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....

Sadly in this country the green party is part of the problem due to their opposition to nuclear power. In my view government needs to focus it's attention on how to make nuclear power cheaper and safer and on figuring out what to do with the waste. Great British Energy and the current nuclear task force is a step on the right direction on at least the first one of those issues.

I also think leaders of all stripes should be leading by example. The royal family, yes but also politicians and climate scientists shouldn't be jetting off all over the place as it sets a terrible example.

I'm childfree and part of my decision was based on concerns about the environment but my husband has children and grandchildren. It's terrifying to think about their future and the future of this planet.

Yes I agree the Green Party are part of the overall problem- I think if they were the fren party of the ‘80’s they would be getting more and more votes, as away for people to show their concern about the environment and climate change.
but there’s no way I would vote for those misogynistic anti- Semitic bunch of flouncers, whose main aim seems to be to keep males in female spaces.
We don’t have a vote to use to priotise our environment and get collective voices heard.

I do agree with you, however, I think most people feel whatever changes they do, won’t make any difference.
We changed one of our cars to electric, our house has solar and an air source heat pump. We like to see the world so won’t stop travelling.
The backlog of aircraft on order is over 16,000, building is relentless and the population is growing. Realistically, what else can we do that will have an impact?

Too often things that would help with consumption are top dollar and out of the reach of many though . EVs for example, plus the problems of disposal . Heat source pump central heating …..people just can’t afford it even when they have the knowledge or will

Do you travel a lot and do you then fly?

I have friends who have done as you do with the heat pump etc but they now travel abroad by ferry, train, coach as much as they possibly can.

They are doing, for their own needs, they're not stupid. To get cash and weapons they still want to sell oil to us though.

I 100% agree with your opening post, and yet I have to admit that I am not doing anything in particular to combat climate change, aside from the normal things that all decent humans do but that have little actual impact, such as recycling waste that probably mostly ends up being burned anyway. My view is that truly impactful changes would be extremely unpopular as they would affect how we all live and (over)consume at present, but without such changes, we will get nowhere.

Some suggestions:

• high taxes on individual cars, non-renewable energy, goods imported long-distance etc, determined by actual cost to the environment
• vastly reduced air travel
• more real nature and therefore less space for new builds, farmed cattle and crops
• way more trees everywhere (my city has barely any!)
• no more "fast fashion", "fast tech" and similar, such as Temu and Shein - these goods should be taxed so high as to become unviable

And/or many other similar actions. The order of application to be determined by their actual impact. It would be deeply unpopular but our current method of barely scratching the surface will achieve precisely nothing.

Here is an interesting article ranking individual choices and their impact on the environment - we need more and better-publicised PSAs like this: www.wri.org/insights/climate-friendly-choices-ranked

The Dutch Royal family manage to cycle so it can be done.

Even if security prevents some forms of transport, they still could be clear on what is & isn’t possible.

What the King has done is Poundbury, which I’ve seen urbanists comment on re its liveable urban design. If it’s better than some new estates then that would be worth more attention. Some new estates near me could be better as they are poor for walking, cycling & public transport yet lack their own facilities.

It’s not envy: both the King & the Prince of Wales have championed environmental causes but if they want to do that effectively then they do need to address that people may find their lifestyle a counter-argument to these causes.

I would like to know why so much prime farmland is being taken over for solar farms? Not only does it damage the soil for generations, I believe, but it obviously also reduces the amount of land we have to produce food.

Why aren’t solar panels placed over car parks, along motorways, and even along train tracks as I have read is done in Switzerland. There must be many places that they can be placed before we start destroying this country’s valuable arable land.

The things you mention require huge structural and cultural change which I just don't think we are ready for at any level.

There is a current thread on MN citing the outrageous cost of unreliable train travel in this country for example - because the rail companies are set up for profit- more people thus use cars or even fly.

Improving train travel and lowering the cost of it should be a big priority but instead we have successive governments throwing money into the HS2 money pit. It's depressing!

Prime farm land is also being to build more houses on. In my area it is constant and there seems to be no effort to upgrade the infrastructure to support an expanding population in these areas.

Well yes, that is kind of my point - they would be so unpopular that a government trying to bring them in would be ousted. But to be honest, messing about with cheaper train travel will not fix global warming. Transport is only a small part of it. Our extreme greed, overconsumption and lack of consideration for the environment as a species need to be addressed, and that will not go down well.

Of course, even if the UK became net-zero tomorrow, it would hardly make a dent in global emissions anyway. Selling the above changes in the UK would be hard enough, but globally? Not likely. Sadly, I think we are helplessly marching towards a Don't Look Up finale.

Yes but "messing about with train travel" as you put it would have an impact.
Everything is "messing about with" at some level and some things are more achievable than others - I think train travel is an achievable fix with a bit of concerted effort. Other things, as you say, are much harder to change.
So maybe we at least try to do the things we can even if it just "messing about with" something?

We have opened Pandora's box and it's hard to put it all back in - people want to be able to buy anything instantly, to be able to fly wherever they want etc etc.

I'm not saying we shouldn't bother at all, just that it sadly won't come anywhere close to fixing the problem on its own.

It would however give us in the UK cleaner air and other such benefits, so I am still completely in favour of better public transport.

A large part of the problem is that those in power are too worried about being voted out to actually be honest about what has to happen to fix the situation. It's a bit of a catch-22 of how a democracy works.

Of course, in many other countries the people have no choice about who is in power, which, until they are ruled by selfless and honest dictators, is even less likely to lead to positive change.

I'm no expert, and I don't know if Jeremy Clarkson is an expert either, but he says a solar farm on his land would be profitable; crops would make him a loss.

"Writing in his newspaper column, he said: "Action is needed now because farmers have reached the point where it is quite simply impossible to make money from growing food.""

https://www.southwestfarmer.co.uk/news/26424989.jeremy-clarkson-hasnt-grown-anything-diddly-squat-farm/

I agree with all you say but how to make world leaders DO SOMETHING is beyond me.

I don’t think stunts from Big Art and Climate Extinction is going to cut it. The opposite in fact.

Then, you’ve got right wing media attacking sustainability because their handlers own shares in fossil fuel.

And then IF a political party did put climate change at the top of their agenda (instead of posting nonsense on social media and rabbiting about cannabis Zack) it takes decades for anything to change.

It’s horrific.

Thinking back to where we were at the end of the Cold War, the change came from a number of things: the peace movement, Gorbachev talking sense and Thatcher and Reagan realising he gave them a way out of their loony trajectory.

I’m at point of suggesting 24/7 prayer rooms because what else can we do?

If we can’t mobilise now in the middle of scorching drought and fires, when can we?

But even the fires are excused away by people saying they are just burning because of arson & it's nothing to do with climate - that has been stated on this forum more than once.

It's depressing but there is an inevitability to our demise now, built soundly on greed & capitalism.
Our reign on this planet will come to an end & it will regenerate and welcome another dominant species.

Life is had but everyone can do st least one thing to help. These are the things I try and do as much as possible:

Limit flying to a max of once a year (this ends up being once every few years recently)
Walk or cycle where feasible e.g. journeys less than 5 miles or where you can link cycling with a train trip (that's what I o to get to work 30 miles way).
Limit consumption of animal based products
Limit consumption of ultra processed foods which typically also come with a lot of plastic packaging.
Recycle as much as possible but also try and avoid overconsumption and excess packaging in the first place.
Shop locally and try and use a loose food/weigh place if you have one.
Really think hard if you 'need' xyz, and see if it's on Facebook marketplace,/vinted first. Lots of kids clothing and toys in charity shops and often brand new.
Use natural/non-toxic household products.
Get a compost bin, even if the food just gets absorbed into the ground.
I don't have kids but appreciate that's a difficult decision and I'm hoping the next generation includes geniuses who can address climate change.

I'm just not sure what the OP actually expects of people.

Most people are doing the small token stuff that is infinitesimal in impact but probably makes us feel better.

Almost no one (including those who pontificate a lot) is making the serious lifestyle changes that would have an impact if done at scale.

So what else is there? Talking about it a lot, while making minimal difference? I'm not sure how that would be helping?

But surely using less energy, buying less, not having pets, walking rather than driving etc...also helps with that

I think that at some level people feel helpless - the things than can and are being done (because theyre easy) like recycling, taking your own bag to the shops etc....but then were told those dont make a difference. Bigger things - EVs, heat pumps etc are more expensive than the traditional versions. Taking public transport is not always cheap and often takes longer etc
We have a nearby eco shop that you take containers and buy eg cereals, nuts, pulses, rice, dried fruit and also laundry and toiletries......but priced per gram they are more than double what you pay for a packet.

Lots of people say what about China, India etc...which I think is a poor argument. They are not producing and selling goods for their own consumption. They're making all the things that we in the west want, and are ordering...but dont manufacture. We cant point the finger at them because we're the consumer.

Repairs or spare parts dont seem to be a thing any more (probably because they aren't profitable) we had a dishwasher where the shelves/baskets were perishing, but the wash programmes functioned OK. We looked for replacements and the cost was nearly as much as buying a new one! In the end we bought one off Facebook market place and that lasted a few years....and then bought a new one. Similarly with laptops or phones that either stop working or don't work optimally after about 4 years.

As others have said, it’s like knocking at a door that’s been sealed shut.
A PP mentioned all the health issues covid is causing. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard that mentioned in any of the discussions on increased disability and lower healthy lifespan. The PP is right btw - the science is pretty clear, economists are clear, political/media will isn’t - just like climate change. It’s like calling climate change over as ozone layer was addressed somewhat.

Intelligence may actually be part of the problem. We've become so successful that we can't help but accidentally cause our own demise.

It's one of the reasons why people think we haven't seen evidence of aliens in space as maybe there is some sort of "great filter" where intelligent life reaches a certain level and either depletes it's resources or accidentally wipes itself out before it can advance further.

We can only hope that it isn't the case but when you see threads and topics on here where people will gleefully call for the suffering of others because they pay tax or the opposite where people demand the wealth of others for whatever reason I don't have much hope that as a species we can overcome something as big as climate change.

Same where I live. It’s bordering on criminal the number of new houses being built with no accompanying infrastructure.