Anyone else surprised that there isn’t more uproar about global warming right now?

[fluffythecat1]

In the grips of an unprecedentedly hot summer, schools closing, fridges breaking down in many supermarkets, impending drought. How come there is not more popular protest as we experience properly for the first time what the future will hold? It is a problem for global leaders and governments, however I’m surprised that Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, or a similar grassroots radical protest organisation isn’t harnessing the momentum. It doesn’t seem such an abstract issue right now.

Summers have always been hot

This. And it’s not unprecedented.

The mess after Glastonbury and Pride in London is absolutely disgusting

We have . . . .

Trump, Putin, Václav Klaus, Sarah Palin, Sammy Wilson, Pat Michaels, Jeremy Clarkson, David Bellamy, Christopher Monckton, Jair Bolsonaro, Piers Morgan, Bill O'Reilly, James Inhofe, John Clauser, Melanie Philips and Christopher Brooker

. . . to thank for political and public apathy about climate change.

And many others of course but these were the most influential one's I could name.

But no where near this hot , and not hot every year , more like once in a generation heatwave. Like saying the tide comes in every day when faced with a tsunami.

now thousands are dying across Europe because of the excess heat. The numbers for the UK are not yet available but they are happening

The cost to us to retrofit air con and shutters to homes and schools and hospitals will be immense , the cost of coping with climate variability , excess rain , crop failures - it’s the rich capitalists wet dream. They walked us into this mess and they are the only ones who will profit.

speak with your wallet because it’s the only effective language

slash your spending because there is barely anything you can buy that doesn’t harm the climate

cut meat and dairy to a minimum , cut your flights and your car usage , probably change your lifestyle completely. Minimise your gas and electricity usage ( solar excepted ). Learn to get enjoyment and value from anything but an Amazon habit. Stop steaming movies. Stop wasting energy generating cute ai images

The messages have been consistent for decades as to what consumers can do. Less outrage , more action. Action now will saves lives and your own money later

And the mess after Glastonbury doesn’t cause global warming

kids camping , taking often trains and public transport to get there , that is far better than 2 weeks ai in the sun or plane hopping to Prague for a weekend break that you so deserve

I do appreciate what you are saying but it’s very hard to comply when there are wars, space expeditions, Musk!

I do what I can, I’m vegan, I don’t over consume, I recycle, I walk to work, but I do go on holidays- never all inclusive it makes me angry….

Extinction Rebellion literally campaigned for all trains to be decommissioned because they use so much electricity

Vegan is not environmentally friendly. Your veg travels thousands of miles. My meat comes from a farm 2 miles down the road.

Define unprecedented.

Are you saying you wouldn't buy an electric car because of Elon Musk?

I have petrol but I don’t use my car much at all.

i think it’s a few reasons.

The scare tactics that were used no longer scare us as we become desensitised

The preachy self righteous lobbying which irritated many people didn’t help it did quite the opposite

It was the fashionable cause now that has switched to Isreal/Palestinian politics

Many people do their bit but see it as issues for governments to resolve

I feel it’s a real shame the Green Party is now so focused on Isreal/Palestinian because the work of the Green Party shouldn’t be overlooked how that have helped shape our views and policies

Yes OP it's the very hot elephant in the room right now but it's not being massively talked about in the press/parliament. V depressing :(

Nothing we can do about it really when places like China and India carry on regardless. We do our little bit, but the impact is small. We may end up freezing rather than roasting.

Yanbu. But as for why I think it's a mixed bag of reasons

• people feel hopeless (even though I believe change is within our power)
• people don't want to change their lifestyles so it's easier not to confront it
• people are scared and sticking their head in the sand
• were are so economically driven that it's hard to get any momentum
• big business is great at distracting us with green washing
• people get sucked into social media and become apathetic
• it's so much nicer to believe that it isn't real and it isn't alarming

Actually this is hugely ignorant. China for instance is very pioneering when it comes to solar panels and is doing a huge reforestation programme
We are also deeply interconnected with China's economy as western consumers buy so much of the unnecessary tut they churn out. (And then it gets shipped over here on huge polluting ships)

China isn’t carrying on regardless.It’s the uncontested global leader in renewable energy. The country installs more wind and solar capacity than the rest of the world combined, produces over 80% of global solar hardware, and accounts for roughly 32% of all renewable electricity generated worldwide.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-8d2b6944-4f7a-45b4-96fd-2d92499ff97d

USA on the other hand….

What will happen is when it’s too late to reverse the same naysayers will be sat there saying why didn’t anybody do anything.

Humans primarily are too busy with either surviving or enjoying themselves to give a shit about global warming and future generations. The planet will survive and probably thrive without humans anyway. Some of us do what we can day to day but it will need to come from the key polluters. Farm Ag, oil, travel, banking, energy industries, not us pissing about with paper straws and electric cars.

I wouldn’t say electric cars are pissing about. They significantly benefit the environment by producing zero tailpipe emissions and achieving higher overall energy efficiency than petrol powered vehicles. Even when accounting for battery manufacturing and power plant emissions, research shows EVs reduce lifetime greenhouse gases by 50% to 70% compared to internal combustion engines.

I wish we would do more though. Solar panels & air conditioning as standard on new builds with link ups to the national grid. You can use the air conditioning as heating in the winter. The grid to be upgraded to cope with excess solar power generated from households. Especially in the South or areas of the country that get the most sunshine.

The planet will very definitely survive without us! But what worries me is the extent of suffering and most of all I don’t want to suffer myself! I can see wars and starvation as climate change gets worse - farmers are struggling every year with the extremes

I think there's also a fatigue around people have been saying "climate change - this will happen" for years and a lot of it hasn't happened.

I remember being told Blackpool would be underwater by 2020 due to the ice cap melting. Pretty relevant as I went to school there.
Thing is that it's not just not underwater, but that clearly isn't really going to happen in the near future.
But people think back at that sort of thing and dismiss it as scaremongering and so feel able to dismiss more recent concerns.
To get people act, it needs to be realistic aims but also real threats.

And there needs to be a mindset change in many ways. We're flying for our holiday (Channel Islands, so not far) for the first time since our honeymoon and we've gone past 25 years married, which tells you how often we've flown. I've had people (on here more than RL) calling holidaying in the UK "staystation" and "not really a holiday" and really dismissing holidays here as less good.
Until people start factorising the environment into their decisions and it being considered a good thing then nothing will change.

That's not young people. A ton of middle class middle aged people go to those events.