I am a pessimist by nature, sadly, but there's a lot to be pessimistic about, it's called reality
Posted by John Monro on January 18, 2024, 10:49 pm
Folk reading and contributing here will know me from my many years' contributions, sometimes interrupted by annoyance when I've had my fill of some of the opinions expressed.
You will also know one of the things that I regularly contribute to is discussion on global warming. Following the Paris meeting in 2015 I think it was I expressed my incredulity that this meeting considered that keeping temperature increases below 1.5 deg C was feasible, in fact I called it delusional.
Yet I continue to hear commentators, reporters, science reporters, global warming scientists trying to keep an optimistic front to the public "we still have time to turn things around" "we can do it" "it needs more effort" etc, and this talk in its turn is delusional.
We are not going to do the things we need to - stop flying, stop driving, stop burning fossil fuels, stop looking for more fossil fuels, stop expanding the economy stop capitalism. stop shipping,
None of these things are going to happen within the next thirty years, and we are heading for planetary increase of temperature to 3 deg C or more by the end of this century. James Hansen's latest paper says warming is accelerating, and we could be loo king at nearer 5 dec warming.
This is incompatible with 7 billion people's existence on this planet and is the realm of a climate where all planetary life will be struggling to survive, including its human population. Massive forced migration will bring down "advanced" civilisation, see level rise will inundate cities and agrictularual land, and extreme weather will be an untenable norm
Happy New Year everyone!
PS If you haven't seen the film "Don't Look Up" that dramatically explains the mass psychology involved. Thoroughly recommended though it is, if you're a serious person, profoundly depressing.
Re: I am a pessimist by nature, sadly, but there's a lot to be pessimistic about, it's called reality
It details not just climate collapse but also other synergising collapses (eg, biodiversity, energy, food security etc).
He believes 'collapse' has already begun. He talks about how it may be possible to get through it with some semblance of our freedom intact. That is, by resisting the inevitable authoritarianism that will be part and parcel of the elite 'response' (which may already be happening).