The next years are going to be fun… The world is burning while the fossil fuel industry is chugging along like everything is great as long as you buy enough co2 credits.
I’m scared in what kind of world my children will have to live in…
Is it bizarre it doesn’t bother me that much about what happens to humanity at this point? Scientists have seen this happening decades ago and have implored companies and governments to make changes, only to land in deaf ears… so in a way, we saw this coming and didn’t care. We kinda had it coming. What I really worry for are the innocent animals, fauna, and flora that will definitely be affected by this. It upsets me even just a change in temperature can mean life or death for some species. I just hope we can still slow this down enough for them to be able to adapt too 😥
I’m sorry you feel that way, but I get where you’re coming from.
Zoom out a little though and it’s consequences are war, famine, and desecration.
If not the human suffering, consider eons long chains of biology that’ll be wiped off the face of the earth as climates shift quicker than their ability to adapt
Ha. That will be wiped off? We are actively watching a mass extinction occur. It’s not going to happen. It already is
I remember watching a clip from “The Network” where Jeff Daniel’s is interviewing an expert on climate change. It was when it was too late - and the expert lore or less said so.
It struck me as prescient - that despite all the warnings we’d be shocked when it came and it was irreversible.
Tbh it came sooner than I expected.
Oh, for sure. There will be battles for resources that would probably dwindle exponentially. There will be loads of suffering throughout. I’ve worried so much for years and have made my own contributions to reduce my carbon footprint - recycled and reused as much as I can, not buying a car, among others - and it’s so exhausting to keep caring when the main perpetrators get to keep doing it abundantly relatively scot-free. At this point, it’s just easier for my own mental health to choose my battles and to choose which one to worry more and hopefully help in that aspect. This is one of the main reasons I’ve decided to become childfree; it’s just cruel to bring life to an uncertain world where the bad guys run rampant.
Choosing to have kids at this point is just choosing to live through Grave of the Fireflies. No thanks.
It’ll be fine. It has all happened before. There was 5x to 10x as much CO2 in the atmosphere when the dinosaurs were alive (2000 to 4000 ppm).
All we need to do is kill off about 7 billion people and have the survivors move to the south pole atleast 300’ above sea level.
Not sure if this was sarcasm. On a serious note:
There was 5x to 10x as much CO2 in the atmosphere when the dinosaurs were alive (2000 to 4000 ppm).
Yes, but that is irrelevant. CO2 levels were never so high in the existence of humans. We know for a fact humans could survive without burning coal and oil. We do not know wether our existence is compatible with these unprecedented CO2 levels, but started the experiment nevertheless.
Lol definitely sarcasm per the second paragraph of that comment. Good point on general toxicity at those levels. I looked it up and it appears we can survive it, albeit in a moderately reduced state.
Remember when Gary Johnson argued that climate change wasn’t a big deal because the sun would become a red giant in a few billion years anyway?
You had me with the first half ngl
When even Florida is telling you shit is fucked… Shit is FUCKED
This is why I’m not having kids.
Same for me. That and being an irresponsible man-child who could probably never handle raising a child.
Yeah, I couldn’t tolerate bringing a child into a dying planet. Seems cruel if your following these things.
Same for me. That and being an irresponsible man-child who could probably never handle raising a child.
Life finds a way, and if your in a well developed nation with a strong military you will be among the last to feel the full impact of it.
I felt this way before, but decided screw it, if people can laugh and smile and love, even if it’s only on occasion, while they work in a hell hole like a electronics recycling dump in Africa, then it’s still worth it to exist. Just teach them to hunt and garden and stuff and give them the best chance you can.
But hey the last article I read was a bunch of totally-relatable-super-wealthy-individuals who are just like me, asking why people aren’t having kids! Are you telling me the world is actually a hellscape and I’ve been lied to?
Remember, elections have consequences. While, at least in the US, neither party is perfect, Republicans are actively engaged in climate denial.
Vote accordingly.
The problem is that as long as actively lying in order to get elected isn’t a crime and enough people are just falling for those lies then there is nothing we can do really.
The reality is that adaptions for climate change WILL as a direct response change habits that people had for years and even make our lives on average less luxurious - if it’s legal for one party to campaign on “everything can stay the same way it’s been” that’s more attractive to a lot of people.
It seems like elections only have consequences and never any benefits. While republicans are worse than democrats, I don’t see democrats moving effectively in this area. It’s usually business as usual with democrats (e.g. Biden signing in more drilling permits). At best I see too-little-too-late agreements with non-strict enforcement that republicans can cancel any time they get power (which is inevitable in our system).
While republicans are worse than democrats,
That doesn’t really matter - the problem is they enable each other. They just play a “good cop, bad cop” routine while “business as usual” accelerates. Political parties aren’t interested in changing the status quo - but it’s the status quo that must be changed.
Yeah, I’ve had to make sure to include that in every post I make criticizing democrats because otherwise people who’ve had their brains poisoned by the two party system immediately jump to stupid conclusions like “oh, are you saying we should vote for republicans then?!?!?!” or try to dismiss all criticism by pointing out the obvious in that republicans are worse.
The thing with good cop, bad cop is that they both have the same objective and neither are on your side. It’s a great act, too, because people actually get fooled into thinking parties bought and paid for by the rich are somehow fighting for the common person.
Elections sort of have consequences sometimes. In some places. Especially in the US, both sides play the same game and both allow corporations to act with enough impunity for it to make no difference who is in charge. The fact that “democracy” has become a choice between two essentially identical options tells you everything you need to know about the idea. Not to mention that the US is a republic not a democracy anyway and is therefore a totally different beast. And the second biggest economy and influence on the climate is China - another “democracy” which isn’t one.
“the US is a Republic not a democracy…”
Thanks for telling us that you don’t know WTF you’re talking about.
This idea of yours, that republics and democracies are somehow mutually exclusive concepts is a deeply stupid category error that has zero basis in political science (to say nothing of practical reality) and almost always is the redoubt of those who wish to justify the dysfunction of the current status quo.
There’s no need to get upset about it mate. At least not about my comment. Please do get upset about (I assume) your government. Its a shitshow. I never said anything about mutual exclusivity, all I said is that being a republic, the rulesa re different to what they would be otherwise. Gerrymandering, the executive branch, the judicial branch, and especially the electoral college, all mean that even though some people are allowed to vote, power lies with the political class and oligarchs, not with the people voting.
Here’s some handy info about republics: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic
“the US is a Republic not a democracy…”
Thanks for telling us that you don’t know WTF you’re talking about.
This idea of yours, that republics and democracies are somehow mutually exclusive concepts is a deeply stupid category error that has zero basis in political science (to say nothing of practical reality) and almost always is the redoubt of those who wish to justify the dysfunction of the current status quo.
it seems the interests of the fossil fuel industries are not aligned with the people.
Weather and even temperature are a bit of a red herring in all this. The extreme weather is caused by the rising temps and feedback loops, but what’s happening is just the heat trying to normalize. We’re not going to end up with 70c at the equator and -30c at the poles. Look at the cretaceous temp, CO2, and fossil records and you’ll see that the temp evens out even with CO2 massively higher then today, and you end up with things like temperate rainforest at the south pole. Our real issue and the one we should be actively fighting against (as in actual in-the-street rebellion) is the absolute destruction of the environment. Chemical dumping, strip mining, industrial fishing, industrial agriculture, forever chemicals, microplastics, desertification and deforestation. These things are going to cause ecological collapse and kill almost everyone in the next generation or two, no question about it. We don’t have to worry about the heat getting us
Some parts of the world definitely do have to worry about the heat getting them. We’ve already seen wet bulb temperatures exceeding human habitability in places where millions live, and some recent studies have suggested that in the long run our metric for true human habitability may actually be too wide.
From where I am in the Philippines, it’s a huge fucking deal. We’ve been getting supertyphoons more frequently, more intense and abrupt storms, and if not that, regular temperatures more than 30C°, and our country being an archipelago, is humid AF. We’ve been getting more crop shortages, more droughts, even constant hours-long water interruptions in the big cities. Not to mention, the huge damages due to those typhoons.
Weather and even temperature are a bit of a red herring in all this. The extreme weather is caused by the rising temps and feedback loops, but what’s happening is just the heat trying to normalize.
More and more severe extreme weather events are a bad thing, aren’t they?
Environmental destruction is bad, yes. But climate change causes a host of major issues (adding ocean acidification to your list). Rising temperatures and extreme weather certainly will cause deaths and trouble long before the heat normalized, if that ever happens.
Bad weather is also expensive AF. There’s a reason reinsurers such as MunichRE aren’t on the climate change denial train: They see the writing on the wall of not being able to back the insurers you buy your flood insurance from at a price point anyone could afford. If the damages become too high on aggregate, things simply become uninsurable (hence also why states don’t require nuclear plants to have insurance but back them themselves but that’s another can of hidden subsidy worms).
People are talking about “but investment in climate-friendly technology costs money and we must think of the economy and prosperity” – motherfucker if you were thinking about prosperity and the economy you wouldn’t set us on a path towards cities being destroyed faster than we can build them. Broken window fallacy times a million.
You are right, all these other problems are also really bad. A lot of stuff is happening at the same time. It’s hard for me to read about all the shit that is going down and not be able to do anything impactful against these things.
Yeah its really tough and I try to limit my doomscrolling to the amount needed to stay informed. One huge problem with all this is that it effects the most privileged the least, and even the day to day things we can do to feel like we’re helping are only really available to those of us with that privilege. Like, I could say “start a vege garden, buy hemp and wool clothes, fix things in your workshop instead of buying new” but yeah, those aren’t really options most people can take unless we change the underlying structure of our society first. But then, why don’t we try changing society so we can then fix these issues? In the end, it’s all part of the class war, and we’re losing badly.
Rabbits
I’m living in a flat, this limits what I can do on my own. But I’m looking into getting some solar panels to put up on the balcony, coupled with a storage battery this should bring down the kW/h I need from an external provider.
In the far future I would like to move out of the city and start producing more of my own food, but prices are just to high right now.
Don’t be convinced that by lowering your impact you can make any change. Corporations want you to think that because if the masses think that they are the issue then they can continue what they are doing. The only way we can contribute is if we all get on the streets and protest. If millions of people get out on the streets for an indefinite amount of time, stop working, stop buying things, and demand change then we will get change.
If millions of people get out on the streets for an indefinite amount of time, stop working, stop buying things Sadly, this will never happen. People are too lazy, selfish and wrapped up in this ‘Gotta have cheap, sparkly plastic tat’ that they’ve seen on an ‘influencers’ Instagram or TikTok page.
Doesn’t stop the rest of us doing our bit though, to keep our conscience clear 😒
no, those peple will be just mowed down by automatic weapons fire until put in their place.
AI’s creators are taking care to ultimately obsolete as many people as possible. If you’re not a source of profit to a capitalist you’re disposable. If you’re a source of a cost then you’re to be disposed of as fast as possible. There are several billion people fleeing uninhabitable areas, they’ll gladly replace spoiled woke kids at their spots in factories and glass towers.
Sorry for bluntness but this is the reality in the minds of those who rule.
prices are just to high right now
They’re not likely to get lower.
Rabbits
To be fair (and the article does sort of mention this) we are in an El Nino year, so of course things are heating up terrifying fast. Thing is, El Ninos are impacted by climate change, so… This isn’t a cop-out, it’s just this is kind of as bad as it can get (for now) which is reassuring (hopefully?)
I would disagree: Since we’re still in the early phase of a new (super? As is being discussed) El Niño — later this year and likely next 1-2 year/s will probably be worse.
It really depends on so many things. AR6 was a depressing read, but we do still have different pathways, people are responding to the crisis. I have the privilege of seeing first hand the commitments being made by some rather large emitters and the actions being undertaken to meet those commitments. I guess what I’m saying is, we can still hope. We shouldn’t give-up and resign ourselves to this fate.
On the other hand we literally have a CEO of a gas and oil company chairing COP28 next year… So… Yeah…
We need a system to hold those in power responsible for their promises and inactions.
I don’t trust corporations, the only thing important for them is the balance sheet, they will always take the easy and cheap way. There should be a world wide tax on all companies which decreases with the companies sustainability. Hit corporations where it hurts them: money.
The system is violence. Threat of violence is the only thing that would ever keep in check politicians and big business. Voting declares the people’s will, but it is only backed by the threat of violence. Otherwise the people may say their will but the elite will not care. Hopefully things will become desperate enough for the violence to occur before it’s too late
While I understand where you’re coming from, do keep in mind that the same people that can afford to keep chugging along on the same path with only the bottom line in their crosshairs also have enough influence to make sure that once violence starts it gets promptly redirected. And masses of upset people aren’t really coherent enough to keep a single goal in mind.
Hell, if you’ve ever tried to get 12 hungry people to eat lunch at the same time and decide on a place to get it from, you’ll shortly understand what the phrase ‘herding cats’ means. Add to that a random 13th person that just pops up, whose neighbour owns the new lunch place on the corner and just ‘offers other options’ and you can quickly see how getting lunch becomes an exercise in futility.
And if smoke, mirrors and redirection don’t work, civil violence is used as a pretext to intervene with force against protestors.
I honestly don’t believe another French revolution is capable of happening again, ever.
The answer could be voting with your wallet, but remember the ‘no preorders’ crowds? See my point about herding cats.
Unfortunately the attention of the masses is neatly divided between social media, news about impending economical doom and working for just enough money to survive. To me it seems that most people are already fighting for their survival in their own microcosm.
The world failed to take action against climate change, now they’re going to be late to take action to the adaptation of civilization to a dangerous environment. Too late to stop climate change, it’s time to think about adapting to a new environment.
Humanity can certainly adept to climate change, but these changes will also cause a lot of people to relocate. I’m not sure if society, in the current political climate, can adapt quick enough to be able to deal with the influx of possible climate refugees.
… and with unwanted or simply too many refugees comes conflict, both at home and abroad. Those who are slow to join the Great Climate Migration toward less- or differently-affected areas will struggle more over time, and there will be increasing wealth inequality as a result. It’s a difficult picture of a future to which unfortunately many people seem oblivious.
Another thing that came to mind is, that essential industries will also have to adapt. Medicine manufacturing for the world takes place mainly in India, and they are already in a crisis due to other problems.
Chip manufacturing will also become problematic in many regions, either due to weather changes or due to water shortages.
Climate change is one of the biggest reasons I don’t want children. I can’t put blinders on and then feel zero responsibility for dragging them into a hopeless nightmare.
i have kids. i actively worry about how miserable their future may be. i try not to talk about this stuff to them much because i don’t want to scare them with it. i don’t think there’s anything i or they can do (except maybe vote).
I feel you. I have kids too. I fear for their future.
i try not to talk about this stuff to them much because i don’t want to scare them with it.
IMO that’s exactly the opposite of what you should be doing. Frankly, what we need is for folks to be raising a generation of Greta Thunberg-types.
See also the bit about “weaponized hopelessness” in the Kurzgesagt video mentioned elsewhere in the thread.
Once my kids get older they will be taught science properly, and they will be fully aware of the seriousness of our situation.
I know people keep saying “I don’t want my kids to suffer” but the fact is the only way out of this is getting more younger people out there AND ENGAGED to make a difference. Your child could discover a breakthrough to solve the problem, who knows? More population isn’t the real problem, it’s what that population does and what corporations do in support of those choices.
I’d rather have taken the shot and failed instead of never trying at all (born and tried instead of never born).
More population isn’t the real problem
Having up to two kids per couple isn’t “more population” anyway. It takes 2.1 kids, on average, just to replace the older generation as they die off.
And you see the negative effects of this in many countries.
Don’t get me wrong, I totally get not having kids for financial reasons. I have kids myself, it’s been incredibly difficult. We’ve had to find the money and make ends meet, but at the end of the day we’ve been able to do it.
Your child could discover a breakthrough to solve the problem, who knows?
There’s no “breakthrough discovery” needed to solve the problem - we’ve known how to solve this problem for more than a hundred years now. It’s called “dismantling capitalism” - and it’s still our only way out.
The proletariat is treated by the bourgeoisie the same as a mob boss treats his underlings.
Just good enough to make them comfortable, but not too comfortable to elevate themselves or no longer need them. Comfortably uncomfortable.
I agree with you, but half the US believes certain people aren’t actually people, so we have a long way to go to dismantle the problems of our world economic structure. An armed reform will just lead to authoritarianism, always has.
On the flipside, it’s also true that if we all simply give up and don’t have kids because the future looks so bleak, by definition we are admitting to a kind of psychic defeatism and epistemic hopelessness. Having kids is one of the best ways for regular people to have any hope of influencing the future.
For my wife and I it was initially economic but now we would not have natural kids even if we bacame rich. might adopt if that happend. I am so glad we are not older because if we had been we might have had kids before realizing what a cluster everything is.
It may not be as hopeless as you think: https://youtu.be/LxgMdjyw8uw
I really hope I’m wrong. Also, I love Kurzgesagt! Thanks!
Edit: I wrote that just before watching the video. I hadn’t even considered the idea of “weaponized hopelessness” that they talk about near the end, and how bleak thoughts and apathy ultimately help the fossil fuel industry. Good stuff!
Here’s something to consider about their videos though…
I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you, but Kurzgesagt just peddles capitalist greenwashing.
Capitalism will never fix the problem it has caused - never.
Almost ten years ago, I was in Miami for a conference, and they were pumping water out of the streets back then. I would guess it’s not gotten any better.
This is exactly why my partner and I are not having children.
When even Florida is telling you shit is fucked… Shit is FUCKED
Florida has been saying this for decades. Some of the nation and world’s best climate research facilities are in the state. Think NASA, National oceanic and atmospheric administration NOAA, University of Miami’s ocean and climate research is world class etc. The state is almost all at sea level with 800 miles of coastline and an economy that depends on beach tourism so they have a huge incentive to mitigate climate change. “Smart Money” is pulling out of the state already, with major insurance being firms priced out of the market.
You need to remember Florida is a deeply divided state, something like 51/49 crazy/sane ratio, with the loonies narrowly holding the sane people hostage by a handful of votes. There’s 22 million people in the state and most of the ones in civilized areas are indeed sane. It’s the hillbilies out in the sticks that deny climate change. In 2018 for example they voted OUT Bill Nelson, a democratic senator with a history of supporting climate and science, and voted IN Rick Scott, the former FL governor who refused to allow his administration to even use the term “Climate Change.” (Bill Nelson later went on to be the head of NASA which is good but shows you the type of person he is, who FL voted out.)
This all goes to show why you need to listen to this FL meteorologist extra careful, because Florida believe it or not has some extremely bright educated resourceful people that are extremely motivated to fight climate change…but are unfortunately held hostage and muted by the lunatics.
To my understanding the ratio is more around 30:70 but gerrymandering has made it look more like 51:49
Trump won Florida 51/47 in 2022, desantis won 49.6 to 49.2 (!) in 2018 (although he won reelection 60/40 in 2022) and Rick Scott won Bill Nelson’s senate seat in 2018 narrowly by 50.06 to 49.93 (!!!). A difference of 10,000 votes in a state of 22 million. Not saying gerrymandering isn’t happening but those are first past the post elections to my knowledge so districting doesn’t matter. Florida is extremely close and it’s distressing how badly the Democratic Party has dropped the ball in the state and let it slip away so badly, although it is in brand with their inept record so…
Obviously the dude is not a biologist… Earth is gonna be fine long term, the other species are gonna be fine long term. The only thing we’re running into the ground is ourselves.
Edit: check out all these clowns below who have a human superiority complex so inflated that they believe the earth will die with us 😂🤡
Earth may persist as a dead rock floating though space, but I’d argue that doesn’t come close to ‘fine’.
Kinda like saying if you get lost in the desert you’ll be fine: sure your organs will fail, your muscles will turn to jerky, and you’ll be very much dead: but your skeleton will remain for decades!! 🎉
Life is what makes Earth special, and we’re on track to reducing life to extremiphiles. Hell, even those could be at risk - the problem with climate change is positive feedback loops, and who knows how far those will push. Even the most resilient of microbastards won’t do too great when Earth is molten.
Extreme-case scenario, but whether that’s what happens or we get some kind of miracle climate shift and Earth lives happily ever after, or anywhere in between, is roll of the dice.
This is pretty naive imo, the destruction we are responsible for has already driven numerous animals to extinction. You really think entire ecosystems collapsing doesn’t involve other species dying too?
The species driven extinct by climate change won’t be fine
Have you heard of evolution or are you one of those loons that believe “god” placed a set number of species on the planet and that’s all there will ever be? Asking for a friend.
Why do you talk like this?
“Asking for a friend”
It’s very “i has spork”
Doesn’t matter what I say here, you trolls will downvote it. So have at it.
Evolution works on very long time spans. Anthropomorphic climate change will be way too fast for species to evolve and adapt. I highly doubt all life will ever be wiped out on Earth, but we might lose 99% of current species with new species evolving over time. This is our dinosaur asteroid moment for sure.
And yet, life survived even the asteroid. It’s arrogant as all hell to believe we have more destructive power than that asteroid. Or that we deserve to live on a planet we are destroying.
We are living through a mass extinction event right now. We have driven hundreds of species extinct even before getting deeply into the effects of climate change so it’s fascinating that you think that even more severe environmental change will harm no species at all.
You clearly love putting words in people’s mouths. Utterly unrelated to what I said. Congrats on your irrelevance.
Earth is gonna be fine long term
It’s a metaphor.
Like when people say “The economy is in trouble”, no one really cares about the economy itself. The economy will be fine. Even if it crashes by 90%, it’s still an economy, right?
What we mean when we use these metaphors is, how the life of people living in these systems will be affected.
Maybe a better analogy to the title is the life support system of a spaceship. If that system flashes you with warning lights, you’ll be worried, but not because the spaceship itself is in trouble. It will travel through space and time just fine, eons after it’s passengers have suffocated.
A better way to phrase this, is that you believe humans deserve to live because of your own ego about your worth compared to the entire planet. Carry on.
That’s maybe what you read, but not what I said. Putting words in mouths is a dishonest approach to conversation. Can we do better, please?
The idea was based on the assumption that one does not want humans to suffer.
Now when people talk about some ‘vital signs’ of a system in which humans live, be it economy, space ship or planet, it is usually meant and understood that they care about the wellbeing of the inhabitants, not about the state of the soulless system, even if that’s what they literally say. It’s a metaphor.
