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Part of me wonders whether Covid-19 was natures way of allowing it a little breathing space, there are many studies about the results of shutting society away f

Part of me wonders whether Covid-19 was natures way of allowing it a little breathing space, there are many studies about the results of shutting society away for a time and the positive impacts it had on nature (in some cases) Yet, when I think to what has actually changed, I can't think of much. There were supposed to be more cycle lanes, more pedestrianized areas and less reliance on cars/transport and more emphasis on greener ways of getting around, yet the truth is, the population is too lazy/fat for that and it'd be far too inconvenient (I would suspect the vast vast majority of those with cars would refuse to give them up and would angrily protest at the thought! including myself). Borris Johnson himself said he was too obese and vowed to make changes, yet they never materialized. Why are we so scared to experiment? Why not make it illegal to use a car in London for 1 month and study the impacts/effects? Can anyone detail any global significant change since we were aware of the "climate emergency"? Cars are as popular as ever, roads are still accessible to cars even if they weren't for a very short time (some areas disallowed cars to enable 'social distancing'). In my view of the world, absolutely nothing has changed or will be changing since it'd require a substantial rethink of how everything works. We're still warming the planet, We're still producing far too much plastic, We're still sending far too much into landfill, We're still having far, far too many children who just consume for their entire lives and input/provide nothing of value back, We're still consuming way too much of nature, for no benefit to nature whatsoever. And that will continue until the day humans are essentially extinct, no government is capable of reversing the damage already done and damage to come, they just want good "PR" to be see as "helping". If we are serious about this, we need to implement laws now about population control, there are too many families who do not need kids which are causing the trouble (among other things)

ciconia 6y ago
According to J.M. Jancovici in order to keep climate change under 2ºC in 2100 we would need to contract the global economy by 5% each year for about 20 years (IIRC). Basically, an additional Covid-19 crisis every year.
jodrellblank 6y ago
> "Borris Johnson himself said he was too obese and vowed to make changes, yet they never materialized. Why are we so scared to experiment?" There are hundreds of millions of people in the USA and UK who are overweight, and another hundred million who aren't. From those kind of numbers you ought to be able to produce at least a couple of million people who dieted, exercised, lost weight, and kept it off long term. Where are they? There are decades of things like Weight Watchers and Slim Fast, there ought to be well-honed methods that work and studies of successes, Weight Watchers crows about a 5% weight loss. That's 300lbs down to 285lbs. "Fat is officially incurable" - https://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/fat-officially-incurable-according-to-science/ https://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/fat-officially-incurable... - basically anyone who loses weight, regains it. The very few who don't turn it into an obsession, or have surgery. > "yet the truth is, the population is too lazy/fat for that" "5 Baffling Lies Society Told You About Fat People" - https://www.cracked.com/article_22964_5-baffling-lies-society-told-you-about-fat-people.html https://www.cracked.com/article_22964_5-baffling-lies-societ... - "Think the problem is that people these days have simply gotten too lazy? Well, studies show that in parts of the country where physical activity increased, so did obesity. (Note: People who exercise tend to eat more.) Oh, and your "lazy" Western lifestyle burns the same amount of energy as that of your hunter-gatherer ancestors.". Is that the truth or did you just make it up because it sounds simple and makes you feel morally superior? > "Can anyone detail any global significant change since we were aware of the "climate emergency"?" The UK has gone from almost no wind electricity generation to 30% and peaking over 50%. > "for no benefit to nature whatsoever." Define? This is suspiciously similar to the "HuMaNs ArE A CanCer" nihilist nonsense that somehow vaguely classifies humans as "outside nature" and therefore that things which benefit humans are "bad" and things which hurt humans are "good" for nature. Humans are nature. > "We're still having far, far too many children who just consume for their entire lives and input/provide nothing of value back," What value are buffalo providing back? What value are plants providing back? What value are whales providing back? > "And that will continue until the day humans are essentially extinct," That should please you, Mars seems to be your dreamworld - it's cold and there are no humans and no landfill, and that's apparently everything you care about.

ciconia 6y ago

According to J.M. Jancovici in order to keep climate change under 2ºC in 2100 we would need to contract the global economy by 5% each year for about 20 years (IIRC). Basically, an additional Covid-19 crisis every year.

jodrellblank 6y ago

> "Borris Johnson himself said he was too obese and vowed to make changes, yet they never materialized. Why are we so scared to experiment?" There are hundreds of millions of people in the USA and UK who are overweight, and another hundred million who aren't. From those kind of numbers you ought to be able to produce at least a couple of million people who dieted, exercised, lost weight, and kept it off long term. Where are they? There are decades of things like Weight Watchers and Slim Fast, there ought to be well-honed methods that work and studies of successes, Weight Watchers crows about a 5% weight loss. That's 300lbs down to 285lbs. "Fat is officially incurable" - https://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/fat-officially-incurable-according-to-science/ https://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/fat-officially-incurable... - basically anyone who loses weight, regains it. The very few who don't turn it into an obsession, or have surgery. > "yet the truth is, the population is too lazy/fat for that" "5 Baffling Lies Society Told You About Fat People" - https://www.cracked.com/article_22964_5-baffling-lies-society-told-you-about-fat-people.html https://www.cracked.com/article_22964_5-baffling-lies-societ... - "Think the problem is that people these days have simply gotten too lazy? Well, studies show that in parts of the country where physical activity increased, so did obesity. (Note: People who exercise tend to eat more.) Oh, and your "lazy" Western lifestyle burns the same amount of energy as that of your hunter-gatherer ancestors.". Is that the truth or did you just make it up because it sounds simple and makes you feel morally superior? > "Can anyone detail any global significant change since we were aware of the "climate emergency"?" The UK has gone from almost no wind electricity generation to 30% and peaking over 50%. > "for no benefit to nature whatsoever." Define? This is suspiciously similar to the "HuMaNs ArE A CanCer" nihilist nonsense that somehow vaguely classifies humans as "outside nature" and therefore that things which benefit humans are "bad" and things which hurt humans are "good" for nature. Humans are nature. > "We're still having far, far too many children who just consume for their entire lives and input/provide nothing of value back," What value are buffalo providing back? What value are plants providing back? What value are whales providing back? > "And that will continue until the day humans are essentially extinct," That should please you, Mars seems to be your dreamworld - it's cold and there are no humans and no landfill, and that's apparently everything you care about.