Do you worry about climate change?

[Teaching3bears]

We have had several weather events in recent years that damaged and destroyed homes.  This kind of thing did not used to happen in our region.  When it is discussed in the news, it is not usually linked a lot to climate change though i know whenever scientists discuss climate change, they link it to extreme weather events.  It feels like climate change is something that is studied in school and talked about in the media but most people don’t think about it much.  Are you worried?

[MEmama]

Of course

[Pawz4me]

I don’t really worry, but it concerns me. I do what I can to minimize our impact. If we were twenty years younger we’d probably strongly consider relocating northward, both for climate change and political reasons. 

[QueenCat]

Concerned,  yes. 

[JustEm]

No I don't worry about it. But I don't tend to worry about things I have no real control over

[Katy]

No. I don’t worry about things I cannot control. I am generally as prepared for likely emergencies  as I can be however. 

[prairiewindmomma]

 Climate change isn’t something that is coming. It is here, and things are going to get worse. We already see population displacement, lost food yields, and shocking decline in our animal and insect populations. A lot of temperature rise is already baked in to the future and we can reasonably predict how that is going to affect us based on a number of well done scientific studies.
 

I don’t know that I worry about it. I accept it. When we put on a new roof, we chose shingles with higher wind and hail ratings. When we replace our HVAC, we are choosing a heat pump over a traditional ac to be more energy efficient since it is going to be used more. I planted fruit trees in my front yard to bring more shade and cooling to my yard. We are doing some things for ethical reasons also: eating less meat, generating what solar energy we can, lessening our footprint, etc. These are things in my sphere of control I can deal with. There are things I cannot control, and while they sadden me, I am not fixated in worry.

I grew up in tornado country, so perhaps that has shaped me. There’s never been a time when I thought Mother Nature was fully benevolent. We froze in the winter, heard tornado sirens in spring, and baked in the summer. We had about two nice weeks of weather in spring and fall.

 

[WildflowerMom]

Definitely concerned.   

[prairiewindmomma]

Chiming back to say: I did and continue to see a lot of denial that I think is used to keep fear in check. I remember when we lived in TX talking to a friend in Houston. It was 2017, right after Hurricane Harvey. We had already decided to move but I was talking to a friend about cleanup. She was like, “This is our fifth flood in four years.” They had just finished cleaning up from the Tax Day flood (April 2016) when Harvey hit (August 2017). Houston is built in a bowl shape, and they have paved over a lot of their wetlands. As low lying as it is, and as heavy as their rainfall is, I turned and asked her what she was going to do during the next flood. She looked at me like I was crazy. 
 

Since we’ve left, they’ve had Imelda and a couple of other events. They get 4-5 very heavy rainstorms a year and usually one of those floods them. They have no desire to move away from work and family so it’s just their normal now. Maybe that is rational behavior, maybe it isn’t…but at some point insurance companies are going to refuse to pay claims (hello, Florida) and the economics of some of their decision making will likely change. 
 

It’s kind of like water shortages along the Colorado River basin. I don’t know why Utah and Arizona is allowing so much water to be allocated to alfalfa (that is exported) but whether we believe climate change is at fault or not, consequences still arise. 

[wintermom]

I focus more on the impact I'm making to the environment and have control over. Garbage reduction, recycling/reusing as much as possible, creating a more critter and bug friendly yard (no pesticides, less grass and more wildflowers), reduce vehicle use (we only have one vehicle for the family, we use public transit, cycle, walk, car pool), buy second-hand, etc.

 

 

[gardenmom5]

No. The climate has always changed.  We're currently in an interglacial period.  I'm rather glad we're in an interglacial period.  The O2 levels were much higher when the dinosaurs were alive. Tree/plants require O2 to grow, so there is more growth.  The medieval warm period was warmer than it is today.  Then there was the "little ice age".     I'm far more concerned about what would happen during an ice age.  We can look at the "year without a summer" (when it snowed in JULY).  lots of crop failures. granted that was because of a volcano on the other side of the planet spewing particulates into the atmosphere .  . . . 
Svensmark has some interesting theories on the origins of cloud formation and their relationship to the Sun's magnetic field (which varies). CERN took over his experiments and replicated his findings over the course of two separate and increasingly larger experiments. 

 

 

[SKL]

No.

[mom2scouts]

No.

[Vintage81]

Nope

[Corraleno]

Yes and no. I'm not especially worried about more extreme weather events impacting me personally in my lifetime because (1) I'm old and I don't think things are going to get terribly dire in the next 20 yrs or so, and (2) I live on a small hill (not subject to floods) in an area that gets a ton of rain, very little snow, and only maybe a week of really hot days per year. No hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, or catastrophic floods.

I do worry about it in a global sense, though, especially in terms of the impact it's going to have on population displacement/migrations, food and fuel prices, supply chain problems, etc. And I worry that those issues in particular will be used as further excuses for scapegoating and authoritarianism (often by the same groups that opposed any measures to mitigate those issues to begin with).

[Pam in CT]

I don't know that "worry" is quite the right frame.  Kind of like, if you asked do I "worry" that I'm going to die at some point, no.  I accept that I'm going to die at some point.

Climate change is already here, it's already having real effect, we have not as a species managed to figure out how to prevent its acceleration, it will accelerate. Previously arable land in other nations is already stricken with drought, previously irrigable land in our nation is drilling ever deeper into falling water tables.  Gorgeous seaside properties in FL and GA are already uninsurable.  There is no going back, and we are not yet able to summon the collective will to engineer and pay for the this-century version of the Dutch systems of canals and dikes that are the only way that places like Florida can continue even to exist when sea levels rise by 10 feet. And Antarctica is melting: the seas will rise by 10 feet. Perhaps it will take more than 20 years, but it cannot take more than 200.

But that's not "worrying."  It's only "accepting."

[ScoutTN]

No.

[Innisfree]

Worry is probably the wrong word. I factor it into decisions, like @prairiewindmommadescribed. We’re moving away from an area that is more exposed to severe weather, to a more moderate climate. There were some houses I would have loved which were listed in areas which are increasingly subject to flooding and hurricanes; those didn’t get serious consideration, in spite of having lots of other virtues. I looked at the long-range flooding likelihood, not just what has happened historically. We’ve added insulation, and have a heat pump. I’d like to get solar panels and batteries, both to reduce our impact on the grid, and to have a backup when the electricity goes out. That’s all just sensible planning.

15 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

I do worry about it in a global sense, though, especially in terms of the impact it's going to have on population displacement/migrations, food and fuel prices, supply chain problems, etc. And I worry that those issues in particular will be used as further excuses for scapegoating and authoritarianism (often by the same groups that opposed any measures to mitigate those issues to begin with).

I’m concerned about all of this, too. I don’t think it’s likely to affect my own life very much, but during my kids’ lives, they may see these issues causing problems. Also, I’m aware that other regions and nations will see these effects much sooner than we will. I can’t shrug off the dangers they face. 

More than day to day worry, I feel grief. I grew up watching all the nature shows, spending time outside, being familiar with the plants and animals around me. I’m very much aware of the crisis in biodiversity which we’re living through. It really hurts to realize that we’re losing so many species. That’s probably what upsets me most.

[Melissa Louise]

Not any more.

I accept it has happened, and that the climate is in a cycle of increasing disruption, and I don't worry about it, because I am completely powerless to have any impact on it. My vote doesn't matter, my emails to my MP don't matter, my recycling doesn't matter (much), my not having a car doesn't matter....none of it matters, change is baked in, let's mitigate, baby. (Being vegan if we all did it probably matters a little?)

I care about precisely one climate thing rn - I support a group that brings awareness and solutions to the plight of people living in the half of my city that doesn't get the pretty trees and the lovely cooling ocean breezes, where people suffer badly from heat during ordinary summers, and catastrophically during heatwaves - I send them $ and sign their petitions and tell ppl about them. That's it. That's what I can do. Is there any point pretending to do more?

I write about it.

I hope my children don't have children.

Finis.

PS I WAS doing more until my local XR kicked me out for non-climate related reasons. Oh well. A lot of it was theatre anyway.

[Ausmumof3]

Not excessively. I do worry during bushfire season. It’s somewhat back of mind after three years of La Niña. This year is likely to be warmer though.

[kokotg]

Seeing how many people aren't worried has me more worried now than I was before I opened this thread. It must be incredibly frustrating to be a climate scientist. Good job, climate scientists, chugging along Cassandra-like! I do have some hope for a big solution to save us all from ourselves. Like how Malthus was wrong because he didn't foresee nitrogen fixation. But, then, nitrogen fixation killed a lot of people, too.

[bookbard]

I grieve, and worry about the world we've left for our children. There's no more hope for the glaciers, they announced yesterday. There's no way of saving them. This beautiful world is being trashed. I grieve for the constant deforestation, the bare earth, the loss of bees. It's getting so hot here and somehow people forget in between summers. We've just had the worst bushfires in history and the worst floods in history. Where is it safe from smoke and disasters? Worry doesn't cover it. I'll be dead before it's at its worst, but my kids - and other people's kids who will also suffer - will have to endure it. 

[Melissa Louise]

9 minutes ago, kokotg said:

Seeing how many people aren't worried has me more worried now than I was before I opened this thread. It must be incredibly frustrating to be a climate scientist. Good job, climate scientists, chugging along Cassandra-like! I do have some hope for a big solution to save us all from ourselves. Like how Malthus was wrong because he didn't foresee nitrogen fixation. But, then, nitrogen fixation killed a lot of people, too.

I WAS worried.

Now I accept we haven't done enough to turn things around.

Yes, it must be horrific to be a climate scientist.

I don't have any hopes for a big solution.

I think there will be successful mitigations in some places, and less successful in others.

My lack of worry isn't denial - it's just, what can I do? I have the power of one person. One person who has been doing many of things one person should do for the past decades. To what end? I'd like to think my actions as a lone individual matter, but the truth is, they don't really, except in some moral sense of feeling right with oneself about choices.

So what good will my worry do? If my vote hasn't done anything, over three decades, what will my worry do?

I could write a post all about how worried I am and would it make any material difference? No.

 

 

[KSera]

12 minutes ago, kokotg said:

Seeing how many people aren't worried has me more worried now than I was before I opened this thread.

I feel the same. Though I live in an area that has been notably impacted by climate change over the past decade, with increasingly severe weather disasters we didn't used to have here, I'm still not worried per se for myself, but I'm worried about the future becoming miserable for my children as this gets worse and worse. I'm frustrated at the lack of urgency from so many, and that people seem to just throw up their hands and say it's too late and nothing to be done (or outright deny it's happening and/or that we could do anything to slow it, though it's clear we could if there were enough collective will). I guess that's what's the worst about it for me--that a collective will to make it not so awful for our kids and future generations just isn't there, and that I know it doesn't have to go as badly as it looks like it's going to, but people aren't willing to do the things that would mitigate it. I guess that allows them not to worry. They enjoy living the life they have now, and don't worry about what it means for people in the future.

[Melissa Louise]

3 minutes ago, KSera said:

I feel the same. Though I live in an area that has been notably impacted by climate change over the past decade, with increasingly severe weather disasters we didn't used to have here, I'm still not worried per se for myself, but I'm worried about the future becoming miserable for my children as this gets worse and worse. I'm frustrated at the lack of urgency from so many, and that people seem to just throw up their hands and say it's too late and nothing to be done (or outright deny it's happening and/or that we could do anything to slow it, though it's clear we could if there were enough collective will). I guess that's what's the worst about it for me--that a collective will to make it not so awful for our kids and future generations just isn't there, and that I know it doesn't have to go as badly as it looks like it's going to, but people aren't willing to do the things that would mitigate it. I guess that allows them not to worry. They enjoy living the life they have now, and don't worry about what it means for people in the future.

How?

Give me one material action within an individual sphere of influence, that will make one iota of difference at this point that exceeds 'vote'.

[KSera]

3 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

How?

Give me one material action within an individual sphere of influence, that will make one iota of difference at this point that exceeds 'vote'.

Well, that's the thing, it takes large numbers of people doing such actions. One person isn't going to make a difference overall. One material action is supporting the transition to electric vehicles. It's something people can do, and that significantly decreases carbon emissions, yet so many people are so, so resistant to it and many are downright angry about regulations moving in that direction. I don't understand people complaining that if they drive across the country, they would have to stop every 4-5 hours to charge for half an hour, and therefore it's unreasonable and we should accept the flooding and fires and rising sea levels and everything else instead, because that's surely more convenient than stopping to charge a car during a long road trip.

But no, one person driving an EV doesn't make a difference to the climate.

[Selkie]

I don’t worry about it, but I do the important things in order to be one less human trashing the planet - we don’t eat animal products (this alone can reduce an individual’s carbon footprint up to 73%), don’t fly, drive only a tiny amount of miles per week, heat and cool our home with geothermal, etc.

[Melissa Louise]

Just now, KSera said:

Well, that's the thing, it takes large numbers of people doing such actions. One person isn't going to make a difference overall. One material action is supporting the transition to electric vehicles. It's something people can do, and that significantly decreases carbon emissions, yet so many people are so, so resistant to it and many are downright angry about regulations moving in that direction. I don't understand people complaining that if they drive across the country, they would have to stop every 4-5 hours to charge for half an hour, and therefore it's unreasonable and we should accept the flooding and fires and rising sea levels and everything else instead, because that's surely more convenient than stopping to charge a car during a long road trip.

But no, one person driving an EV doesn't make a difference to the climate.

Some of us have been part of the large numbers for a long time, since the 80's, and yet climate change has happened.

Energy needs to go to mitigation.

My personal worry or lack of is neither here nor there.

I don't drive. A middle class EV is meaningless for me in terms of action.

 

 

[Farrar]

Honestly, yes. I would love to say that as something I have little control over, I don't spend time thinking about it, but I honestly do. It worries me a lot. I'm not on the level of doom that my kids have -- they think humanity has a mere century left if that. But it's already here and it could get very, very bad very soon. It's accelerating. I get angry at the Boomers and at my fellow X'ers who just don't care because we won't see the worst of it. But I'm less and less sure that's even true. It also worries me because I think the resulting resource pressures may additionally accelerate the speed at which fascism is rising worldwide.

[Faith-manor]

It is a factor in many choices. Worry isn't the word since worrying doesn't change it. But my grandchildren are inheriting a mess, a disaster, and I feel that deeply. It's one reason we bought a home for them that has a lot of resources for weathering the increasing problems. It is a reason we are going to keep a home in Northern Michigan since that will be one place that will be much better for temps, climate, food and water, etc. in the future. At least they can inherit a place that might help them and their potential families have a better life.

There is little that any one person can do beyond supporting the right people in power or getting into power, and then supporting smart decisions. But, we do have thing like earth tubes in order to assist with temperature control naturally without burning fossil fuels for that. More insulation everywhere we can add it, replacing some windows. We will convert to an EV vehicle as soon as there is enough infrastructure in place that we can reasonably use it, and also afford it which might be two or three years...looking at an EV Equinox. I am doing more home food production, putting up the harvest, that kind of thing so my family has a little less reliance on food shipped from long long distance. 

Some things will be forced upon us by mother nature. Lake Mead and the Colorado River will eventually force the U.S. to stop growing strawberries, alfalfa, and avocados in the dessert. Las Vegas will be forced to not have a gazillion pools and fountains at every hotel. There will be a lot of things that will change. People will resist, but nature isn't going to take no for an answer.

[KSera]

5 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

Some of us have been part of the large numbers for a long time, since the 80's, and yet climate change has happened.

Energy needs to go to mitigation.

My personal worry or lack of is neither here nor there.

I don't drive. A middle class EV is meaningless for me in terms of action.

 

 

Yeah, people who are already aware and willingly making changes where they are able aren’t the problem. It’s the people denying there is a problem or any changes that would help it that I’m talking about making it frustrating. 

[Farrar]

One other thing I'll say since people inevitably are bringing up individual actions they are taking. I also do some of those things. I compost and tote the bin down every Saturday to deposit in the city program. We have solar panels. We recycle. I try to choose less waste alternatives. 

But none of these things actually matter that much. And none of us can actually do much about it individually. The only way this gets seriously mitigated is through government action and through corporations making dramatic changes. What the big numbers of people do is meaningless compared to what government can do about this. And governments and corporations like to put this on individuals. Just recycle! Take shorter showers! Reusable shopping bags! OMG. No. This is not on individuals. Everyone on the planet could forgo hot showers for a month and it would make virtually no difference. We need large scale action that can only come through legislation and regulation. 

But as I don't see that happening, no matter how I vote and donate and take action, we all just have to plan for the potential planetary collapse that's coming and do the best we can.

[Farrar]

Just now, KSera said:

Yeah, people who are already aware and willingly making changes where they are able aren’t the problem. It’s the people denying there is a problem or any changes that would help it that I’m talking about making it frustrating. 

I disagree. I mean, yeah, they're a problem, but they're not the problem. The problem is the need for large scale, directed action of the sort no individuals can make. Like, this is not down to people not buying EV's or recycling. It's a little down to people voting against incentives for those things, but mostly it's large scale systems that make it nearly impossible for significant change to happen.

[I talk to the trees]

Worry, sort of, but I think my emotions could better be classified as grief and guilt. Biologist dd and her peers sincerely believe humans will be a part of the current mass extinction event. 

[Melissa in Australia]

I worry about pollution  and the  overpopulation that has already happened 

I strongly believe that indevidual action helps. 

  We live a lifestyle of trying to Minimise our impact as much as we can. 

I was shocked to hear that clothes are the second biggest source of pollution. And on average people only wear clothes 3 times before chucking out, or thinking they are doing something by donating to op shops, where there is so much and so poor quality that the clothes are shipped to Africa to fill their landfills.  Absolutly indevidual action of not buying so much clothes,   buying natral fibre, mending,  wearing more times will have an impact. 

 

[Faith-manor]

4 minutes ago, I talk to the trees said:

Worry, sort of, but I think my emotions could better be classified as grief and guilt. Biologist dd and her peers sincerely believe humans will be a part of the current mass extinction event. 

My kids also believe human kind is heading towards a mass extinction event.

[kokotg]

17 minutes ago, Farrar said:

Honestly, yes. I would love to say that as something I have little control over, I don't spend time thinking about it, but I honestly do. It worries me a lot. I'm not on the level of doom that my kids have -- they think humanity has a mere century left if that. But it's already here and it could get very, very bad very soon. It's accelerating. 

It's heartbreaking how much my kids take it for granted that the world as we know it will be gone within their lifetimes.

[dirty ethel rackham]

1 hour ago, Corraleno said:

I do worry about it in a global sense, though, especially in terms of the impact it's going to have on population displacement/migrations, food and fuel prices, supply chain problems, etc. And I worry that those issues in particular will be used as further excuses for scapegoating and authoritarianism (often by the same groups that opposed any measures to mitigate those issues to begin with).

This!!  Climate impact on animal species, especially bees, crops, water, weather ...   Any time there is scarcity, there is conflict and war. And who will bear the brunt of that?

1 hour ago, Innisfree said:

 

I’m concerned about all of this, too. I don’t think it’s likely to affect my own life very much, but during my kids’ lives, they may see these issues causing problems. Also, I’m aware that other regions and nations will see these effects much sooner than we will. I can’t shrug off the dangers they face. 

More than day to day worry, I feel grief. I grew up watching all the nature shows, spending time outside, being familiar with the plants and animals around me. I’m very much aware of the crisis in biodiversity which we’re living through. It really hurts to realize that we’re losing so many species. That’s probably what upsets me most.

I grieve the loss of the beautiful diversity of our planet.  But I mostly feel grief for the poor and marginalized and how much worse it will be for them.  I would say that I grieve for my future grandchildren, but, as of right now, my kids do not plan to have kids knowing what is in store for them.  

56 minutes ago, bookbard said:

I grieve, and worry about the world we've left for our children. There's no more hope for the glaciers, they announced yesterday. There's no way of saving them. This beautiful world is being trashed. I grieve for the constant deforestation, the bare earth, the loss of bees. It's getting so hot here and somehow people forget in between summers. We've just had the worst bushfires in history and the worst floods in history. Where is it safe from smoke and disasters? Worry doesn't cover it. I'll be dead before it's at its worst, but my kids - and other people's kids who will also suffer - will have to endure it. 

Two movies that drove this home were Interstellar and Fitch.  I know they are fiction, but they painted a picture of what this could look like.  

2 minutes ago, KSera said:

Yeah, people who are already aware and willingly making changes where they are able aren’t the problem. It’s the people denying there is a problem or any changes that would help it that I’m talking about making it frustrating. 

We are trying to make changes where we can.  I know there is a lot more that we can do.  When my car died at the height of the auto chip shortage, I wanted to replace it with an EV (or at least a hybrid.)  But they weren't available and I had to pay a ridiculous amount of money for the reliable relatively fuel efficient car that I could buy.  Unfortunately, where I live, most of our electricity comes from coal plants.  We plan to get solar fairly soon to help mitigate our usage, but that won't support an EV in this climate.

However, like mentioned above, individual changes are a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed.  I am pessimistic that there the will to make the changes on the scale necessary (governments, corporations) will ever happen.  Greed wins. 

[kokotg]

3 minutes ago, dirty ethel rackham said:

 

However, like mentioned above, individual changes are a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed.  I am pessimistic that there the will to make the changes on the scale necessary (governments, corporations) will ever happen.  Greed wins. 

Maybe my biggest source of hope is that climate change is getting awfully expensive (see: insurance premiums in Florida, among many other things). 

[Terabith]

27 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

My kids also believe human kind is heading towards a mass extinction event.

Yeah, I don't worry about climate change.  I accept it.  It's here; it's a huge factor, and it's going to get exponentially worse.  I've been aware of it literally my entire life.  My parents, for all their weird Tucker Carlson love, have had the environmental impact of their choices as a driving consideration for everything the decided since the early 1970s.  

Neither of my kids plan to have children because they don't want them to be subjected to what they're sure is coming.  Honestly, my in laws tried very hard to convince us not to have kids for the same reason.  I guess I selfishly wanted them, but I'm glad they're here.  

Edited April 25, 2023 by Terabith

[Not_a_Number]

Yes, I worry about it. I think it's going to increase global turmoil, and there's plenty as is.

[BusyMom5]

No, I don't worry about it.  I accept it and try to do what I can.  Truthfully I am more concerned about trash and excessive waste- food packaging,  plastic bags, plastic clothes!  I try to buy in bulk with packaging taken into consideration.  I like to buy cotton clothes, and we tend to buy a lot less than most people.  

[Laura Corin]

Yes. When we bought this house, resilience, including elevation and distance from water courses and cliffs prone to erosion were key.

[Carrie12345]

Everyone has a different idea about the term “worry”, so I don’t want to say yes or no, lol.

I’m heartbroken for the younger generations.

 I’m sickened by the continuous overdevelopment of land for entirely frivolous reasons in entirely inappropriate spaces.

 I’m disheartened by my own struggle to do more than I do, not because I think I am so powerful, but because it shows how hard change is even for the people who want it, never mind the people who don’t understand or don’t care.

[Lady Florida.]

As others said, I'm not sure worry is the right word. To me worrying is unproductive and destructive. I'm concerned, heartbroken and disheartened. Climate change isn't a future problem - it's here. I live on the east coast of Florida though not on the beach. It's already an issue and will only get worse. I won't live to see the worst of it but it breaks my heart to know my children (son and stepson) and grandchildren will. 

 

I'm a boomer and I am angry at my generation as well as at GenX'ers. Both generations of leaders have either kicked the can or denied that humans have accelerated climate change. And they still don't do anything. 

 

As one person I do what I can; I always have. That includes voting for candidates who want action as well as taking personal actions. But I'm one person and my small acts won't make a difference. It will take global action on the part of world leaders and I don't see that happening. 

[livetoread]

14 hours ago, Innisfree said:

More than day to day worry, I feel grief.

Me too. I just feel really sad when I think too much about it, so I try not to.

We live in an area that is less likely to feel the effects but when I think about the worldwide suffering (both human and animal) that is coming, it's heartbreaking. I used to think I wasn't likely to be affected personally, and that may still be the case, but I do think wars are a likely result of resource scarcity and that may very well have direct impact on my life.

[Heartstrings]

I do.  I worry about water a lot. I frequently feel grief and worry for my kids and future grandchildren because of it.   

[livetoread]

I haven't given up hope on a technology breakthrough that might spare us the worst. Even if we do come up with something though, we humans, let alone animals, will still suffer a lot before any relief happens. 

I don't think the climate itself would cause an extinction event for humans, but I think we are at high risk of blowing ourselves up in the conflicts that arise from resource scarcity.

[Carol in Cal.]

Do I worry about it?  I try not to worry about much of anything.  

But I believe it, fully, and I try to plan defensively for it and act in opposition to it.

I think that a lot of the changes that people push for, especially EVs and banning gas stoves, furnaces, and motors, just displace the problem into other communities rather than helping globally.  I’m not sure exactly what would help globally, but I live in one of the wokest parts of one of the wokest states, and I can clearly see that there are third rails here that are being ignored while the middle class is increasingly screwed.  Stuff like, why are we issuing building permits to add residences in already water-deficient communities, while horrendously rationing home water but not business water in those same communities?  Why are we moving ag water in big open canals with the sun beating down on them instead of shading them, preferably with structures with solar panels on top?  Why are we building huge plastic wind turbines rather than small scale localized installations made of renewable materials?  Why are we pushing EVs rather than hybrids when the local utility company routinely shuts down power for 3-5 days every time they think there might be a high wind/high heat event to increase fire danger?

Even here, arguably ESPECIALLY here, the decisions about what believing in climate change should make you want to do are incredibly political and not objective.  So I’m not willing to accept climate change as an automatic trump card in favor of ill considered mandates that can’t possibly fix the problem.  But I AM willing to make changes my own self, non-mandated, in that direction.  And I have.  

[Carol in Cal.]

Just now, livetoread said:

I haven't given up hope on a technology breakthrough that might spare us the worst. Even if we do come up with something though, we humans, let alone animals, will still suffer a lot before any relief happens. 

I don't think the climate itself would cause an extinction event for humans, but I think we are at high risk of blowing ourselves up in the conflicts that arise from resource scarcity.

There is a novel that I read earlier this year that postulates these kinds of breakthroughs.  I found it fascinating, and I’d love to know whether it is ‘real’ about the likelihood of those breakthroughs working out or not.  You might like it—it’s by Kim Stanley Robinson, titled “The Ministry For The Future.”