What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action

[Tom_Mazanec]

blumenkraft:
Most of their pictures make them look oldish.
Shame most of them won't live long enough to see if they were wrong.

[TerryM]

^^
I'm sure most at least are very aware that what they've been spouting is BS. Very expensive BS, but BS nonetheless.


Evil pedos all - in the South African meaning of the word of course.
Terry

[blumenkraft]

blumenkraft:
Most of their pictures make them look oldish.
Shame most of them won't live long enough to see if they were wrong.

Even more of a shame they exist in the first place.

[Sigmetnow]

2019 in 5 words.

Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) 12/28/19, 9:16 AM
Our house is on fire.

#2019in5words

https://twitter.com/gretathunberg/status/1210927616229826560

[NeilT]

I must admit I was well down the list and thinking, what happened to Singer, Monckton and Spencer.  Then there they were, tucked away at the end.

I was a tad disappointed to find that Singers past activities to delay Tobacco legislation, by casting doubt on the impact on humans.  Even though both he and his employers knew it was true. Seems to have been lost.  It is a very important fact.

As for shaming them?  You have no chance beause they don't interact with the world which believes (knows), differently.

[Shared Humanity]

TOP 10 CLIMATE DENIERS

Link >> https://www.beforetheflood.com/explore/the-deniers/top-10-climate-deniers/

Shame the fucking hell out of them!

They cannot be shamed.

[blumenkraft]

A sad truth, i'm afraid. 

[Sigmetnow]

Skeptical Science website

"While putting together the @skepticscience recap for 2019 one interesting development stood out: after the spike for unique visits in September the number didn't drop back completely but seems to have stabilised at a distinctly higher level.
Read https://skepticalscience.com/2019-SkS-Review.html#Website for more.”

https://mobile.twitter.com/baerbelw/status/1212328261247787015

[Sigmetnow]

A buyout program is being offered to homes in Texas in locations that have flooded repeatedly.

Upcoming Events for our Buyout Program
https://montgomerycountypolicereporter.com/upcoming-events-for-our-buyout-program/

Montgomery County homes vulnerable to repeat flooding issues

“Unfortunately, 100-137 homes [typically] flood when there is torrential rains, and some of these homes have flooded seven and eight times,” Goodman said. “But in Harvey, we had [hundreds of] homes that actually flooded, many of which had never flooded before. A lot of those homeowners had no flood insurance because they never had to worry about [flooding] before.”

For Conroe-area subdivisions along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River, like River Plantation, Harvey was not the first flooding event to tear through their communities. Now, local officials are considering projects and ordinances to address flooding concerns. ...

https://communityimpact.com/houston/conroe-montgomery/editors-pick/2018/04/19/montgomery-county-homes-vulnerable-to-repeat-flooding-issues/

[TerryM]

Toronto did this in the aftermath of a hurricane in the '50's. The wooded ravines and riverside parks are seen as valued assets.
Terry

[Sigmetnow]

UK media to Australia politician:
"You're not a climate sceptic, you're a climate denier."

"You're facing one of the greatest crises you've ever faced and there is you Mr Kelly, with respect a senior politician, who still doesn't think this has anything to do with a heating up planet.

"Nothing to see here, nothing to worry about as virtually your entire country is eviscerated by fires - it is quite extraordinary."

https://amp.9news.com.au/article/ed8dbdc8-30d0-4547-bd60-d7d15e4da61f

[Sigmetnow]

Daniel Flöjt (@MediYoga_ax) on Twitter:

[Tor Bejnar]

World’s largest asset manager shifts focus to climate change
Associated Press - 2 hours ago

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, will make climate change central to its investment decisions.

Founder and CEO Laurence Fink, who oversees the management of about $7 trillion in funds, said in his influential annual letter to CEOs Tuesday that he believes we are “on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance” because of a warming planet.

Climate change has become the top issue raised by clients, Fink said, and it will affect everything from municipal bonds to long-term mortgages for homes.

The New York firm is taking immediate action, exiting investments in coal used to generate power, and it will begin asking clients to disclose their climate-related risks.

“Because capital markets pull future risk forward, we will see changes in capital allocation more quickly than we see changes to the climate itself,” Fink wrote in the letter. “In the near future – and sooner than most anticipate – there will be a significant reallocation of capital.”
...

About time!

[Tor Bejnar]

U.S. Flood Risk Model to Be Publicly Available in Boon for Homebuyers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A climate research organization will offer access to a risk model that predicts the probability of flooding for homes across the United States, giving the public a look at the data institutional investors use to gauge risk.
...

better data for real people ... When it becomes available.

[Bruce Steele]

From the Financial Review
“BlackRock, the world's largest fund manager, is dumping more than half a billion dollars in thermal coal shares from all of its actively managed portfolios, as part of a more active global stance on climate change driven by chief executive Larry Fink.
The coal ban, which includes any company earning 25 per cent of its revenue from thermal coal,“

Seems to me to be a pretty big (25%) escape clause.

[mitch]

I guess we should encourage baby steps by BlackRock.  What about petroleum and natural gas? What about loans to FF companies?

[kassy]

If it is BlackRock they also see just see better ways to earn money going forward. That is no big surprise. To them it does not really make a difference if their dollar comes from greenwashing or progress.

[Sigmetnow]

U.S.

For the first time, the Alarmed are the single largest group of 'Global Warming's Six Americas' at 31%. Over the past 5 years, they have tripled in size and are now 3x the number of Dismissive in the US (who have decreased).
https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/for-the-first-time-the-alarmed-are-now-the-largest-of-global-warmings-six-americas/

[Tom_Mazanec]

Sigmetnow:
I’ve gone from concerned to alarmed in that time frame.

[Sigmetnow]

Sigmetnow:
I’ve gone from concerned to alarmed in that time frame.

Me, too.  Although I was already close to Alarmed in 2014.

[Sigmetnow]

Oil and gas sector ‘losing its social licence to operate’, UK boss warns

Tim Eggar, chairman of the UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), sent shockwaves through the industry on Wednesday (15 January) when he said growing public awareness about climate change was putting the sector’s very survival at stake.

Shifting public attitudes towards climate change is “the biggest challenge” facing the oil and gas industry, Eggar said in a speech to industry leaders this week.

“Clearly, climate change is happening right now. That debate is over,” he told industry delegates in Aberdeen, according to a transcript of his speech published on the OGA’s website.

The oil and gas industry must “act much, much faster and go farther in reducing the carbon footprint” he said, adding: “This requires ambitious thinking, capital investment and bold leadership. Action not just talk or more analysis.”

Failing to do so would have dire consequences for the oil and gas sector, Eggar warned, saying the industry’s very survival is at stake.

“The licence to operate for the industry has changed fundamentally and – unlike the oil price – forever,” he said. “If the industry wants to survive and contribute to the energy transition it has to adapt,” he stressed. ...

https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/oil-and-gas-sector-losing-its-social-licence-to-operate-uk-boss-warns/

[Sigmetnow]

U.S.

Has Conservative Utah Turned a Corner on Climate Change?

When Utah lawmakers start their legislative session next week, they'll have a roadmap waiting for them that could become one of the nation's most aggressive climate action plans in a Republican-led state—and potentially a path forward for other conservative states looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

That the proposal even exists signals a major shift in thinking in a state where legislators for years have publicly questioned—and sometimes ridiculed—climate science. 

Led by a University of Utah economics think tank, proponents of the seven-point strategy managed to dodge political potholes by emphasizing widely supported goals like cleaning up air pollution and stressing economic benefits, an approach some policy experts say could provide a model for bipartisan action on climate change in other conservative states.

"That's the sort of framing that can help change the conversation in a way that does bridge partisan divides," said Jay Turner, an environmental politics and policy researcher at Wellesley College and co-author of the book "The Republican Reversal: Conservatives and the Environment from Nixon to Trump."

 Conservatives in the State Capitol haven't abandoned fossil fuels. They actively support lawsuits to open up West Coast shipping terminals and maintain a $53 million fund to help build export capacity for shipping Utah coal overseas. But widespread public concern about air pollution has also made them more receptive to emissions reductions.

Utah's shift started with high school students raising their voices. In 2018, they succeeded in persuading lawmakers to pass a resolution acknowledging the risks of climate change that Republican Gov. Gary Herbert signed. Then, last year, the legislature voted to provide $200,000 for the University of Utah's business school to report on the state's air pollution and climate change problems and recommend solutions. ...

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21012020/utah-climate-change-plan-conservative-legislature-coal-emissions-salt-lake

[Aporia_filia]

UN Human Rights Committee issues first ruling in favor of climate refugees

Full sentece in pdf. here: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR/C/127/D/2728/2016&Lang=en

(Sorry, don't know how to take extracts from the document, but it addresses interesting views on the consequences of climate change)

[Sigmetnow]

Thread by @Ben_Inskeep:

Today, I am pleased to announce a bold and ambitious commitment:

I change my diet to go 100% healthy food by 2050, and 45% healthy food by 2030 relative to my diet from 15 years ago when I was a college freshman.

Note that this commitment is contingent on my employer giving me full cost recovery for the deep fryer I just bought, but won't fully use in the future, as well as the higher upfront costs of fruits and vegetables.

If I am unable to eat healthy food myself, because it doesn't taste as delicious as fried food, I will still claim credit for eating the healthy food by paying my fiance to eat it for me

If you try to pass a law requiring me to do any of this, I will spend $38 million to defeat it and make tens of millions more in political contributions to your political enemies.

No, you are not allowed to weigh me or check my cholesterol or scrutinize my caloric intake. How dare you ask.

Why don't you trust me??

I don't know what soundcloud is so just listen to women, POC, and Indigenous people on climate, e.g.: @GretaThunberg @vanessa_vash @LicypriyaK @MaryHeglar @leahstokes @jnoisecat @amywestervelt @emorwee @maryannehitt @DrKateMarvel @CleanGridView @KHayhoe @rgunns @zhaabowekwe

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1225438258064130048.html

[Sigmetnow]

France to limit access to Western Europe's highest mountain in conservation effort

President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France will move to limit access to Mont Blanc, Western Europe's tallest mountain and a famous tourist attraction, as part of a broad effort to protect the country's biodiversity in the face of climate change. ...

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/02/13/world/macron-mont-blanc-climate-change-tourist-overcrowding/index.html

[bluesky]

Mayor’s bold new Streetspace plan will overhaul London’s streets
06 May 2020
Transformation of London’s roads to be fast-tracked, giving space to new cycle lanes and wider pavements to enable social distancing
Landmark locations to benefit from temporary bike routes and more space for walking to reduce pressure on Tube and buses
Clean, green and sustainable travel to be at the heart of London’s recovery
Cycling could increase 10-fold and walking five-fold post-lockdown

https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/mayors-bold-plan-will-overhaul-capitals-streets

[nanning]

Letters: After coronavirus, focus on the climate emergency

Also signed by Prof Eric Rignot.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/10/after-coronavirus-focus-on-the-climate-emergency
by (see 4^th paragraph for list)


  Fist four paragraphs:
Last month, the Guardian quoted Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, saying if we put post-pandemic bailout money in the wrong place “we will lock ourselves in a dirtier energy system, making it much more difficult to reach our climate targets” (‘Coronavirus profiteers’ condemned as polluters gain bailout billions, 17 April).

We beg to differ. It is game over for preventing dangerous climate change now that governments are planning the cheapest and quickest return to consumption. Riding on the wave of cheap oil and fossil-fuel bailouts is incompatible with keeping the average global temperature rise below 2C, let alone 1.5C.

Even if the world agreed to maintain all the pandemic-enforced restrictions on travel and consumption, the emissions saved would amount to almost nothing, compared with what’s needed to achieve the Paris agreement’s climate targets. Yet whether it’s to discourage mass fatalism, or prevent the very worst of what the future threatens, those of us with this knowledge still cling to “yes we can”. In this story, it is always five to midnight; it is always the last chance to prevent disaster. In contrast, collective action on climate can only grow out of complete honesty. It is time to acknowledge our collective failure to respond to climate change, identify its consequences and accept the massive personal, local, national and global adaptation that awaits us all.

Dr Wolfgang Knorr Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Prof Eric Rignot University of California, Irvine, Prof Rik Leemans Wageningen University and Research, Prof Andy Morse School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Prof Dennis Baldocchi Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Prof Thomas Hickler Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Prof Francis E Putz Department of Biology, University of Florida, Prof Maarten Krol Wageningen University, Dr Alberte Bondeau Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Prof Wolfgang Cramer Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Prof Paul Palmer University of Edinburgh, Dr James G Dyke Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter

[wdmn]

I think I can put this here, seeing as there's no chance for any serious action on climate change without a new internationalism.

A new International movement has been launched that includes some big names (including Noam Chomsky, former President of Ecuador Rafael Correa, Naomi Klein, Yanis Varoufakis, etc). It's being called "Progressive International."

https://progressive.international/

[gerontocrat]

Well spotted, Nanning.

HOPE.....

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, saying if we put post-pandemic bailout money in the wrong place “we will lock ourselves in a dirtier energy system, making it much more difficult to reach our climate targets”

EXPERIENCE

We beg to differ. It is game over

Letter signed by a lot of well-known scientists.
[/quote]

That clears the air a bit. Where those scientists lead, it may well be that many follow.. (Damn..That stupid HOPE thing just won't lie down and die.)

[nanning]

HOPE

doesn't want to lie down and die because it is a human fantasy and has no real meaning. (the proof is too complex to write here)



ACCEPTANCE

This civilisation is going to collapse. There is nothing we can do about it. It is game over. The sooner the better because of the accelerating total destruction of life on Earth and its ecosystems by civilisation's high technology and eternal growth paradigm.

Rich people are never satisfied and always want more and bigger. These people (families) have had all the power for centuries or longer because of accumulated (inherited) wealth and they won't stop with doing the only thing they know. This insanity will never voluntarily stop.
In my estimate, collapse will happen before 2030. I see more trends than others because of my world view from outside of civilisation.


CHOOSE A SIDE

I am on the side of all non-civilisation life-on-Earth
  as opposed to
the civilisation side that's busy to heedlessly destroy all life-on-Earth by technology (pushing buttons).

There are no other sides. Civilisation is life-on-Earth's biggest threat ever since the great oxidation event.

To get a good idea of what's lost and the role of civilisation in it, I recommend you read the first half of this book:
"The Unnatural History of the Sea" by Callum Roberts, 456 pages
https://islandpress.org/books/unnatural-history-sea


ACTION  (when choosing the side of living nature)

Don't participate in civilisation culture. Don't feed the system. Consume only local basic products if possible (by changing your diet, profession, where-you-live, 'lifestyle' etc) and do not accumulate wealth.
Personal emissions: Emit GHG only when absolutely necessary for survival.
The guilt of any personal carbon footprint should be unbearable. Also the guilt of stimulating biocides use, antibiotics use, deforestation, habitat destruction, toxic waste and the many transport miles and atrocities by buying intensive agri-business products should be unbearable.
Try to respect and salvage as much habitat and life as possible by buying organic and let living nature take its course. This means absolutely no more tidiness. No mowing the grass etc. No more control/domination. Move away from any supremacy over other lifeforms. Let the bugs sting (except when you see them do it; then don't kill). Use the lowest technology possible (or none) for any task.
Minimise non-compostable waste, potable water use, land use and energy use. No more 'making children' until the children have a future again.

They feel like large sacrifices in the beginning but you soon get used to it.
I am far down that route and willing to help if there are questions.
Before I forget: You will feel a much better and richer person. Doing it because it is the only right thing to do.

Soon? part 1 of "how to regain conscience"

[Tom_Mazanec]

Of course many people can’t afford organic and would get in trouble with the city or neighborhood if the let the lawns go “natural”.

[gerontocrat]

Of course many people can’t afford organic and would get in trouble with the city or neighborhood if the let the lawns go “natural”.

Some cities have banned /discouraged the suburban lush lawn - e.g. Las Vegas.

[Phoenix]

Author Naomi Klein launching a global Green New Deal initiative.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/20/naomi-klein-and-arundhati-roy-help-launch-global-green-new-deal-project-worldwide

[Sigmetnow]

Spain unveils climate law to cut emissions to net zero by 2050
May 18, 2020
The government hopes the draft law, which would ban all new coal, oil and gas projects with immediate effect, will shape the recovery effort to Covid-19

The Spanish government is due to present an ambitious draft law to cut the country’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 to Parliament on Tuesday.

Spain joins a handful of countries to have set out a legal binding strategy to end their contribution to global heating in the next 30 years.

The draft text, which follows a public consultation started in February 2019, sets the direction of economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

“We would like to have presented this law in other conditions, several weeks ago,” said Spain’s vice president Teresa Ribera, who serves as the minister for the ecological transition, adding the draft bill had to be “a useful guide” to shape the recovery effort.

“This law offers us an incredible opportunity to debate about the country that we want to be,” she said.

Under the law, which still needs to be approved by Parliament, the government is pledging to make Spain’s electricity system 100% renewable by the middle of the century, ban all new coal, oil and gas extraction projects with immediate effect, end direct fossil fuel subsidies and make all new vehicles emission-free by 2040. ...

https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/05/18/spain-unveils-climate-law-cut-emissions-net-zero-2050/

[gerontocrat]

What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action?

$500bn is going to high-carbon industries. that's what's new.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/06/covid-19-relief-for-fossil-fuel-industries-risks-green-recovery-plans
Covid-19 relief for fossil fuel industries risks green recovery plans
Over $500bn is going to high-carbon industries undermining goals of Cop26 climate talks

The failure of governments and central banks to set out a green recovery from the coronavirus crisis is threatening to derail vital UN climate talks aimed at staving off global catastrophe, campaigners have warned.

On Friday, the UK and the UN attempted to revive the stalled Cop26 climate talks, with a coalition of businesses committing to a Race for Zero, signing up to reduce their emissions to net zero by mid-century. Close to 1,000 businesses have joined the campaign, including household names such as Rolls-Royce and the food and drink majors Nestlé and Diageo.

Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of England and UN special envoy for climate and finance, said: “The transition to net zero is creating the greatest commercial opportunity of our time. Net zero targets must be underpinned by transition plans so that investors can assess which companies will seize the opportunities in the transition and which will cease to exist.”

But rhetoric is not enough while central banks are still pouring money into propping up “business as usual”, according to campaigners.

The vast majority of the stimulus money so far announced by governments around the world is set to prop up the fossil fuel economy, according to analyst company Bloomberg New Energy Finance. More than half a trillion dollars worldwide – $509bn (£395bn) – is to be poured into high-carbon industries, with no conditions to ensure they reduce their carbon output.

Only about $12.3bn is to go towards low-carbon industries, such as renewable energy, and a further $18.5bn into high-carbon industries provided they achieve climate targets.

At these rates, the rescue packages would be even less green than the economic stimulus following the 2008 financial crisis, despite government rhetoric on a green recovery, ....

The current and former governors of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey and Mark Carney, joined François Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the Bank of France, to write in the Guardian of the need for a green recovery. They said: “The economic recovery plans being developed today offer the chance to build a sustainable, competitive new economy.”

However, the first disclosures from the Bank’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility this week showed that billions of pounds of taxpayer support are being funnelled to fossil fuel companies. Airlines have taken up about £1.8bn of the £16bn already allocated from the funds, which could top £67bn when fully disbursed, while carmakers have benefited by more than £1bn so far and two oil service companies, Baker Hughes and Schlumberger, are taking £600m and £150m respectively.

The European Central Bank has also propped up high-carbon industries in its lending, with as much as €220bn (£193bn) going to fossil fuel industries, according to analysis by the pressure group Reclaim Finance. The bank’s plans will funnel money to 38 oil companies including big names such as Shell and Total, and several coal companies. “The ECB is simultaneously acknowledging climate urgency and refusing to act,” said Paul Schreiber, campaigner at Reclaim Finance. “This stance is unbearable – we now know that the ECB is not neutral, but finances climate change.”

Governments are also continuing to subsidise the fossil fuel industry, according to an analysis by the OECD and the International Energy Agency on Friday. Last year, $478bn of government support was poured into the production and consumption of fossil fuels by 77 economies.

Ángel Gurría, the secretary-general of the OECD club of rich countries, said: “I am saddened to see some backsliding on efforts to phase out fossil fuel support. This rise in production subsidies seems set to continue in 2020 with some countries targeting state aid to fossil fuel and related industries.....”

Britain’s role as president of Cop26 means the UK government has a crucial role to play if these trends towards a bailout of the high-carbon economy are to be reversed and the world is to reach net zero emissions. The vital UN summit, postponed by a year to November 2021, is seen as the last chance to put the world back on track to meet the Paris agreement on climate change, and avoid catastrophic levels of global heating. For Cop26 to be a success, the government must lead by example in setting out a green recovery, experts concluded.

ps: Life on earth,including us, is well and truly fucked.

[Phoenix]

ps: Life on earth,including us, is well and truly fucked.

The tide is turning gerontocrat. We see people in other countries today standing in solidarity with the US protesters. The herd survival instinct is kicking in.

When we get rid of Trump, the paradigm changes. The Green New Deal is too obvious a solution. Renewables with battery storage are getting cheaper.

AGW is going to be a bitch, but so were the Nazi's. If we get humanity aligned around addressing it, we can still salvage something. I have hope.

[gerontocrat]

There is rhetoric and there is data. The data tells us that most of the post-Covid loot will go to  fossil fuel-based industries. Why, because the Coronavirus crisis could cause $25tn fossil fuel industry collapse

The coronavirus outbreak could trigger a $25tn (£20tn) collapse in the fossil fuel industry by accelerating a terminal decline for the world’s most polluting companies. A study has found that the value of the world’s fossil fuel reserves could fall by two-thirds, sooner than the industry expects, because the Covid-19 crisis has hastened the peak for oil, gas and coal demand.

The looming fossil fuel collapse could pose “a significant threat to global financial stability” by wiping out the market value of fossil fuel companies, according to financial thinktank Carbon Tracker.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/04/coronavirus-crisis-collapse-fossil-fuels-demand

The people who presume to govern us will not let that happen - they will finance an orderly transition - too little, too late.

[Phoenix]

There is rhetoric and there is data. The data tells us that most of the post-Covid loot will go to  fossil fuel-based industries. Why, because the Coronavirus crisis could cause $25tn fossil fuel industry collapse

The looming fossil fuel collapse could pose “a significant threat to global financial stability” by wiping out the market value of fossil fuel companies, according to financial thinktank Carbon Tracker.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/04/coronavirus-crisis-collapse-fossil-fuels-demand

The people who presume to govern us will not let that happen - they will finance an orderly transition - too little, too late.

The financial collapse associated with climate change is bigger than that associated with the fossil fuel industry. We have a potentially big hurricane season coming and fire season as well. Put a Dorian like storm into a US metro area like Miami or Tampa with a 20 foot surge and watch the reaction. Even the church leaders are flipping on climate.

[kassy]

FWIW i bet the argument is about the amount of dollars they toss to the FF industry and what it tells us about the near future.

[nanning]

Thanks gerontocrat, I share your view.

This is an upside-down-world:

• The most powerful leaders are the least trustworthy and have absolutely no long term view, let alone a visionary view.
• Lying, public image manipulation, war on truth are all 'normal' in MSM. Temptation and luring people to not discipline themselves and not think critically are the main revenues of media (advertising, marketing, entertainment).
• The wealthy not helping the vulnerable and weaker fellow humans but trampling them and looking down on them 'the little people'. The opposite of Jezus' example. This is what civilisation means.
• These days human rights don't live in the wealthy countries' people anymore as they are intolerant of strangers and approve of violence against the most vulnerables.
• One gets into trouble for critical and independent thinking, for uttering an inconvenient truth, for having high ethics/morality, for speaking to authority, for trying to point out and correct a clear wrong.
  
• Bubbles inside bubbles 'all the way down'. Disconnected from reality.

So what's this so-called 'hope' about the future? All the trends are going down. Has 'hope' something to do with being deliberately blind?
Start with changing your own life while it's still possible. Change it so you will no longer be part of the problem i.e. no personal emissions (GHG, microplastic, p.m.). This is possible for all non-poor people to attain. It is a question of guts, character and conscience. Try to be absolutely honest to yourself. What are the main priorities?


Bonus: Thinking in economic (and finance) terms and contexts makes a mess of your brain.

edit: changed "for everybody to attain" to "for all non-poor people to attain"

[Phoenix]

Here's a link to a petition to ask the DNC to hold public hearings which will result in the climate policy.

https://secure.everyaction.com/NdFExb8jP0C1BwEfScc8xg2

Consider passing along to your American friends to sign and share.

[kassy]

Some survey:

How much do people around the world care about climate change? We surveyed 80,000 people in 40 countries to find out

...

Almost seven in ten think climate change is “a very, or extremely serious, problem”, but the results show notable country differences. Lack of concern is far higher in the US (12%) as well as in Sweden (9%), Greta Thunberg’s home country. Despite disastrous bush fires at the time of our fieldwork, 8% of respondents in Australia report that climate change is not serious at all. These groups with low levels of concern tend to be right wing and older.

Four of the five countries showing the highest levels of concern (85-90%) were from the global south, namely Chile, Kenya, South Africa and the Philippines. However, in countries with lower levels of internet penetration, our online survey samples over-represent people who are more affluent and educated.

...

Perhaps surprisingly, the five countries with the lowest levels of concern are all in Western Europe. In Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands, only around half (or less) think that climate change is a serious problem.

and more on:
https://theconversation.com/how-much-do-people-around-the-world-care-about-climate-change-we-surveyed-80-000-people-in-40-countries-to-find-out-140801

Rather disappointing score for the european countries named above but i guess that´s a trade off of living a sheltered life...

[wili]

Recently, at least, the Catholic Church has been very much a promoter of AGW concern, so that may help explain the high level of concern on those countries.

In a country where about 40% of the population still approve of the job Trump is doing, I'm surprised the US didn't score even worse.

[jens]

So what's this so-called 'hope' about the future? All the trends are going down. Has 'hope' something to do with being deliberately blind?

Well, 'hope' for me is that once the Earth gets rid of humans, the planet will start healing itself over centuries and millennias and would again be rich in life after a Million years or so.

On a more serious note, what is "hope" anyway? I have thought that basically 'hope' is lack of knowledge or information. For example if you throw a stone into the air, you don't hope that it would go and fly into the space, because you know for a fact that it would drop down to the ground. However, on matters which are not so factually clear, there is a grey area and you start hoping that "I don't know, but maybe things somehow work out?"

Of course it's not possible to know everything, especially about future, which hasn't happened yet. So it's up to how much are you prepared to investigate yourself. How much are you prepared to understand things on a deeper level instead of sitting on a superficial "hope" level.

"Hope" itself isn't anything, it's basically empty. It doesn't contain any information or knowledge. It's just human's coping mechanism to give itself a meaning of life while facing uncertainty. "I don't know, what will happen in the future, but hopefully things work out." People fear that once they drop "hope" they lose all meaning or purpose in life. But I'd argue that's really not the case.

Personally I have found that "hope" doesn't help me forward in life. It feels more like sitting in a comfort zone. I'd like to understand, what is really happening, instead of leaving myself blindly to the winds of fate. And, may I add, it applies to any sphere of life, not just climate change.

[nanning]

Good writings and clear thinking there jens imo.
You may be spot on with mentioning "sitting in a comfort zone".

I think 'hope' is always about some future effect. I won't use it because, as you write, it is empty. Many times I use "wish" in stead of using "hope".
Also a change of perspective can help, e.g. "I don't know, what will happen in the future, but hopefully things work out" can be replaced with "I don't know, what will happen in the future, but things may go badly".

I wish all forum readers would take their personal responsibility and stop being a part of the problem of Climate Change.
It is very improbable, or very unlikely, that they'll do that, so you could say it is "hopeless". But I prefer "very improbable" or "very unlikely". Those are clear statements.
Acceptance also means seeing your own part/role/behaviour in its causes.

[jens]

I think 'hope' is always about some future effect. I won't use it because, as you write, it is empty. Many times I use "wish" in stead of using "hope".

Yeah, I also tend to prefer 'wish' over 'hope'. Obviously it's not possible to foresee everything happening. For example you could get struck by a car tomorrow.

However, I don't go about my everyday life 'hoping' about things to happen. It's more like concentrating on what I can do, what little help/influence I can offer to myself or to the world with my activities, and not worrying about things that I personally can't change.

---

What concerns Climate Acceptance (as per title), then ultimately it boils down to the fact that people have a very hard time dealing with mortality. And not just their own mortality, but everything around you. It's hard for people to accept that everything they have experienced in life, everything they have worked so hard for will fall apart.

In a way it's a psychological paradox, because there is one thing in which all people are equal - in the end everyone dies. Just that with climate catastrophe death may happen earlier than you maybe initially would have expected. But nonetheless. One ought not to take life too seriously as it is only temporary anyway.

[blumenkraft]

How much do people around the world care about climate change? We surveyed 80,000 people in 40 countries to find out

Almost seven in ten think climate change is “a very, or extremely serious, problem”, but the results show notable country differences. Lack of concern is far higher in the US (12%) as well as in Sweden (9%), Greta Thunberg’s home country. Despite disastrous bush fires at the time of our fieldwork, 8% of respondents in Australia report that climate change is not serious at all. These groups with low levels of concern tend to be right wing and older.

Link >> https://theconversation.com/how-much-do-people-around-the-world-care-about-climate-change-we-surveyed-80-000-people-in-40-countries-to-find-out-140801

[kassy]

That looks rather like post #791...

[KiwiGriff]

I wish all forum readers would take their personal responsibility and stop being a part of the problem of Climate Change.

We as a rule do .
Just not exactly as you do.

Some random philosopher dude about 2,000 years ago was claimed to say.
 ἐν ᾧ γὰρ κρίματι κρίνετε κριθήσεσθε, καὶ ἐν ᾧ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε μετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν.
Translated as.
 "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

Giving a shite.
I know exactly where the water comes from and where it all goes when I flush the toilet . The process has a net negative carbon impact as it uses rain water from my roof and feeds the worms in the  Biodigester buried in the garden. All power used is from solar on site. Any residual by products end up enhancing the new podocarp-hardwood forest I am nurturing over the 400sqm dispersal field so will lock up carbon for a very, very long time. Over the next twenty or so years I expect the carbon stored within the dispersal field will fully off set the energy used to create the entire system water pump, pipes, tanks even the solar panels that supply the power and sequester still more to help offset other facets of my lifestyle  . My legacy will be to leave a covenant over the forest here so it will be preserved as a carbon sink long after I am but dust and long forgotten  echos .

How about  what happens when you take a shite?
Power to supply the water, environmental impact of the source it comes from and again power to pump it somewhere else and more environmental degradation from the treatment process ?

Perfect is the enemy of the good  .
Not one of us has zero impact. All homoidiotics on this planet have an environment impact to some degree even your friends living a communal hunter gatherer lifestyle in the rain forest.
   
Most of us on here work to sway understanding in those around us and take some responsibility for our lifestyles . Better to celebrate our collective efforts as a net positive than judge and find us all wanting by your standards.

[kassy]

Ramen! (hope Terry will drop one soon)


ETA; a frontline report:

Palm oil from Indonesian grower that burned forest is still being sold

An investigation by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) shows that palm oil from PT Kallista Alam, a company in Sumatra, entered the global supply chain and may have ended up in products made by Nestlé and Mars.

https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/kallista-alam-permata-hijau-nestle-mars-palm-oil-leuser-aceh-peat-fire/