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We have been getting warnings like this for years and for years things have been getting visibly worse. I don't know how you "have to force myself quite hard t

We have been getting warnings like this for years and for years things have been getting visibly worse. I don't know how you "have to force myself quite hard to take this seriously" when the environment around us has been degrading faster than scientist have been claiming for years. Maybe you're confused by how events related to climate catastrophe unfold? It's not like a nuclear bomb where one day everything is fine, then the next every thing is gone. That case is different in two major ways: the break down is instantaneous and a new normal is almost immediately established. The final warning for climate is about a process that once started can no longer be stopped. You don't have to "trust the science", you can literally watch it happen as the arctic heads rapidly towards a blue ocean event (see "arctic death spiral"), crop failures have been increasing, California has suffered extreme years of drought followed by this current season of incredible floods, lake mead reaches a lower level than it has since it was filled, Texas is subjected to extreme weather (in both directions) causing year after year failure of the power grid. These things will continue to happen, will happen more frequently and at greater magnitude for the rest of your life. If you feel unconvinced it's because you're in a state of denial (which in part of grieving so not terribly surprising or uncommon).

fwlr 4y ago
I don’t feel unconvinced - which is a good thing, because if I did, the suggestion that it would be because I’m some psychological stage of grief would probably feel patronizing or dismissive. “the environment around us has been degrading faster than scientist have been claiming for years.” But not faster than science reporting has been claiming, since they have pretty reliably been claiming apocalypse in 5-10 years for 60 years now.
- time_to_smile 4y ago
  Well the real truth is they were right 60 years ago. That was probably our last realistic chance to avoid catastrophe. But we did nothing and as much as doom and gloom might sell newspapers, true despair does not. Every article since they has made use of increasingly unrealistic solutions to create the illusions that there is more time. And again, the "apocalypse" is not a single day's event in the case of climate change. Given that fossil fuel usage continues to climb as well as CO2 (and now methane) emissions it's clear we have chosen the worst case path. The only limiting factor is how much hydrocarbons we can suck out of the ground. We have committed to destruction of our ecosystem and transformation of the biosphere in ways not seen in millions of years on this planet. You don't need to read the news, you can just look at outside and watch it continue to happen at an escalating rate for the rest of your life.

fwlr 4y ago

I don’t feel unconvinced - which is a good thing, because if I did, the suggestion that it would be because I’m some psychological stage of grief would probably feel patronizing or dismissive. “the environment around us has been degrading faster than scientist have been claiming for years.” But not faster than science reporting has been claiming, since they have pretty reliably been claiming apocalypse in 5-10 years for 60 years now.

time_to_smile 4y ago
Well the real truth is they were right 60 years ago. That was probably our last realistic chance to avoid catastrophe. But we did nothing and as much as doom and gloom might sell newspapers, true despair does not. Every article since they has made use of increasingly unrealistic solutions to create the illusions that there is more time. And again, the "apocalypse" is not a single day's event in the case of climate change. Given that fossil fuel usage continues to climb as well as CO2 (and now methane) emissions it's clear we have chosen the worst case path. The only limiting factor is how much hydrocarbons we can suck out of the ground. We have committed to destruction of our ecosystem and transformation of the biosphere in ways not seen in millions of years on this planet. You don't need to read the news, you can just look at outside and watch it continue to happen at an escalating rate for the rest of your life.