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?

Because we can create heat but we can't create cold - cooling is basically removing heat which uses up far more resources.

No. They have someone on the ground who has a videocamera and you watch it on zoom.

But lets me honest. The majority of business travel is for meetings where you fly halfway across the world just to sit in an office with people. This can easily be done via zoom in the vast majority of cases. The resources saved would be massive. It's such a human overindulgence to think flying thousands of miles across the globe is 'necessary.'

I feel guilty for having kids and for what their future will look like. Life is harder for young people in so many different ways now, before you even factor in climate change.

My horse was PTS recently, she was very old and it was her time. I’m so glad she’s not having to live through this, or the last heatwave. Even for young, healthy horses, our climate is hard now. Endless rain and mud in the winters, then heat they can’t escape from in the summers.

And don’t even get me started on dogs. My two dogs are young, super fit, healthy dogs who compete in dog sports. And they can’t cope with it.

We're not on the brink - we are past it. It's about damage limitation now 9re tipping points - see my PP).

Don't you think though that with the will and the combined intelligence & technology across the world combined with massive wealth from a few tech billionaires we could have found an eco friendly, sustainable alternative fuel source for engines by now?

And not just electric vehicles, I mean a fuel source for planes etc?

I think we could have, but are scuppered by the vested interests of the fossil fuel producing nations who are horrified by the idea of oil not being as valuable as it has been for years.

Money & greed stop many things from progressing.
Look at Trump - how interested in green energy is he? And ask yourself why not?

We are destroying our own existence AND a catastrophic decline in global biodiversity.
The planet will recover and thrive without human interference.

Do we only care about the planet if humans get to live on it?

Humans are the cause of nearly all the damage on the planet. We are selfish beings and it’s driven primarily by greed.

Climate chance is unequivocally getting WORSE not better!! Is it ethical to continue the suffering by having children?

People act as though a stable planet is nothing to do with them

Who needs soil!

Everything that nourishes us comes from the planet

Food inflation is going to sky rocket and there will be shortages like we’ve never experienced - we are already seeing this with coffee and cocoa and rice and wheat
arable farming depends upon predictable weather - right amount of rain and sunshine at the right time in the growing cycle (this is basic stuff)

This has been warned about for years, because as it gets hotter here it’s getting hotter everywhere else
and heat is one thing but water, rain, resevoirs, for irrigation is completely different

why do you think billionaires all have ranches in New Zealand?

Do you have a family or friends at all?

But it gathers momentum. Think on a tiny scale....party bags. Never around years ago, not they are compulsory it seems. Plastic tat that will be binned within hours.

The central point is that humankind needs to start understanding that we simply cannot do all the things we might wish to. We have got so used to simply going wherever we fancy on a whim, but this has to change.
We have got used to out of season produce being flown in ... we do not need this. We can do perfectly well without it.
We have got used to buying cheap goods from China when it wpuld be better to support UK manufacturing.

Our indulgent lifestyles threaten the planet and a radical rethink and some sacrifices are needed.

The biggest problem is the size of the global population. The increasing size means more fossil fuels used. More raw materials. Land for cattle, water, housing, food , industrial materials. Until the population goes backwards expect more of this. It is likely too late and Mother Earth will let us all know what she thinks . Fewer people needed….

Our species will evolve. Or it won't.

The people who tolerate these increasing temperatures will adapt whatever the downsides are, for a while at least.

The rest of us will move to cooler climes eventually or die out - either by literally dying or choosing not to reproduce.

If the planet becomes inhospitable to human life, we will become extinct. Like many thousands of species before us. Others will survive.

But the world will keep turning, other species will replace us. Nature will always redess the balance. It has been doing it for a very long time. And, without humans fucking it up, will heal itself in time.

It's just not very pleasant for us in the meantime. It probably wasn't very pleasant for the dinosaurs either.

And this is how we got here.

We've known about this for decades, as a species, but while there was still money to be made, many people were happy to exploit the planet for their own benefit.

None of us want to give up the “things” that make our lives enjoyable and worth living. Most of us, especially in the Western World don’t want a very simple existence. We want to be able to consume as much as we want.

"Exploit the planet" - I'm all for minimising pollution but do you want living standards to fall? What will you say to all those developing countries that desperately need fossil fuels?

Well we can't have it both ways - either we improve the planet's survival for iur children and GC or we continue to "consume as much as we want."

Everyone has a choice.

It need not be a "very simple existence" but would involve taking delight in things that do not involve the rampant consumerism, unlimited travel and plundering of the planet that we have now.

We are not talking about going back to the stone age - we are talking about sensible lifestyle modifications and a mental reset for our own sake and that of future generations..

No one wants their own living standards to fall. So we have to deal with whatever happens, knowing we only have ourselves to blame!!!

@Mischance I agree with you, but we are selfish beings and won’t want our standard of living to drop. If we are not willing to change our behaviour and thinking, should we continue having children?

What do you say to those in developing countries? They need energy to power their hospitals and schools, but have to use fossil fuels

That's the spirit!!

😅

I do find it strange how so many people only seem to care about climate change once they’ve had children. These threads are always full of people saying how devastated they are for their children and often start saying they wish they’d never had them. And it’s often then followed by advising that younger people now shouldn’t have children themselves. But most of these people have very young children. And normally at least two or three of them. Climate change is not a thing we’ve just found out about last week. So when most of these people were planning children in at least the past 10 years why didn’t they think then not to have children? Oh that’s right because they wanted them. That’s different though because they didn’t know. Now they DO know (but of course can’t change the past now they have kids) they don’t think others should have children and any people that do are selfish and helping to kill the planet.

I am very, very worried. As to what I am doing about it, our family of 4 does not have a car and we all take public transport. Only one of us eats meat. Not practical for everyone though.

We have 2 compact crossover SUVs at home as well 😲 😲

Of course they should use fossil fuels. We can’t go back to the days before large scale fossil fuel use (pre Industrial Revolution.)

It’s too late for all of us.