3 ms·

The ecological history of the earth shows there have been dramatic changes in climate before. It is speculated/strongly believed that some of these changes had

by Gatsky 7y ago

The ecological history of the earth shows there have been dramatic changes in climate before. It is speculated/strongly believed that some of these changes had a strong contribution from organic life eg plants and trees affecting weathering rates and therefore atmospheric composition. These climate changes were usually associated with the annihilation of most (sometimes all) complex life, certainly anything you would ever call an animal. I just make this point to say that climate change can definitely wipe us out, just as it has other large animals before. One issue that isn't discussed much - an ageing population. Obviously this is a generalisation, but the more elderly are disincentivized to do anything about climate change. They also lack the resources to really change behaviour, and are resistant to the kind of sweeping economic and societal changes being proposed. At the same time, they have a lot of influence on political decision making or are the decision makers themselves. I don't see a solution to this problem, aside from waiting until the influence of that generation dies off (about another 10 years).

perfunctory 7y ago
> I don't see a solution to this problem, aside from waiting until the influence of that generation dies off (about another 10 years). Another solution is active resistance. Either we solve it via a civilized conflict now, or we all get brutal conflicts around the globe later (in 10 years?)
RestlessMind 7y ago
> I don't see a solution to this problem Generalizing the problem - if a group of people (X) is disincentivized to tackle a problem which terribly affects another, possibly bigger, group of people (Y), and if X also wields a lot of power to prevent any meaningful solutions to the said problem, then History shows us that it is only a matter of time before Y will acquire enough power to overthrow X. See - French revolution, Russian revolution. But I also disagree with your take that "elderly are disincentivized to do anything about climate change". I believe that the elderly in the fire prone areas of California or hurricane prone areas of Florida would be very much interested in tackling the climate change. A big problem is the lack of meaningful solutions. Once you have seen enough in the world, you can see through the gimmicks like banning gas pipelines to all the new houses (Mountain View) or flight shaming or moralizing against meat by all the vegans.

by Gatsky 7y ago

perfunctory 7y ago

> I don't see a solution to this problem, aside from waiting until the influence of that generation dies off (about another 10 years). Another solution is active resistance. Either we solve it via a civilized conflict now, or we all get brutal conflicts around the globe later (in 10 years?)

RestlessMind 7y ago

> I don't see a solution to this problem Generalizing the problem - if a group of people (X) is disincentivized to tackle a problem which terribly affects another, possibly bigger, group of people (Y), and if X also wields a lot of power to prevent any meaningful solutions to the said problem, then History shows us that it is only a matter of time before Y will acquire enough power to overthrow X. See - French revolution, Russian revolution. But I also disagree with your take that "elderly are disincentivized to do anything about climate change". I believe that the elderly in the fire prone areas of California or hurricane prone areas of Florida would be very much interested in tackling the climate change. A big problem is the lack of meaningful solutions. Once you have seen enough in the world, you can see through the gimmicks like banning gas pipelines to all the new houses (Mountain View) or flight shaming or moralizing against meat by all the vegans.