Absolutely nothing that relies on people making individual consumer lifestyle choices is going to be any sort of solution. The only solutions will be top-down national/international policies. Want people to eat less meat? Regulate and tax it so that it becomes unaffordable to eat so much. And the same goes for every other source of greenhouse gases.
The even bigger elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about with regards to climate change is overpopulation.
Every single factor in climate change is multiplied by the growth in population. Every singe person contributes to climate change in some way but the simple fact is, fewer people, less impact.
Surprised no one has brought up about people having less kids.
That includes so many things though. Stopping animal agriculture? Check. Taking cars off the road (including electric cars)? Check. Simply buying less junk? Check. While companies and governments need to do much more than your average consumer when it comes to climate change, consumers should do all they can to force those two groups to make those changes. Consumers also need to stop whining when the problems with animal agriculture or cars are pointed out, too many go on the defensive when they have their poor habits called out.
**Hot take: It’s *far* too late for us to prevent man-made climate change through merely cutting emissions.**
As for getting people to change their consumerist behaviour, good freaking luck with that. Have you ever seen The Platform? It’s a pretty good horror film that shows us what we should really be scared of isn’t some supernatural monster, zombie or alien threat, but rather our fellow peers. It’s a good exploration into the human psyche and why we’re intrinsically selfish pieces of garbage.
The best thing we can honestly do right now is put our research into geoengineering solutions to mitigate the damage we’re currently doing. If we aren’t pumping sulphur aerosols into the atmosphere or blotting out sunlight with solar shades within the next twenty years, we’re boned.
Why do I think we only have twenty years? Have you ever heard of permafrost? There are large pockets of methane stored in permafrost and if that thaws completely, we’re gonna end up with a runaway greenhouse effect that could send this planet the way of Venus within tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years. A mere fraction of that would cause ecological collapse.
Venus, by the way, is a planet with temperatures hot enough to melt lead and an atmosphere so thick that it’s like being a kilometre below the sea.
These next few decades are gonna get *real* ugly without a truly radical solution. On top of dwindling planetary resources and automation eliminating many jobs, we run the very real risk of causing ecological collapse. So imagine you have masses of unemployed people unable to pay wages and survive, governments that continue to prop up the rich and a growing inequality gap. That feels like the recipe for mass civil unrest, which I’m sure will be met with violence.
[removed]
Killing 50% of the world’s population through flip of the coin head or tails. The climate change solution no one wants to talk about
If people are serious about climate change, why not let employees work from home?
Good freaking luck with that. It’s like nothing was learned from the yellow vests protests. Like it or not, people will not accept a lower standard of living for a threat that is fairly nebulous in how it will actually change their day to day life.
Trying to increase taxes on meat and carbon will just price the poor out of meat and cars, which I’m sure would be a huge vote winner amongst them. The wealthier groups can simply just afford the higher prices, and as a result, would result in ever increasing inequality in society.
As for overpopulation, the developed world already has birth rates well below replacement rate, we’re kind of overachieving in that area.
In short, due to people generally being unwilling to make sacrifices, I believe the focus must be preparing for the fallout of climate change, since it is 100% inevitable without some kind of eco-authoritarian world government
Greta could donate her millions she made I suppose. Nice little earner this middle class doomer business.
The problem is Covid has proven to us that those in charge telling you to live in a certain way are the ones breaking the rules. Why should I stop eating meat when the ‘experts’ telling me to do are probably stuffing their gobs with steak
15 comments
What literally all of them bar other people making sacrifices?
Too many people complain that Britain doesn’t have the weather to replace driving with cycling.
We won’t have the weather to do anything if we don’t.
Parents munching on beef roast: Yum yum!
Parents learning air around their children’s schools is dangerously toxic: HEY NO!
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-mobils-messaging-shifted-blame-for-warming-to-consumers/
Absolutely nothing that relies on people making individual consumer lifestyle choices is going to be any sort of solution. The only solutions will be top-down national/international policies. Want people to eat less meat? Regulate and tax it so that it becomes unaffordable to eat so much. And the same goes for every other source of greenhouse gases.
The even bigger elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about with regards to climate change is overpopulation.
Every single factor in climate change is multiplied by the growth in population. Every singe person contributes to climate change in some way but the simple fact is, fewer people, less impact.
Surprised no one has brought up about people having less kids.
That includes so many things though. Stopping animal agriculture? Check. Taking cars off the road (including electric cars)? Check. Simply buying less junk? Check. While companies and governments need to do much more than your average consumer when it comes to climate change, consumers should do all they can to force those two groups to make those changes. Consumers also need to stop whining when the problems with animal agriculture or cars are pointed out, too many go on the defensive when they have their poor habits called out.
**Hot take: It’s *far* too late for us to prevent man-made climate change through merely cutting emissions.**
As for getting people to change their consumerist behaviour, good freaking luck with that. Have you ever seen The Platform? It’s a pretty good horror film that shows us what we should really be scared of isn’t some supernatural monster, zombie or alien threat, but rather our fellow peers. It’s a good exploration into the human psyche and why we’re intrinsically selfish pieces of garbage.
The best thing we can honestly do right now is put our research into geoengineering solutions to mitigate the damage we’re currently doing. If we aren’t pumping sulphur aerosols into the atmosphere or blotting out sunlight with solar shades within the next twenty years, we’re boned.
Why do I think we only have twenty years? Have you ever heard of permafrost? There are large pockets of methane stored in permafrost and if that thaws completely, we’re gonna end up with a runaway greenhouse effect that could send this planet the way of Venus within tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years. A mere fraction of that would cause ecological collapse.
Venus, by the way, is a planet with temperatures hot enough to melt lead and an atmosphere so thick that it’s like being a kilometre below the sea.
These next few decades are gonna get *real* ugly without a truly radical solution. On top of dwindling planetary resources and automation eliminating many jobs, we run the very real risk of causing ecological collapse. So imagine you have masses of unemployed people unable to pay wages and survive, governments that continue to prop up the rich and a growing inequality gap. That feels like the recipe for mass civil unrest, which I’m sure will be met with violence.
[removed]
Killing 50% of the world’s population through flip of the coin head or tails. The climate change solution no one wants to talk about
If people are serious about climate change, why not let employees work from home?
Good freaking luck with that. It’s like nothing was learned from the yellow vests protests. Like it or not, people will not accept a lower standard of living for a threat that is fairly nebulous in how it will actually change their day to day life.
Trying to increase taxes on meat and carbon will just price the poor out of meat and cars, which I’m sure would be a huge vote winner amongst them. The wealthier groups can simply just afford the higher prices, and as a result, would result in ever increasing inequality in society.
As for overpopulation, the developed world already has birth rates well below replacement rate, we’re kind of overachieving in that area.
In short, due to people generally being unwilling to make sacrifices, I believe the focus must be preparing for the fallout of climate change, since it is 100% inevitable without some kind of eco-authoritarian world government
Greta could donate her millions she made I suppose. Nice little earner this middle class doomer business.
The problem is Covid has proven to us that those in charge telling you to live in a certain way are the ones breaking the rules. Why should I stop eating meat when the ‘experts’ telling me to do are probably stuffing their gobs with steak