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?

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The UK has decarbonised A LOT since 2010. The Tories did a lot. Built out a lot of offshore wind. The last labour gov made domestic solar a lot cheaper as well.

Domestic energy efficiency has improved as well.

Globally we have made significant progress but, current actions are not enough to reverse the most severe impact of climate change.

Nobody needs a cupboard full of Mrs Hinch cleaning products or a stupid big car or numerous plastic bottles of water.

No one actually needs any material goods. We only NEED food, water, air and shelter!!!

This wouldn’t be considered living though.

Patrick Grants book Less has a great take on all of this I think. Also a podcast called Radical had Kate Raworth on talking about her Doughnut economic theory. I need to read the book.

we all just want to consume all of the time.

Of course everyone NEEDS a big car. It’s SAFER for THEIR FAMILY! Plus they have 3 large breed dogs and a buggy. AND they drive to Cornwall once a year from London to their holiday home. That’s why they NEED the humongous SUV. Oh and of COURSE they need all those cleaning products. Germs are the devil and if you wash your bedding (and the entire familys) less than three times a week (and every single towel daily) you’re REVOLTING!

Don’t worry though I’m the one who is the devil because I’m going on a long haul holiday next year for the first time in 10 years. I’m literally killing people’s children due to that alone.

And no-one is suggesting that people should change their lifestyles to the pint where life is not worth living, just a bit of a rethink as to what really matters and what might be done differently.

@WhitegreeNcandle we all just want to consume all of the time.

Here lies the problem!!!

I agree with you, but we aren’t doing that. We are making climate change worse, not better. It’s too late now to reverse it.

Nobody needs a cupboard full of Mrs Hinch cleaning products or a stupid big car or numerous plastic bottles of water.

I agree with you about plastic water bottles. Bringing one’s own bottle or flask and filling it up would be easy but everywhere one goes plastic bottles of water are in evidence.
How many billions of plastic water bottles are thrown away each year?

I rescued a bird yesterday dying in a carpark. He couldn’t be saved sadly. No one cares tho. Still buying shit off temu and shein and not putting a jumper on in winter.

Non recyclable packaging annoys me.

It should be so easy to make most stuff out of paper, metal and glass.

The amount of unnecessary plastic used is incredible. My green bin gets completely full up of plastic milk bottles, veg cartons etc. I am not totally convinced most of them get recycled either, probably just the metal and glass ones.

I think there should be a large tax on all plastic packaging and probably all plastic tat in general. Most of it is going to end up in the oceans one way or another.

To be fair, birds have been dying since time began. Millions will have frozen to death over the years or been hunted for food or picked up a disease. It's not a great indicator of climate change.

I completely agree - or no packaging at all would be even better. We really don't need bananas, apples, pears, carrots, all fruit or veg actually, in plastic bags.

I've always marvelled at how they managed to package the worlds most damp affected produce in paper bags (flour and sugar), yet pasta, rice and everything else must arrive in plastic?

Makes no sense.

Not all of us. I loathe consumerism and buy as little as possible. I don't fly and have an old car and clothes that are 30 years old. I can't bear this insatiable appetite for stuff.

Around half of the UK's recyclable waste (particularly plastics and paper) is shipped overseas to countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia for processing.

A large portion is dumped illegally, burned in open air, or left to pollute local environments in developing countries and emerging economies.

I've always marvelled at how they managed to package the worlds most damp affected produce in paper bags (flour and sugar), yet pasta, rice and everything else must arrive in plastic

That’s a good point.

From my experience a lot of veg is shipped in plastic punnets with plastic coverings/cling film.

This makes it rot more quickly as it releases water.

When I get veg the first thing I do is put it into paper bags with a bit of kitchen towel. That absorbs the moisture and means that the veg doesn't get slimy and then mouldy.

I would be fair easier if the veg arrived pre packed in cardboard punnets. I get the fact you need something see through as a lid, as people often want to check they are in good condition before they buy. That could probably be done with a paper mesh.

I guess the downside is the ones that do begin to rot would need to be removed. But most supermarkets have a fairly rapid turn over in fruit and veg.

I would argue that what separates humans from animals is not that we are selfish (we are) but that we are universally collaborative and are often selfLESS. A perfectly bog standard human will shield and rescue even a strangers child if they can, we look after our elderly and disabled.

other animals do not do this. Yes there are occasional stories, but it’s not the norm.

What other animals have the capability to do anything about the climate? None. So we would leave them all to a slow painful demise too.

some people are awful and selfish, but most humans are perfectly willing to put their own needs aside to help others. I think by constantly saying humans are a plague and only selfish just gives people an excuse to give in to their animalistic desires.

we should fix what we’ve done not ditch it. Also the suffering on those left behind will be terrible. Surely it’s better to die trying than just give up.

The planet will thrive without humans. Wildlife and biodiversity will grow.

You said “some people are awful and selfish, but most humans are perfectly willing to put their own needs aside to help others”

Why don’t we put our own needs aside, to help other animals that are NOT human by becoming extinct ourselves?

Re eating meat. My husband is a farmer whose family gave up their beef farm 40 years ago, so he has never farmed animals. They only have crops.

there is a huge decline in soil quality after 40 years of not rotating cattle or sheep on it. There is less actual soil and less nutrients in the soil.

they try adding manure, but all the farmers with animals use it themselves for their own fields and human manure has it’s own issues with medication etc so isn’t suitable either.

so they have to resort to fertilisers which are made using fossil fuels. And they do not put organic matter into the soil.

they also try other things with cover crops etc that I won’t blabber on about, but they are seriously considering getting a roaming sheep farmer to add into the rotation.

other benefits of grazing livestock is the grass they eat is a fantastic carbon store, their hooves also trample the ground to lock in the moisture and encourages the grass to grow (farmers replicate this through rolling) and we are only just beginning to understand the benefits of the micro biome relationship in their gut and the roots of the plants they eat and the soil. Taking animals out of the equation is not good for the environment.

other reasons why we need livestock to benefit the environment:
-if a crop is bad due to bad weather or for other reasons, it cannot be sold for human consumption, but it can be given to animals, turning a crop that would have ended up in the bin into food. (If you eat the animal)
-food waste like uneaten salad leaves and slightly off veg can be given to animal’s too.
-there are many areas that are unsuitable for cropping, like lots of areas in Devon/wales/highlands due to the terrain, but perfect for sheep and cattle.
-meadows where livestock is grazed is often wonderful for the environment, biodiversity etc. monocropping, while necessary is not good for biodiversity.

just some things I never knew if you’re interested x

Good grief, this seems to have developed into a conversation about whether anyone can have a holiday. 50% of people don't fly at all, and only 15% are responsible for 70% of flights. I've known people who commute weekly to work abroad so that's around 45 return flights each year - there's no way this is fair. As said before there are also millionaires or billionaires with private jets. I think we all agree this is wrong, they're polluting the world and we're all suffering as a result.

But that's not a cop out or reason to take no action. We can at least request progressive taxes from the government, sign a petition, anything is better than nothing!

Apologies, I was a bit behind on the conversation

I really don't care who is flying and how much and where to. As long as they pay for their flights, good on them.