It's like a zombie apocalypse going unnoticed

I think that’s why it’s not being looked at seriously by the public at large.

....sometimes I feel very alone watching what is happening, as it seems everyone else is just going about their daily business, as if the reality isn't reality at all.

I don't know how to describe it, I'm afraid soon I'll become that crazy person running through the streets screaming for people to pay attention, and it'll be me that gets the pitying glances.

and I've been waiting for almost 50 years to see serious discussion and action on such a critical issue. But thanks to the reichwing and their fossil fuel corporate whore allies here we are past the tipping point. I hate to ever take a selfish stance, but for the last decade I simply keep reminding myself: "I'm so glad that I'm 77 and not 20." If I had most of my life ahead of me instead of behind, I would be in a murderous rage at my elders.

I share your feelings of bewilderment and frustration, Think. Again.

( specifically a "demographic problem" )

When what FEW people (even on the left, or center-left at least, I'm afraid) refuse to acknowledge is that 8 BILLION PEOPLE IS TOO MANY - for all those people to have decent, equitable lives and be sustainable for future generations to continue to have decent, equitable lives. Take away the equity (of course we never got there in the recent past or currently), and you have violent conflict.

Replacing one power source with another can slow the disaster, but unless the CAUSE is addressed - too many humans trying to live here all at the same time - humanity is still headed for disaster. I wonder when a majority will figure it out?

And of course any DECENT human being wants the reversal to happen humanely. But resource conflicts are not humane. And we have already been seeing them and they will still get worse.

Last edited Sat Jul 27, 2024, 01:15 PM - Edit history (1)

we need to keep increasing the world's population growth rate, and economic growth rate.

There's no financial incentive to curb population & profit is God. It's hard to see a positive outcome for our species.

The asphalt and concrete streets will soon be too hot to walk on. On the positive side, they're good heat sinks.

Our genotype was molded by survival in the African wilderness over the last 150,000 years. We can handle thinking about threats like possible predators lying in wait, but not about what's coming down the pike in a century.

Definitely horrified.

It amazes me how much people will pay for vehicles these days. And many are simply ego buys.
I've never spent 20k on a car & I doubt I will on my next one.

...they had an F-150 with the "Shelby Package".
It was $115k MSRP!
That's twice what we paid for our house!

We need to quit paying ridiculous prices for vehicles.

Global emissions are about stable over the past several years. US emissions are WAY down from 20 yrs ago.
But the rest of the world isnt following along; China & India both are increasing their coal power production.
Its getting warmer & we're not going to stop it.

No one is pushing nuclear power, which is the ONLY WAY to provide the amounts of power needed to power our societies. It took over a DECADE to build a new reactor in GA; the first one in MANY years. Thats ridiculous.
Nuclear is the only way forward & yet few people on either side in Congress are pushing the issue.

....and I completely agree, we will need every tool in our toolbox, if we ever decide to use them.

New SunZia wind farm currently being built in NM ( largest in US ) will generate 3500 MW of power.

Average nuclear reactor in US = 900 MW of power. Plus you need that dirty uranium - which we are still getting lots of from Russia.

The arrogance of the human Anthropocene epoch basically equates to the murder of a habitable earth.

I dont of any country pushing that. Some areas will be MORE habitable but others less.
As I said in my 2nd post we wont push nuclear power that WOULD make a difference. But then maybe it wouldnt do we REALY know? because it has been this hot before. There just weren't any humans around. How much is caused by us & how much is other causes? I dont know. But I do my best.
I push nuclear to everyone I can. Who in congress is pushing it?

And I've been pushing for advanced modular reactors, but most people just knee-jerk anything nuclear.

Just putting a good portion of a home in the ground would keep it naturally near the mid 60s. I've seen some homes built like that but we just cant get People to quit trying to outdo each other.

They can produce MW cheaper with wind - and they want fast profits.

Its not even green when you factor in the costs of mfg & where the supplies come from; and more dependence on china again.

Great, but tragic concept as the world burns.

Some scientists believe we are very near the tipping point or may have already passed it.

Basically, there's little chance anymore of preventing it and it would take a world wide effort of herculean proportions just to mitigate it

With the pace of climate change apparently rapidly increasing, the time to prepare gets shorter

If you live on the coast sell out & move inland (you'll have a lot more money anyway)
Move away from rivers
Etc.

Everyone's situation is different so everyone has to do quality research to get the info needed in order to formulate a plan.

How did humans react to that? How effective were efforts?

COVID-19 measures were a cakewalk compared to climate change challenges.

Important

out west and in Canada.

and you will never force a Real American to drive an electric vehicle

The U.S. is not contributing any significant amount to the world's population growth.

the relentless propaganda of the reichwing and especially their born-again fundie adherents.

God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea."

even though population growth is a concern in and of itself, that particular comment was more about the attitude of Republicans towards women as only having value as breeding stock.

Who cares what God says or what somebody says God says? That message is not creating any population growth in the U.S.

Do you have any evidence of that? Give us the countries and the population statistics which have been driven by American fundamentalists.

Just because many other cultures are misogynistic and backwards, doesn't mean the U.S. should be.

Or did you miss JD Vance's comments about childless women? To the extent he walked it back even a little bit, he was clear he was only okay with women being childless IF it was a medical issue. Choice is not an approved option for Vance.

As for population growth, let's try an analogy: if you have a glass under the spigot and it is overflowing, do you not turn off the spigot because, ah that little trickle isn't adding "significantly" to the wasted water?

The U.S. is below the population replacement rate which means not only is it not contributing to world growth but it is reducing it. Why you are bringing in all sort of other things into this simple math equation I don't know.

https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2024/3/22/us-demographic-projections-with-and-without-immigration

Which people tend to do when they are going off on a tangent. I don't want anyone to have children who doesn't want to have them. "Population is a Problem" is so subjective and vague I would not know how to answer it. This OP and thread was about climate change. It was you who diverted it.

I would like to know what candidate is running on climate change? Because if they don't they will have no mandate to do anything about it. And I am not talking about CC being number 7 on some list. They have to run on extremely specific things they are going to do or else nothing will be done.

Over-population - too many people using too many resources and creating too much waste - is part of the climate change problem. (This is not controversial to any thinking person.)

The sentiment I sarcastically expressed IS THE REPUBLICAN POSITION. Very clearly stated by JD Vance and many others on that side.

NOW, YOU bring up the irrelevant point that CURRENTLY the US doesn't contribute significantly to INCREASING the population.

Never mind that 8 billion people is already too many for a sustainable and equitable society.

Just WHAT THE F**K do you think will happen when not only abortion is inaccessible, but even contraception, as many JD Vance types want? Do you think the US will continue to have a negligible contribution to over-population?

Sorry, I really didn't expect to have to spell my point out to this level of detail. But it does directly follow from the topic, which is climate change, which indeed is exacerbated by over-population, which IN TURN will be further exacerbated by the US adopting Republican attitudes towards women: "Real American Women must birth babies! The more, the better!"

And we are exporting our gas to Asia. We do what we can do - I have solar panels & a passive solar house. I do have a propane stove though.

“The American fracking boom has transformed the United States into the world’s largest gas producer and exporter. At the same time, the rest of the world has begun using ever more gas — in power plants, factories and homes — partly to move away from dirtier fuels like coal. Demand is particularly growing in China, India and fast-industrializing Southeast Asian countries.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/13/climate/mexico-natural-gas-biden.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

We have technology but we use it to destroy our only home. Thanks to republicans and other idiots, nothing effective will be done about climate change and billions will suffer and die.

Adapting to the coming conditions as best we can. Of course we should keep trying to prevent additional heating but I’m afraid that it’s too late.

But we also can't do anything.


That pooch has done been screwed.

No competent expert thinks CC can be arrested or slowed meaningfully.

Prepare for palm trees in Antarctica by 2100.