How are we feeling about climate change, (can't be bothered?)?

Don M. said:
Those living in drought prone areas, surrounded by drying/flammable vegetation, are just one lightning strike away from losing everything.
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Yeah
That's one of the reasons we bought a place in town
Those lodgepole pines at the cabin are a tinderbox
Had some pretty close calls
One day....maybe next summer....it'll be gone
 

grahamg said:
Now I've deliberately chosen a provocative title here, but the critical element implied or stated, ("can't be bothered?"), I'm really saying as a way of criticising myself!!!!

Its just too easy to put your hands up and say or think, "What can I/We do"? (either because the whole issue seems too big to think about right now, or else other troubles in my life are crowding out thinking about such a fundamental issue).
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I do what I can. Recycle. Drive less. Travel less. Garden locally. Use less plastics. I do not consume as much. The earth will adapt somehow. Whether humans are part of the adaption is way beyond anything I can do about it.
 

grahamg said:
Can you stretch your imagination to come up with one "earth shattering" big idea, (don't worry whether anyone would go along with it at this stage, as I didn't in post 6 above)? :)
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I can think and dream of all kinds of solutions. We Humans are headed to our destruction like a stampeded pre-Columbian era Buffalo herd. And like that herd it is next to impossible to stop it.

My suggestion is to go back to the barter system. Getting rid of all the worthless paper money that is backed by nothing. Steering away from the whole concept of paper money that people lie, cheat, steal, die and war for would alleviate many many of the plagues that we have brought upon ourselves in these times.

Problem is everything and I mean everything in the world today revolves around that money and the ones who have it are not going to let that change. That is why people are are bogged down in their own lives. Many barely have time to come up for air. They are to busy taking care of the children, bills and everything else that life throws at us. Ever think that may be by design? There you go that is my stretched imagination 👉 🙂 👈
 
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I just want all the air and water quality to be the best it can be, and keep human/industrial pollution to a minimum! I lived in Pgh while the steel mills were putting junk into the air, and after they closed when it was so much cleaner. So much healthier & more pleasant, and less damage to material things. And Pgh recovered economically just fine. I have seen several rivers cleaned up to the point where they could be used for clean recreational activities, improving the quality of of life and bringing in clean business.
I’m not going into theories of what causes what, but humans MUST do what they can to keep the planet’s air, water and ground as clean & healthy as possible for their own survival.
 
I resent the implication that a young woman (not a child) is unable to learn science, is unable to form opinions on her own based on learning and observation, and is being manipulated by others. Treated as a stereotype.
Squat, you are beginning to sound like you’re a stereotype yourself, those guys who take pride in seeing how ignorant they can stay, discrediting information that they are too stupid to process.
 
Don M. said:
Climate Change is certainly coming. I doubt that I will see any major issues, at my age....but I wonder how my Grandkids, and beyond will be affected. I think we are very close....if not already at the "tipping point"...beyond which there is little that can be done to avoid the looming problems. I'm sure the politicians will try to pass a bunch of legislation in the near future....with little chance of changing anything, other than adding huge costs to the costs of transportation, and manufacturing, etc.
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Unfortunately I think we are well past the tipping point. We sowed the seeds of our own destruction at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution some 250 years ago! The Great Filter (Fermi paradox) is directly in front of us.
 
Ellwood970 said:
I do what I can. Recycle. Drive less. Travel less. Garden locally. Use less plastics. I do not consume as much.
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Me too!

It doesn’t involve much if any sacrifice on my part. Being frugal seems to go hand in hand with living green.

IMO we won’t be able to spend our way out of climate change. It will take some changes in how we live. Unfortunately it will also require some people to lose their way of life as some industries die and others emerge.

It’s all way too complicated for me to offer any global solutions.
 
Like many seniors, I've worked hard, cut waste to the minimum, made do and mended, grown fruit and vegetables and bought locally raised meat etc. In fact lived a fairly "Green" lifestyle before the word was fashionable. Now we're retired, Mrs. L and I just want to enjoy ourselves. We're going to travel more, drive more see the places we wanted to see and sample lots of good food and drink. We're going to grow old disgracefully.
 
Gary O' said:
Those lodgepole pines at the cabin are a tinderbox
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Yep, lodgepoles are a "fire climax" species, their natural cycle is to burn periodically. The older the stand the greater the risk.

Try aspens, if you can get them to grow. They are much more fire resistant!

Fought fires for the Forest Service years ago, in my youth. That's where I learned most of what I know about this...
 
We have the science to turn it around but we need the world to get on board. I read recently China's Xi Jinping told the UN General Assembly will stop building coal fired power plants abroad. Sounds good? My issues is when will the users of the world stop using them. China has pledged it carbon neutral by 2060. That seems too late to my thinking. As shorelines continue to disappear militaries and industries in ocean front locations are sweating as to how to deal with it.
 
Alligatorob said:
Yep, lodgepoles are a "fire climax" species, their natural cycle is to burn periodically. The older the stand the greater the risk.

Try aspens, if you can get them to grow. They are much more fire resistant!
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Funny you should mention that
I dug up some young aspens and planted them in our meadow
I nurtured the heck outa 'em
Nada

Yeah, my next cabin will be in the aspens
Thing about them is wind
They tend to snap and fall....big time

Yeah, lodgepoles are not only a fire hazard, they, when they get too big, also blow over.

Now, Ponderosa pines are nice, and establish themselves
Only, they are not for the wood stove
They're creosote factories
 
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Geezerette said:
I resent the implication that a young woman (not a child) is unable to learn science, is unable to form opinions on her own based on learning and observation, and is being manipulated by others. Treated as a stereotype.
Squat, you are beginning to sound like you’re a stereotype yourself, those guys who take pride in seeing how ignorant they can stay, discrediting information that they are too stupid to process.
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I'm sorry you feel that way. However, I stand by my statement. One... Seeing as how she is only 18 now, I say she was a child when first jumping on the world stage. Two, she has no education whatsoever in the field of climate science that I can find, none, and three... For you, I suppose Dr Judith Curry has no real standing in the climate change room. Yet you talk about being stupid. (sorry folks I do hate to resort to name calling, but, I can't let this insult go unanswered). Before shooting off your mouth, at least take the time to investigate and digest what is being said.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Curry
 
If we all did what one has to ,to clean the air , then fine.....but only 10% abide by it .....so what’s the point !
 
The primary contributor to greenhouse gasses is the burning of fossil fuels, and we're slowly being weened off them with the advancement of electric vehicles. Soon, EVs will be ubiquitous, despite the fact that politicians in the pocket of big oil are doing everything they can to stop that from happening. The bare minimum they should do is to let it happen on its own instead of putting up barriers. It can happen more quickly with tax incentives and money for development.

Personally, I try to recycle everything I use that can be recycled. What really pisses me off is, every time there's a disaster, the government ships in pallets full of bottled water, which is a huge amount of plastic waste. Why can't they fly in large water storage tanks and pass out gallon containers instead?
 
Obviously we've gone through several cycles of climate change since the earth was born. During these cycles, nature heaps all sorts of catastrophes upon us and some species become extinct as a result. Dinosaurs and the like are gone and others have followed. I believe it is simply natural evolution combine with the industrial era and now the technology era adding to these changes. Eventually we too shall evolve and the cycle will begin again and many millennia down the road, the population will be crying in their beer about climate change. So, what else is new?
 
Lewkat said:
Obviously we've gone through several cycles of climate change since the earth was born. During these cycles, nature heaps all sorts of catastrophes upon us and some species become extinct as a result. Dinosaurs and the like are gone and others have followed. I believe it is simply natural evolution combine with the industrial era and now the technology era adding to these changes. Eventually we too shall evolve and the cycle will begin again and many millennia down the road, the population will be crying in their beer about climate change. So, what else is new?
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I had a very funny argument with a good friend of mine about "evolution", when she stated "evolution stopped when modern man arrived", (something like this anyway).
My pithy comment I'm sure you'll admire was: "Who stopped it"? :)
 
Gary O' said:
Yeah, That's one of the reasons we bought a place in town
Those lodgepole pines at the cabin are a tinderbox
Had some pretty close calls
One day....maybe next summer....it'll be gone
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One argument you're not making, (true as it is), is the one acknowledging most if not all on this forum won't be around when/if climate change spirals out of control, so why should we care(?). We'd still care wouldn't we, as would all the rest if they really engaged their faculties, but all of us will definitely admit, much as we might care about something coming down the road in X decades, it would grab our attention slightly more, were it coming next year!!!!! :)
 
spectratg said:
Unfortunately I think we are well past the tipping point. We sowed the seeds of our own destruction at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution some 250 years ago! The Great Filter (Fermi paradox) is directly in front of us.
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I had never heard of the Fermi paradox. Thanks. I'm always interested in learning some new perspectives. I just took a quick read about it, but is sure does paint a bleak outlook. Care to explain in further detail?
 
There was a time when Climate Change, due to excessive use of fossil fuels was a 'maybe'. That ship has sailed. There is enough scientific evidence that it is occurring. Some still do not "believe" the facts. Whether they do, or not is irrelevant. The climate is slowly changing. It's hard to observe that without scientific instruments. And even if Climate Change was not happening, we still are polluting the planet with the exhaust from billions of fossil fueled engines, furnaces, stoves, power plants, etc. And we aren't making dinosaurs anymore, we will run out of fossil fuel., we have to get a new, nonpolluting source of energy, or face the end of our civilization. It's prudent to save what fossil fuel we still have.
 

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