Getting Hotter? What to do?

[eider]

Many people believe that the World is heating up.
Lots of other people think that it isn't.
Some people think that the our planet slips into and out of ice ages all by itself. etc etc.......

Around here a majority of people believe that Global warming is caused by mankind, but I don't see too many 'believers' giving up anything towards helping the situation.
If you do not believe in man-made global warming then I would not expect to see you going out of your way to reduce your own emissions..... but the believers?? !!!!!!

Where our government has offered financial reward to one thing or another then I see lots of people responding. Of course. But what else are they doing?

Every morning if the sky is clear I can see tens of vapour trails at any one time, leading from London/Heathrow/Gatwick/Luton away to the East. Most of these are private groups travelling off to holiday, visit relatives, going touring and more.......... People driving across the country to buy something or other. Or a neighbour who uses infra red heating at the garden barbecue if an evening gets a bit chilly.

So my question is this............ If you are a GW believer, what are you actually doing to reduce your own carbon/emission footprint? Anything?

[EvoUK]

I think Starlight covered this pretty well in another thread:

I don't think addressing climate change usefully addressed by trying to encourage individuals to make personal less-emitting choices. That would only deal with a small fraction of emissions and distracts from the major problem, and is counterproductive in the sense that it makes addressing climate change seem 'hard' and a matter of 'individual sacrifice' when it is no such thing.

Climate change is a government-level problem, not an individual level problem. Governments need to shift their power grids to non-emitting sources, and need to work out what policies to implement to reduce national carbon emissions, and work out how they're going to bring more international pressure to make other governments do the same.

Capitalism tends to like to make things about individual consumer choices, ideally consumptive ones... "I bought an EV", "I bought LED bulbs", "I bought one less airplane flight", "I bought a burger with meat-substitute". It distracts from the real problem which is national and international level emissions which is up to government policy to deal with, not well-intentioned individual sacrifices. You can't get out of a global problem via some individuals doing voluntary sacrifices.

Supporting government action. IMO that's the only thing that actually matters.

The government needs to transition the electricity grid to non-emitting sources. Generally they're going to do that by dropping $$$ on building solar panels and wind turbines, and perhaps nuclear plants. And they need to work out a plan for reducing national emissions. I honestly don't care how they do that bit... subsidize EVs, plant trees, stop subsidizing fossil fuels, introduce electrically powered free public transport, put a tax on carbon, etc, they can choose based on what makes most sense in their analysis. Then, once they can demonstrate that their country is doing their bit, they can put more pressure on countries that aren't.

So I vote Green and also openly advocate for strong government and international action on climate change.

TL:DR - it is really a Government-level problem. Sure individuals can 'do their bit', but to effectively tackle it, action needs to be taken at that level to ensure the level and speed of change required actually happens. At our level (barring possibly multi million/billionaires), it amounts to mucking around the edges, for the most part.

[Starlight]

Trying to "do you bit" seems a bit like trying to end global poverty by not being poor yourself. Okay, you've done one person. Now what? Just cross your fingers and hope for the rest?

It's just an error of understanding to think global poverty is something to be solved by focusing on oneself not being poor. Same with Climate Change. You don't solve it by focusing on yourself not emitting. It's an issue that requires international coordination. The solution is to pressure politicians to do more in your own country, and then get them to pressure other countries to do more too, and to get other people to do the same.

[Sparko]

Breaking News! Summer is HOT.

More at 11.

[Ronson]

Many people believe that the World is heating up.
Lots of other people think that it isn't.
Some people think that the our planet slips into and out of ice ages all by itself. etc etc.......

"Some people"? Earth has been slipping in and out of ice ages long before people arrived.

Around here a majority of people believe that Global warming is caused by mankind, but I don't see too many 'believers' giving up anything towards helping the situation.
If you do not believe in man-made global warming then I would not expect to see you going out of your way to reduce your own emissions..... but the believers?? !!!!!!

Where our government has offered financial reward to one thing or another then I see lots of people responding. Of course. But what else are they doing?

Every morning if the sky is clear I can see tens of vapour trails at any one time, leading from London/Heathrow/Gatwick/Luton away to the East. Most of these are private groups travelling off to holiday, visit relatives, going touring and more.......... People driving across the country to buy something or other. Or a neighbour who uses infra red heating at the garden barbecue if an evening gets a bit chilly.

So my question is this............ If you are a GW believer, what are you actually doing to reduce your own carbon/emission footprint? Anything?

The big problem with Climate Change (or GW) is it is a huge subject, loaded with nuance. There are extremes on both sides of the issue; one group claiming it's happening, it's all mankind's fault, and we're all going to melt if something isn't done immediately. The other extreme says nothing is happening at all. I'm convinced the truth lies in the middle gray area that is rarely discussed among the hyperbole.

[seer]

Many people believe that the World is heating up.
Lots of other people think that it isn't.
Some people think that the our planet slips into and out of ice ages all by itself. etc etc.......

Around here a majority of people believe that Global warming is caused by mankind, but I don't see too many 'believers' giving up anything towards helping the situation.
If you do not believe in man-made global warming then I would not expect to see you going out of your way to reduce your own emissions..... but the believers?? !!!!!!

Where our government has offered financial reward to one thing or another then I see lots of people responding. Of course. But what else are they doing?

Every morning if the sky is clear I can see tens of vapour trails at any one time, leading from London/Heathrow/Gatwick/Luton away to the East. Most of these are private groups travelling off to holiday, visit relatives, going touring and more.......... People driving across the country to buy something or other. Or a neighbour who uses infra red heating at the garden barbecue if an evening gets a bit chilly.

So my question is this............ If you are a GW believer, what are you actually doing to reduce your own carbon/emission footprint? Anything?

The fact is without a real push using nuclear and for now natural gas we won't solve it. Besides India, China, Africa, Russia just are not going to play...So game over...

[Diogenes]

Trying to "do you bit" seems a bit like trying to end global poverty by not being poor yourself. Okay, you've done one person. Now what? Just cross your fingers and hope for the rest?

It's just an error of understanding to think global poverty is something to be solved by focusing on oneself not being poor. Same with Climate Change. You don't solve it by focusing on yourself not emitting. It's an issue that requires international coordination. The solution is to pressure politicians to do more in your own country, and then get them to pressure other countries to do more too, and to get other people to do the same.

I'm sure Chyna and India will care if people send them enough recycled letters.

Edit: Let's not forget all of Africa will have to stay dark.

[Mountain Man]

I've been looking at the daily high and low temperatures in my area over the past decade, and statistically, it's a flat line with no overall increase or decrease, so I'm not worried about runaway warning.

As I've said elsewhere, there are good reasons for wanting to protect the environment, but this idea that things are so dire the government needs to destroy everybody's quality of life by rushing ahead with half-baked "green energy" solutions that do more harm than good needs to be put to rest.

[Gondwanaland]

"Some people"? Earth has been slipping in and out of ice ages long before people arrived.



The big problem with Climate Change (or GW) is it is a huge subject, loaded with nuance. There are extremes on both sides of the issue; one group claiming it's happening, it's all mankind's fault, and we're all going to melt if something isn't done immediately. The other extreme says nothing is happening at all. I'm convinced the truth lies in the middle gray area that is rarely discussed among the hyperbole.

And hard to discuss without being labeled a 'denier' immediately.

[Gondwanaland]

And I'll just leave this here
image-82.png?w=418&ssl=1.png

[CivilDiscourse]

Some people think that the our planet slips into and out of ice ages all by itself. etc etc.......

What is your opinion of this comment? Are you a person who thinks the planet "slips into and out of ice ages all by itself" if not, what do you think causes ice ages?

[Ronson]

What is your opinion of this comment? Are you a person who thinks the planet "slips into and out of ice ages all by itself" if not, what do you think causes ice ages?

I assumed he meant "...all by itself, without being caused by mankind..." Of course, the sun is a factor.

[Sparko]

"The sky is falling!"
-- Chicken Little

"Wolf!"
-- Boy

'The world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change,'
-- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[Gondwanaland]

Many people believe that the World is heating up.
Lots of other people think that it isn't.
Some people think that the our planet slips into and out of ice ages all by itself. etc etc.......

Around here a majority of people believe that Global warming is caused by mankind, but I don't see too many 'believers' giving up anything towards helping the situation.
If you do not believe in man-made global warming then I would not expect to see you going out of your way to reduce your own emissions..... but the believers?? !!!!!!

Where our government has offered financial reward to one thing or another then I see lots of people responding. Of course. But what else are they doing?

Every morning if the sky is clear I can see tens of vapour trails at any one time, leading from London/Heathrow/Gatwick/Luton away to the East. Most of these are private groups travelling off to holiday, visit relatives, going touring and more.......... People driving across the country to buy something or other. Or a neighbour who uses infra red heating at the garden barbecue if an evening gets a bit chilly.

So my question is this............ If you are a GW believer, what are you actually doing to reduce your own carbon/emission footprint? Anything?

The reality is, climate is changing. And always has been. How much of a role humans are playing in the current change is up for debate, and even if they are playing a pretty big role, most countries are not going to change even if we (US, UK, etc.) make significant changes ourselves. China, India, etc., are not going to buy into what the AGW lobby is selling.

And virtue signalling by pushing unsustainable electric vehicles that our grid can't support and whose batteries devastate the world's ecosystems to create, virtue signalling with 'carbon credits', etc., ain't gonna do jack.

What we need to do is what humans have always done. Adapt. We're the only species to have adapted to such a wide range varying conditions. We came out of the roasting plains of Africa, went to the freezing depths of the Arctic, adapted to tiny islands in the middle of an ocean, to the highest mountains, the wettest jungles, and especially in the last century or so have seemingly made it a mission to build huge cities in the driest of deserts just because we can.

We'll continue to adapt just as we have the many other changes in climate that we as a species have experienced.

[rogue06]

Many people believe that the World is heating up.
Lots of other people think that it isn't.
Some people think that the our planet slips into and out of ice ages all by itself. etc etc.......

Around here a majority of people believe that Global warming is caused by mankind, but I don't see too many 'believers' giving up anything towards helping the situation.
If you do not believe in man-made global warming then I would not expect to see you going out of your way to reduce your own emissions..... but the believers?? !!!!!!

Where our government has offered financial reward to one thing or another then I see lots of people responding. Of course. But what else are they doing?

Every morning if the sky is clear I can see tens of vapour trails at any one time, leading from London/Heathrow/Gatwick/Luton away to the East. Most of these are private groups travelling off to holiday, visit relatives, going touring and more.......... People driving across the country to buy something or other. Or a neighbour who uses infra red heating at the garden barbecue if an evening gets a bit chilly.

So my question is this............ If you are a GW believer, what are you actually doing to reduce your own carbon/emission footprint? Anything?

On the personal level I'm gonna do what I've done for six and a half decades... wait it out until October rolls around. And then complain about the cold.