We are so caught up in our own opinions we don’t bother to say ‘maybe I’m wrong’. I believe that the Earth is getting warmer faster than it naturally would because of human influence and that the rate of warmth is dangerous to our civilization and the planet.
If I’m wrong I’ve only had to inconvenience myself in some minor ways by changing my consumption habits and spending my time asking people to consider the possible futures of our world, as I’m doing now.
If you don’t believe humans are influencing climate change, and you’re wrong... millions of people will suffer and die. I'm asking you to consider that if I’m wrong we go into a future of electric cars (or better yet we bicycle) a planet of clear air, less water pollution, we eat no tortured meat, and in general all aspects of society and consumption are based mostly on their environmental impact.
If you’re wrong we continue as we have and we possibly create a dystopia (every year I reread this the possibility turns more toward probability), a dystopia that I try not to imagine in too much detail.
I hope I’m wrong. I hope the entire scientific community is wrong, I hope the politicians with corporate oil funded campaigns are honest and just trying to help the people by being ‘competitive in the global economy’... I hope you’re right and these record heatwaves stop killing people... but, if you’re wrong, consider the consequences.
I am happy we have some common ground of agreement. For our disagreements let me rebuttal by saying record WEATHER temperature changes are a danger, hot or cold. Currently the European people are suffering and I was using that as an example we can all associate with.
There are many factors involved with climate change, but the driving force of the climate emergency we are in is particulates in the air (mostly CO2) and the natural feedback loops that it has triggered. Sure, we are in a solar minimum period, but that should make it all the more worrisome that the climate temperature is increasing despite this! Just imagine how the sun will affect the earth when we begin the cycle toward solar maximum again.
The global climate temperature has increased, that’s just a fact. For the sake of argument let’s pretend the temperature increase is because of the jet stream, the ocean currents, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and erosion as some suggest. And, I must admit, I don’t understand how those things would increase the global temperature (apart from volcanic activity, which causes increased temperature from particulate matter in the atmosphere). But, let’s say it is all because of the things you’ve suggested.
To say we can just contribute to the cycle of global warming, and not do our best to fight against it, is ludicrous. It would be equivalent to driving a car (gas or electric) toward a cliff and pushing the accelerator instead of the brakes.
Let me be clear, the idea that we need to change our lifestyle back to pre-fossil fuel is not something I suggest or advocate. We don’t need to go backwards, we need to advance forward. (Well, now many years in, checking this once again, I might just say at this point an all forces applied backwards movement might be the best thing possible. It increasingly looks like the haves will have technology, and the have nots will be living primitive lives regardless... just one future is an eden of life, and the other is a desolate raped planet)
We don’t get to say, well, we will just adapt. We won’t. What will happen is the rich will survive because they have the means to, and the rest of us will struggle. The earth is becoming less hospitable to life. We can work toward making it more hospitable, or we can pull up a chair and sit on the sidelines and watch the whole thing burn. Some people really do want to watch the whole world burn.
We can blame whoever we want, and in the end it won’t matter. Personally, I am blaming the system of consumption we are all part of. We are all culpable, I am not trying to take a higher road on responsibility, I am not trying to say look at what you’ve done, or what he’s done, or she’s done... I am asking to look at what we’ve done. And, ultimately that’s all I ask of everyone here. Look in the mirror and know that you are partly to blame. That doesn’t mean get defensive, or angry, or succumb to denial or depression... It means accept where we are and what we have to do.
We have to admit where we are and then we have to come together and change the world.
Let’s not find every little fault of a better solution suggested and say, “this isn’t the best solution”. We need better solutions and we need to take action. And we need to do it 5, 10, 20 years ago.
I made a presentation in my public speaking class at community college 20 years ago about the possible effects of climate change. Nobody had really heard about it then. Nobody understood what it was, what it could mean... now more people do, but the old people just say “We’ve been hearing about this for years” as if on a global time scale 40 years isn’t a mere moment. It’s too bad nobody has been listening for years. What’s even more frustrating are the people who refuse to listen even when we are now shouting. It’s not a conspiracy.
Perhaps your little section of the world isn’t feeling the effects yet... You post your meme, "change my mind” but the information is everywhere. Change your own damn mind, and please, do it soon.
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