AIBU to feel people are far too complacent about climate change?

[Quibble123]

I should probably say up front that I work in this field, so this isn't based on a few headlines or a panic after a hot week. My job has involved working with scientists, policymakers and communities for years, I have a PhD in social policy (focused on social action and social change), so I'm fairly well immersed in the evidence. If anything, it's made me less alarmist, not more.
But I honestly feel like I'm watching two different realities.
The impacts we've been warned about for decades are now happening with increasing regularity, yet most people seem remarkably unbothered. We have a hot spell, floods somewhere else, another wildfire, another record broken... and everyone just seems to shrug and move on.
I'm not expecting people to spend every day worrying about it. Life is busy enough. But I genuinely don't understand why there isn't far more public outcry and pressure on politicians to treat this as the priority it surely has to be. People do talk about the consequences (such as wildfires etc) but the discussion on the causes (fossil fuels, over consumption etc) remain largely untouched - when we should be absolutely raging!
Maybe people feel powerless. Maybe we've just adapted to each new "once in a generation" event until it becomes normal.
I don't know. I just find the lack of urgency really hard to get my head around. This is the single biggest threat to our current and our children's futures - it could literally kill them - and we seem to be walking blindfolded....

This is not true. China is making a lot of progress on renewables, including mass production of solar panels and battery technologies for storing energy.

People roll out China and India all the time while having wardrobes full of clothes made in Indian sweatshops and electronics/tat made in China but I feel that point probably been done to death.

I am fascinated by the loose item eco stores. We’ve had three in our town in recent years. It pops up, is very expensive, I try to use it, it closes without fanfare within 6 months. I had some success with buying loose foods in returnable canisters and household cleaners/toiletries in refillable bottles from our milkman. But then milk & More had a new owner and now it’s only milk in the returnable bottles again. I buy washing up liquid from Fill and refill my own bottles, but question how helpful this is - returning the plastic liner by post and recycling the cardboard box. Making my own bar soap now, but lye and olive oil come in plastic bottles. So what am I saving after all? It doesn’t seem to be a workable solution to packaging. If the loose shops aren’t sustainable, what is the point? Just trying not to buy things, but consumables (basics like food and soap) seem essential.

Ours have been in the center of town. A town which charges £15 for 2 hours of parking. Or you can lug back a 1kg bag of lentils etc. on the bus which is fine if you want to pay £6 and don't work and have all week to faff about with such things but if you're working 5 days a week then you want your household shop to be fuss free and quick. If they did online delivery of refills then that would work but quaint central shops just don't.
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and that changes things how ? not like waving and protesting will get me into mount weather or mount yamantau bunkers etc

there is a whole galaxy of planets for humans to tear , rip and conquer

then the science itself from darpa, skunkworks etc the techs all there

People just feel powerless I think. As long as the biggest culprits live in denial and corporations continue to do what they do, people like us switching to paper straws, recycling their household waste, driving less and buying second hand clothes is going to make no difference whatsoever.

but people in general are powerless, they just dont want to admit they are

Yes, it’s got to fit in with all adults working full time. And that goes for all of these eco-wheezes.

And celebrities and so-called influencers jet all over the world, run multiple cars, boats, even multiple houses and ram their uneco-friendly lives down everyone's throats while we wash out our yoghurt pots & recycle our paper.
If more rich & famous people got on board and publicly curbed their lifestyles for the sake of the environment it might help get the message through & promote more of a "we're all in it together" vibe.
They won't though.

i never understood the vandalism of paintings, its like why ?

I think it's meant to draw attention to how much we value the paintings over things like climate. I read something about it at the time. These tactics don't win them my sympathy.

at the end of the day its not down to the public, its big business and big industry etc to solve it, not average joe

Good on ya, 47! I know you say you don't have DC, and many will say that your lifestyle is possible because you don't, but I have teens and we live similarly so it can be done.

Also have a PhD, also well immersed and versed in current affairs and policies. We run an environmental literature module here so I get to hear student’s thoughts firsthand. The main contender is: what are we actually supposed to do? Because they feel they rightly already do an awful lot e.g recycling everything or reusing where possible, some are vegans, many only buy second hand clothing, some don’t fly abroad at all, most don’t drive etc. They feel they’re doing what they can as most of us do. The shit governments elsewhere choose to do is beyond anyone’s control.

And yes, we can go protest which worked out really well for XR and Greenpeace and Just Stop Oil folk.

We used to buy big bags of staples from Amazon cheap but discovered our local weigh store and it's about the same price or cheaper. We're no longer having to dispose of so much plastic and re-use the press close bags the previous items from Amazon came in. I only live a mile away so just walk home with a backpack and you don't need everything at the same time, so I'm only ever walking home with maybe 3-5kg max. I live in a very hilly town and for some reason it's quite normal and common for people of all ages to shop on foot or by bike.
Our shop will deliver if you request it and they offer a membership for 10% off.

Filling a big bottle of natural eco-friendly hand soap cost far less than the standard supermarket stuff which is toxic on my skin.

energy bills are increasing, petrol was £1.50 on July 9 and within a month it’s £1.63. Energy companies aren’t putting the price of heating homes down, insulated homes and solar panels are decreasing the cost. New builds are far cheaper to heat due to these measures

I do as much as I feel is possible for me - we eat meat once a week as a family, buy loads of second hand stuff (which, btw, is mostly new, places like Facebook market place are full of things that have never been used), most of my clothes are old etc.etc. I feel bad when I don't make eco-friendly choices, even though I know my single contribution is totally pointless. What keeps me going is the thought that everyone making a very small contribution can have a huge impact. Eg if everyone in Britain ate just 100 grams less of meat every week, that would mean many thousands of kilograms of meat less every week. That's a huge difference.
I am still quite successful at ignoring the fact that the vast majority of people don't make much of an effort, but I am feeling increasingly frustrated. I know it's a political problem and we need to change the system, but that doesn't mean we as individuals shouldn't try to do our tiny part.

which, btw, is mostly new, places like Facebook market place are full of things that have never been used

I used to look out for this kind of stuff, but steer clear now as I'm never sure whether it's been nicked. I recently joined a local FB for sale group, and found it well dodgy. £100 coat that doesn't fit and you "couldn't be bothered to return"? £70 dress that you "bought and forgot about, and now it's too late to return it"? Nah.

This here is the problem. People are only concerned with their immediate reality. People who are struggling to survive because of too little money or resources are less concerned about something which seems to effect them in a less immediate way. But climate change is coming for us all. If people opened their eyes and truly understood the science, they would be terrified. I know I am. But I also feel totally powerless. Recycling and using green energy will only get us so far. What is required is total systemic change. From all governments around the world. And it's just not happening.

Nope.
Here the plans for an additional runway at Gatwick have just been approved.
Train travel remains prohibitively expensive for many and is unreliable so people choose the car instead.

And our new PM is concerned with creating a no 10 in the North & travelling up & down the country for no real reason.
And drilling for North Sea Oil.

Meanwhile Trump & Putin continue to wage wars & China continues to mass produce rubbish for us to buy from Temu.

I do wish more positive projects were talked about. I want to know what is working rather than how bad things are.

Education is a major factor, especially in poorer countries, to help people help to get themselves out of poverty they need to be able to get an education. Especially girls, who often don't get as good an education as boys in many places.

Relentlessly email your MP and local politicians. The more people that do so the better. Action by the UK sets a good example to the rest of the world (as with any other richer country). We need to demonstate clearly to politicians that this is THE key issue. Because it's existential for our species (and the vast majority of other species as well). Be clear as to what changes you'd like to see. Be ambitious. A ban on plastic packaging, a limit to the number of permitted flights per person, whatever it is that could help, even if politically difficult. If enough people call for.it it could happen and spread to other countries

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