions. So aviation emissions only being a small amount overall is not a true reflection of how it’s being generated.