UN C!imate Change Report

[Rogar]

Barring some sort of major astrological event, it's somewhat obvious the planet will survive. Even if we have a sixth extinction related to climate and humanity is decimated, in a few million or billion years another asteroid or ice age or volcanic event will reset planet life, if with a little luck some is left. And then sometime the sun will burn out and maybe the planet won't survive and extinction events won't matter. I tend to think more short term quality of human life and a rich and diverse natural world, like maybe for the next seven generations, as it goes.

[Yppej]

Switching to electric heat is very expensive, and in most cases the electricity is generated from fossil fuels. Switching to a vegetarian diet is not costly. But not everyone is as focused on frugality as I am.

To me electric heat, like masks, is useless virtue signalling.

[catherine]

Barring some sort of major astrological event, it's somewhat obvious the planet will survive. Even if we have a sixth extinction related to climate and humanity is decimated, in a few million or billion years another asteroid or ice age or volcanic event will reset planet life, if with a little luck some is left. And then sometime the sun will burn out and maybe the planet won't survive and extinction events won't matter. I tend to think more short term quality of human life and a rich and diverse natural world, like maybe for the next seven generations, as it goes.

If someone said to you hey, let's party big time and I don't care if I burn my house and your house down doing it--and you say, "Yeah, why not! Someday someone else will build another house on the land." Is that how you would respond? Of course not. That's. my problem with the "oh, well, so we ruin the planet--there will be some life forms left to build off of in the future." That mindset doesn't make sense, and not only that, it's thumbing our noses at the Creator, however you want to define it/he/she. Our planet is miraculous in its complexity, balance and harmony, and we take it for granted.

We take care of our lawns, our buildings, our cars, our bodies, but the things that keep us alive--air, water, topsoil, oceans with fish, bees that pollinate to give us food--we don't think about taking care of those things? I really, really don't get that mindset. It's irresponsible-and yes--extremely short-sighted..

[catherine]

TMS, that's a great video, btw. He speaks to the complexity of the issue extremely well and covers so much in only 5 minutes. Thanks for sharing.

Here's another view of this complexity in a visual. Renewable energies also require a lot of fossil fuels, and industry will be eager to sell them and they won't consider other impacts. Cutting down trees for solar arrays. Killing birds with wind turbines. The world is not a machine--you blow a carburetor and it doesn't impact the brakes. Everything is related in the ecosystem.

Carbon Tunnel Vision.jpg

[Yppej]

Two books - The Nutmeg's Curse and Braiding Sweetgrass - both talk about the loss of animacy, and the mechanistic view that allows us to see nature as merely resources. They have gotten me thinking. The Hidden Life of Trees and Finding the Mother Tree make some similar points.

It's also part of a mindset that we can conquer instead of learn to live with things like viruses.

[catherine]

Two books - The Nutmeg's Curse and Braiding Sweetgrass - both talk about the loss of animacy, and the mechanistic view that allows us to see nature as merely resources. They have gotten me thinking. The Hidden Life of Trees and Finding the Mother Tree make some similar points.

It's also part of a mindset that we can conquer instead of learn to live with things like viruses.

Very well said, Jeppy. I've read Braiding Sweetgrass and The Hidden Life of Trees.. both such great books. I like the chapter in Sweetgrass where she talks about how the English language helps to keep everything non-human as an object rather than a living being. Derrick Jensen always uses the pronoun "who" rather than "what" when talking about animate beings. "Who has dropped all these acorns on the ground?" English reduces everything except for humans to an "it."

[bae]

One recommendation is everyone eat a plant based diet. Are you in?

No, the world is more nuanced than that.

I have very local, sustainable sources of meat and vegetables. Produced with practices that enhance topsoil instead of depleting it, and that do not pollute our watersheds.

I have to think that eating venison off my own land, or a goat grazed in my neighbor's unsuitable-for-veggy-crops field, or cheese made with milk from those goats is "better" for the environment than mega-agriculturally-sourced plant foods transported a large distance with fossil fuels.

There's plenty of material out there on the non-black/white nature of the issue.

[ApatheticNoMore]

To me electric heat, like masks, is useless virtue signalling.

I honestly have begun to think that people that talk about virtue signaling maybe say more about themselves than anything. They think people care about signaling a whole awful lot, don't accept that people might just want to be virtuous for it's own sake - it's called living with oneself (and in terms of mask it might just be protecting one's health, not even *about* virtue at all), it's all about being seen as something. I don't know, we all care about others opinions to a degree, being human, but does this represent *that* strong a motive of almost anyone who isn't very young (and it's ok if a 13 year old is preoccupied with how they are seen, it's maybe normal for that stage of life, but seldom about virtue then either). And honestly is virtue EVEN valued that much socially, like probably get more respect being rich, or good looking, or famous, or charismatic or something.

And I wasn't talking about individuals switching to electric heat. I was talking about switching the grid over as possibly a major factor in reduced carbon usage

https://www.volts.wtf/p/on-climate-p...heres-one-main

[ToomuchStuff]

And I wasn't talking about individuals switching to electric heat. I was talking about switching the grid over as possibly a major factor in reduced carbon usage

https://www.volts.wtf/p/on-climate-p...heres-one-main

How do you generate enough electricity for everywhere? Transmission and storage of that power? What happens at night, and/or when there is no wind? Do you go Nuclear, especially in disaster prone area's?

[JaneV2.0]

I prefer electric heat because it's clean, inexpensive, and doesn't require a CO detector. Also, it doesn't just randomly explode, catch fire, or suffocate you in your sleep. It doesn't require tank trucks or chain saws. It's hugely popular up here. Virtue signaling? Ridiculous.