AIBU for worrying about my DC futures bc of climate change?

[ByAzureMoose]

I have 3 DC, my oldest is 11 and youngest is 1. I've always known climate change to be a problem but in my mind it was some distant faraway issue that would affect people in the year 2500. Since the global floods and wildfires and the UK heatwaves last year, I've started doing more research and realising how close to home the issue really is. Things like agricultural collapse of the food system, water scarcity, even repeat heatwaves and war and tipping points of no return etc and now I feel sick with panic all the time.
It sounds awful but I honestly wish I'd never had my youngest because now I just envision her future as some awful Mad-Max reality where she has to pay for water and ration food and not go outside during the daytime. These current heatwaves have just made it all worse and I just want to cry thinking about the horrible state we've left the planet in for our children, and the fact that I won't be around to protect them when s* really hits the fan. I've done more research to calm my nerves from proper climate scientists but the bleak reality just makes me feel worse.
My DH thinks I'm being a nutjob and worrying for no reason and I do feel awful for worrying so much about it when I have 3 gorgeous healthy DC, a good job, a great husband and house and otherwise wonderful life. The idea of the future and having some lovely DGC used to fill me with joy but now I'm honestly praying my children don't reproduce because I think the future for their children will be worse as they will see long after 2100. When the future looks so horrible AIBU for worrying so much about my DC futures?

It’s not something that worries me. I have enough to worry about in the here and now.

I think maybe if you have an anxious mind, and there is nothing immediate for you to worry about, your mind will find something potentially catastrophic to fixate on.

I don’t know an awful lot about these things but I suspect that the very wealthy and powerful will make sure that it never reaches a point where it could impact on them.

But then I’m sat here on my third glass on wine watching the footie so the environment and the end of the world are not at the forefront on my mind.

Anxiety is horrible. Believe me, I’ve been there. But I tend to not worry about things I can’t change. My take on things is that if most people aren’t panicking about something that could affect humanity, it’s probably not worth worrying about.

Look at Zeke Hausfather on x or Bluesky - very informative and honest. I know he has two very young children and he is one of the world’s leading climate scientists.

Eat less meat and animal products.

Here we go again.

My adult children will probably not have children and this is a common theme with my friends and their kids.

You can get help for your anxiety. The world will be just fine.

You're sort of over worrying. Some of your worries are valid but we already pay too much for water (profits to shareholders) and we pay for food.

YANBU, it's pretty scary. Especially since so much of it is out of our control.

I find it helps to do what I can, even in a small way: insulate the house, eat vegetarian or vegan, drive and fly as little as possible, get your electricity from a renewable source, buy secondhand and buy less overall.

You will get people on here saying no one is allowed to say they are doing anything about sustainability unless they live in an off-grid yurt, but that's not true. Small choices can make a difference.

And maybe subscribe to a positive news feed? There's some amazing work for the environment happening in the world - rewilding stories give me a bit of much-needed hope.

I think it is undeniable that there are going to be real shifts globally, and civilisation is going to change, and not for the better.

However, it makes me feel better to think that generally, civilisation don't collapse overnight. Things shift gradually, over hundreds of years. Problems feel local, not part of a global pattern, and historians are the ones to document a fall, not the people in the middle of it.

We will face problems, populations will move, people will have less children and life expectancy will reduce. But people will continue to live the best lives they can in the circumstances they are given, and will build back up.

Of course YANBU. We've completely fucked the world and are unable to unfuck it. I have children too - it's devastating.

Jesus Christ, did I actually just read that? 😖

Eat less meat and don't have any more kids and you'll be fine.

The planet will be fine. The animals, plants and people are in danger!!!

Make your kids resilient. Get them to embrace change, and understand some survival skills.

If you're worried about man-made climate change then don't have children.

But what you shouldn't do is the thing that most contributes towards climate change - having kids - and then worry about it.

It's like pouring petrol all over your house and then worrying that your house will burn down if someone throws a cigarette at it.

🤦‍♀️

and this is why it won’t be

Exactly!!! If we keep have warmer, drier summers, there’s a huge risk we’ll run out of usable drinking water.

I don't think you're being unreasonable, but perhaps a perspective change would help if you can pull it off.

I personally think it's not just climate change steering humanity towards a pretty horrific future. Maybe focus on all we (and your children) still have to be grateful for and appreciate - just try to give them the best experience you can. Life itself should be something to cherish.

I suspect historically we're all descended from people who endured hardships beyond our modern comprehension. We're still reaping the benefits of modern society, even as the long-term consequences become clear.

Surely the answer is capturing more of what comes down? It is inconceivable to me that we can talk hose pipe bans right now with the amount of rain we have had over the cooler months. It never stopped where I live!

OP- focus on what you can control. Think about simple changes to diet, walking rather than using the car, not ordering from Shein, buying second hand etc etc Lots of us doing this will be making a huge difference.

Climate change is a global issue. You basically won't make any difference at all by not having children, because the rest of humanity will continue to have theirs.

In the UK we haven’t built any completed reservoirs since 1992, but our population has significantly increased.

Having kids is not the thing that contributes most towards climate change. Over-consumption is.

Which is why most of the African countries where population growth is still strong produce a tiny fraction of the emissions of wealthy western countries with flatlining or falling native birth rates.

This!!! Overconsumption and the demand is high!!!!

OP, humans can still do a lot to mitigate climate change. Maybe one of your DCs will be a ground-breaking regenerative farming scientists or find a way to eliminate micro plastics from the environment or be the politician that finally knocks industry into line. The next generation don't have to be helpless victims to the absolute mess we're leaving them - they have free education, the wealth of all human knowledge at their finger tips, the universal right to vote (in the UK) and they'll be able to see the change in climate that some of previous generations have refused to believe was coming. If humanity is to be saved, it will be them that does it - all we can do is to give them the tools to use whatever power they have to try and make things better.

So in the last 2 years since planning your third child you’ve just realised climate change is an issue? It wasn’t on your radar at all 2 years ago?