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This. You've hit on the "shifting baseline" phenomena[1]. We cannot remember what our grandparents experienced in their daily lives. I'll add the ongoing extin
by titzer 5y ago
This. You've hit on the "shifting baseline" phenomena[1]. We cannot remember what our grandparents experienced in their daily lives.
I'll add the ongoing extinction crisis that is picking up steam, itself a knock-on effect of us gobbling up all land resources and also climate change, and pollutants. I remember days in the park in the 1980s where the air would be filled with bees and insects of all kinds. The insects are so few and far between. Like, I don't even see moths swarming around streetlights anymore. It's eerie.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifting_baseline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifting_baseline
- cogman10 5y agoOh yeah, in just my 36 years of life, I've seen things change pretty drastically and have seen family videos for stuff I don't remember. When I was born, my hometown would regularly see around 10ft of snow (I've seen the videos). During my childhood, that reduced down to around 2->5 ft of snow. Now, my home town is lucky to see 2->3 inches of snow. This drought has caused major issues for a town that was built around farming. It's driven them to pull more water from the aquifer which itself has been in pretty rapid decline. Everyone just keeps drilling deeper and deeper pumps (30ft used to be enough, now 100+ft is what people are drilling). These sorts of slow moving collapses are terrifying to watch. And, at the same time, infuriating to hear the deniers throughout my life claim it's a hoax/not real.