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> The climate crisis is closely linked to excessive consumption of the wealthy lifestyle. > Excessive extraction of materials and overexploitation of ecosystem

> The climate crisis is closely linked to excessive consumption of the wealthy lifestyle. > Excessive extraction of materials and overexploitation of ecosystems, driven by economic growth, must be quickly curtailed to maintain long-term sustainability of the biosphere. > Profoundly troubling signs from human activities include sustained increases in both human and ruminant livestock populations, per capita meat production, world gross domestic product, global tree cover loss, fossil fuel consumption, the number of air passengers carried, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and per capita CO2 emissions since 2000 There's the rub. The vast majority of people in the developing world want the wealthy, Western lifestyle. People like eating meat. People like having technology and air conditioning and transportation and using airplanes to visit far off places. No leader of a developing country is going to go to their people and say, "Sorry, for the sake of the planet we are going to remain poor." And no leader of developed country is going to go to their people and say, "Sorry, for the sake of the planet, we are going to have to give up our lifestyle, and curtail our economic growth." > Exactly 40 years ago, scientists from 50 nations met at the First World Climate Conference (in Geneva 1979) and agreed that alarming trends for climate change made it urgently necessary to act. My guess is that 40 years from now, this group of scientists will put out a paper talking about how they have been warning us for the last 80 years, and we still haven't done anything.

jawilson2 7y ago
> No leader of a developing country is going to go to their people and say, "Sorry, for the sake of the planet we are going to remain poor." And no leader of developed country is going to go to their people and say, "Sorry, for the sake of the planet, we are going to have to give up our lifestyle, and curtail our economic growth." Then we will all die, and will deserve it.
- adamch 7y ago
  "We" won't deserve it. There is a small minority of people who have worked for 30 years to suppress research about climate change. For example, Exxon has known about climate change for decades, but funded denialists [1] Unfortunately, these people are unlikely to suffer very much from climate change, because they will be able to afford higher food prices, private security, etc. So a more accurate statement would be "Then millions of undeserving people will die, and the people who deserve to won't." [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil_climate_change_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil_climate_change_cont...
- anonuser123456 7y ago
  "We will all die" is such hyperbole. Billions of poor people? Sure. But in developed nation's, technology will keep us going for a long time.
  - RcouF1uZ4gsC 7y ago
    If you want to save the lives of poor people from climate change, the number one thing you could do is help them develop as fast as possible. When the temperatures get high, having access to dependable electricity and air conditioning can mean the difference between life and depth. Having reliable road and rail networks means that if the crops fail, food from outside can easily be brought in to stave off starvation.

jawilson2 7y ago

> No leader of a developing country is going to go to their people and say, "Sorry, for the sake of the planet we are going to remain poor." And no leader of developed country is going to go to their people and say, "Sorry, for the sake of the planet, we are going to have to give up our lifestyle, and curtail our economic growth." Then we will all die, and will deserve it.

adamch 7y ago
"We" won't deserve it. There is a small minority of people who have worked for 30 years to suppress research about climate change. For example, Exxon has known about climate change for decades, but funded denialists [1] Unfortunately, these people are unlikely to suffer very much from climate change, because they will be able to afford higher food prices, private security, etc. So a more accurate statement would be "Then millions of undeserving people will die, and the people who deserve to won't." [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil_climate_change_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil_climate_change_cont...
anonuser123456 7y ago
"We will all die" is such hyperbole. Billions of poor people? Sure. But in developed nation's, technology will keep us going for a long time.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 7y ago
  If you want to save the lives of poor people from climate change, the number one thing you could do is help them develop as fast as possible. When the temperatures get high, having access to dependable electricity and air conditioning can mean the difference between life and depth. Having reliable road and rail networks means that if the crops fail, food from outside can easily be brought in to stave off starvation.