I am terrified of climate change
I'll keep this short and sweet. Some random guy on the internet compiled together and summarized a bunch of climate research papers analyzing global trends and a bunch of different slow actors that are all going to kick in soon like the permafrost in Russia or the polar ice caps etc.
While I have not yet gone through the sources the author links and quotes extensively, this still has me extremely worried and I think that unless society somehow drastically changes and devotes a significant effort in doing something about it, we're all going to die within half a century.
I'm sorry for bringing doomerism into a safe space like Beehaw, but I'm scared and I can't sleep.
Also I'm not going to link the document in question because the author goes on a rant about billionaires and greed, and while I haven't decided whether or not I agree I'm not sure the tone fits the community.
Sorry again and have a good one !
Hey OP. Kudos on acknowledging your feelings and expressing them ;)
TL;DR: your reaction makes a lot of sense, don't stay alone with this, lots of empathy
Where I speak from : I'm a white and socially cisgendered male, 35 yo, living in France. I had the chance to go to university and to have several educations.
I have been a climate change and biodiversity collapse educator and activist for 3 years, and I'm currently struggling with crippling adhd, depression and anxiety after a rough burn out.
I try to base my opinion on the IPCC reports which I regard as the best science consensus provider on climate-related matters (more on the IPCC at the end of the post).
In my opinion, being terrified by climate change is a very appropriate emotionnal response.
What scientists say about the amount of suffering climate change already inflicts to hundreds of thousand is hard to fathom, and imagination fails to grasp how much worse it's going to get in the coming decades.
To my understanding, humanity as a species is not under threat, and we will not all die in 50 years. But a huge amount of people already suffer and die from climate change and it's going to get much much worse. As usual, the less privileged you are (and the less you contribute to climate change), the worse you have it.
CO2 emissions keep going up when scientist agree that they should be cut in half by 2030 and divided by 3 or 4 by 2050.
The IPBES (same as IPCC but for biodiversity) current analysis reinforces the "we're in deep shit and we're diving faster and faster" feeling.
And while individual action is absolutely necessary, it is by large insufficient without structural collective change.
I also feel terrorized. And so angry. And more sad than I'll ever by able to express. And so fucking frustrated.
I found that sense of community is what keeps me going. I met some great people in environmental ngos, and getting together to do something about it is a great feeling. Having a drink together and ranting about how hard it is to witness our collective failure makes is really not as bad as doing it bu myself. And crying among friends feels a lot better than crying alone, for me.
So I wish for you to find people around you who understand the world in the same way you do, who care as much as you do. I wish for you to find safe spaces in which you can stop pretending it's ok, in which you don't need to explain yourself, to have a debate about whether or not climate change is a big deal, in which you can let your emotions flow. I wish for you to find meaning, belonging and even happiness in action.
Take good care of yourself, the wolrd needs you in good shape !
Btw, compiling and summarizing together papers about the mechanism and impact of climate change is exactly the job of the IPCC. They take in account thousands of papers from all the fields related to climate change, write a draft an publish it, wait for questions/criticism/corrections to be sent by all the scientists who want to contribute (for several months) and then they correct their draft and publish the final version. I recommand reading at least the key points of the "Summary for policymakers" of the 6th assessment report..
Not sure if this helps at all, but you’re not alone: I feel a sense of dread every time I find myself holding an empty plastic container.
It might feel like you’re sticking your head in the sand, but what I do – and what I suggest for people suffering from climate anxiety – is actively avoid reading reports like that. Sure, they’re informative (and it’s important to stay informed), but at the end of the day it’s not worth your mental health.
If there’s one thing we know about the problem of climate change at this point (despite what massive corporate contributors have tried to tell us) it’s that you as an individual cannot fix it and you did not contribute very much to it. Plus: you already know it’s bad. Those statistics are meant for people whose minds and behavior will be changed by them.
Instead of reading reports that are informative (but unhelpful), spend time researching who to vote for, how to get involved with organizations who are making change, and which companies are truly focused on sustainability so you can vote with your money.
Climate change is an unfortunate reality and you’ll never feel good about it, but you can feel better if you’re focusing on what you can change.
Thank you for the advice. I was planning on getting more informed on the topic so as to be able to talk to others about it better, because right now I think it would come across as incohesive rambling.
As to the part about me as an individual not being able to fix anything, while on one hand that is true and I already do what I can personally, the one thing I can try to do is to get more people involved because it feels like we're a train hurtling towards a cliff and two people on board even know where we're heading.
To be honest I am quite young and now it feels like most of the meaning in my life is ruined, and I don't think I can go back to how I was before. My plan for now is making trying my best to avert what's coming my life quest, but I don't know how that will make me.
I'm sorry for ranting but I guess I am quite emontionally distressed now, which is kind of the first time this happens to me and I don't know how to process it.
Thanks for your time and sorry again!
Hey, no need to apologize! This is something I’ve had a tough time with for a while, so it’s also helpful for me to articulate some of my thoughts to someone else.
As far as getting other people interested: that’s a fantastic reason to spend time learning about a topic! Good on you for taking an educational stance on something so important.
The fact that you’re new to this information about climate change does change (slightly) what I was saying previously: I’m in my 30s and I’ve been reading report after report for over a decade and only recently decided to avoid them.
The fact that you’re new to this is challenging because it’s important for you to learn about climate change, but it’s not exactly a topic that inspires hope. I’m not sure which specific report you’re referring to, but you do need to remember that there are a lot of reports out there that are really overblown and sensationalized.
Climate change is definitely a threat, but environmental science is also ridiculously complicated. It’s easy for people with little understanding of a topic to make commentary on it (and sound convincing because they’re using technical terminology!) But they may not be qualified to make the claims they’re making.
As you educate yourself, I’d stick to intro-level educational resources from universities and science organizations – they tend to be less “doom and gloom,” more focused on solutions, and they avoid making over-the-top claims.
Also, remember that climate change is, well, change. And change is scary. But the fact that the future is going to be different doesn’t mean that everything is going to become terrible one day and be terrible forever until we all die in under 100 years (which as many people have said in this thread, is extremely unlikely.) The future will have good times and bad times, just like there are now. But this kind of change means that we need to adapt and be more resilient than ever: luckily, humans are excellent at adaptation.
So don’t let this report ruin your life: you’re right that you won’t be the same again after learning about climate change, but that’s normal! It’s a part of learning and growing. “Ignorance is bliss” is a phrase for a reason: it really does suck sometimes learning about the world, because not everything about the world is blissful. But now you’re going to take climate change seriously and help others do the same, and that’s a powerful thing.
So again, focus on what you can control, maybe find some less intense resources to learn from, educate your peers so they can help move things in the right direction, and take a deep breath. You’re going to be okay!
Niche thing to break out given the context, but the best purchase I've made in the past decade is a SodaStream, a couple of extra carbonating bottles and an inline water filter for the kitchen sink.
I didn't realize how much of my aggregate shopping mass came from paying usurious prices to have water from somewhere else delivered via fossil fuel to a store so I could pick each bottle up once from the shelf, again from my cart to checkout, again to get it back in the cart, again to put it in the vehicle, again from the vehicle to the pile outside the front door, again to bring it inside for final staging, again to put it in the fridge, and finally, again, to drink it. And 99 cents for the privilege.
(It's now two cents a litre thanks to a 10-pound tank + adapter.)
Being easier on the planet can save time, money and effort, even though it looks somehow less convenient on the surface.
Friendly reminder: If you aren't fighting conservatism, you aren't fighting climate change.
We can still mitigate the effects of manmade global warming if we act right away. Unfortunately, conservatives (including neo-liberals) are hell-bent on preventing effective action from being taken. They are paid by corporations to protect corporate interests, even when it will result in billions of deaths.
If we can somehow marginalize and defeat conservatives in the U.S., we might be able to influence other nations to follow along in making large-scale changes. Fighting conservatism is how you can fight climate change.
I'll do the opposite and make this long and bitter.
There is hope, look at restorative agriculture which sequesteres CO2 into the ground. It's a bit more work than modern farming but the tradeoffs may outweigh the effort and it's starting to get more popular.
I don't have much faith in carbon capture technologies that are not placed at the concentrated outputs of emitting sources, but i want to be wrong. The worst part about them is oil companies will say 'see, nothing to worry about'.
I think that RNG is going to be a huge factor.
First: because commercially it has a way to make money so anti environmentalists may bite off on it. B: gas stove snobs can keep their damn gas which should reduce political resistance.
III: even though you're burning methane, at the end of the cycle you've pulled CO2 out of the air, created fuel, and have carbonaceous remains that can be put in the ground as fertilizer, overall carbon negative.
4 - As long as there are humans that eat food then there will be farms that grow crops, most crops have parts that we don't eat like stalks and leaves n such, those remains can get dumped into an RNG reactor instead of decomposing into the atmosphere as methane, so even more reduction in GGs because methane is a greenhouse gas.
I really think RNG can have a huge effect as long as the reactors aren't fueled by biomass that is made by chopping down trees and milling them up. I need to find out how much biomass farm waste has...
SMR nuclear is happening, if you ignore the big oil funded green peace clowns you'll see that nuclear is an essential base load source that is reliable and safe.
Electrification is happening, more makers are making electric vehicles, more municipalities are electrifying mass transportation, even shipping is making slow progress. Heatpumps are getting viable even in cold climates.
The grids can take it. There's multiple parts to this story but 4 main parts and the gist is that the growth in demand is not giant leaps but in small steps for now. It is likely that some of these technologies will take on S curve uptake but even then there is plenty of room for growth. If you want i can talk your ear off about this one (I'm an electrical engineer at an electric utility).
You can make a difference, join the citizens climate lobby, they are working on legislation to tax carbon production which shoul help slow the bleeding. This will be hard to pass in the US, but squeaky wheel and all that. Help them get loud. Force politicians to either say out loud that they are against it or are for it and vote out the clowns.
There's also the idea of spraying reflective chemicals in the upper atmosphere to reduce the amount of heat that gets in. I hope we don't do this unless we have to because it just kicks the can down the road and corpos will say 'see, we can stop worrying now'. BUT, it absolutely can buy us more time to save ourselves, and we have the technology to do this right now.
It may seem hopeless with all of the headlines of crossing the point of no return and spiraling out of control and what not. The 'point of no return' is pretty vague and each headline is talking about a different problem. Most of them are talking about the 1.5 or 2 degree temp rise. Some even talk about run away effects like thawing permafrost and undersea stuff that gets released. While that is all fucking terrible I implore you to look at the absolute worst case of run away effect. It's bad, but it's not Venus 2.0 bad and we can buy more time if we have to.
Last, i want to talk about defeatism. It's not too late to stop the absolute worst. Yes, there is permanent damage and we are losing species and people are fucking dieing BUT it's not fucking over. Republicans want you to feel defeated, they want you to think there's nothing you can do and there is no point in trying and at the same time say climate change isn't real. Don't be a part of the republican message. We absolutely can make a difference, we have to make a difference, and we fucking will make a difference.
So i lied when i said 'last'.
I felt the exact same way you did about a year ago. I was in a deep depression and i didn't have a way to cope. The good news is a healthy brain won't let you stay in that dark place forever and you will find a way out. If you can't then your brain isn't healthy and you NEED to find help.
Also, climate denialists are willfully ignorant. Don't waste your time trying to convince the willfully ignorant of anything. They have all the information in the world at their fingertips and choose to believe what they want to believe, nothing you say is going to change them. They will regurgitate catchy talking points and half truths and give you doubt that will make you waste your time verifying what you already know. They are the loud minority, ignore them and surround yourself with sane people. Use your energy to steer those that actually do care toward useful things like citizens climate lobby.
Don't hyperfixate on the problem, focus on solutions. I recommend Undecided with Matt Ferrel on youtube. He's cautiously optimistic about emerging clean technologies and each video usually makes feel more positive. When you see a viable solution, help it grow. We can do this.
edit: Matt Ferrel, not Will Ferrel, lol.
How is a rant about billionaires and greed ever a thing to shy away from? The class war and it's associated wealth inequality/endless growth mentality are essential drivers to the climate change problem that's keeping you up at night. You can't disconnect the two if you actually want the problem addressed.
If the bad things are going to happen, there's little we can do to stop it, once it has been set into motion (no one person led to climate change). What we can do is control our response. We can do our best to mitigate what risks we can, and ultimately we can do our best to make the most of the situation we are in. That's the one thing we can do as individuals to make things better for our future selves and our descendants, we can be compassionate to those around us and work to inspire our communities to do that too.
All in all, nothing tonight that you can think up will change the climate or the world's response to it. We can worry about the future, but we only will know what the future holds as it occurs, so it doesn't do much good to assume that the worst is necessarily going to happen. Catastrophizing sucks, and I know what you're struggling with right now. Perhaps a counselor/therapist could help you understand and manage your anxious thoughts. You're definitely not the first or only one to have these fears, so don't feel bad about it. I hope some of the comments put you at ease and help you get some rest.
Thank you for verbalising this, I've been feeling similarly. Like you I try to go back to the sources and read them often finding that the danger is being sensationalised by the media. Recently though I've seen a few papers where the findings have been much worse than is being reported and that worries me very much. I'm mostly able to only worry about things I have control over as others have suggested but the oncoming climate crisis is so encompassing and existential that I'm finding it hard to temper my worries.
Many things are outside of your control. You were given life outside of your control, and you will die outside your control. Whether you die of cancer at 50 or climate change at 50, you die all the same.
We still have a moral duty to make the best choices that we can with the information that we know. A lot of the existential crisis though, I think, stems from a fear of mortality. Coming to grips with the fact that you must die sets you free to act rightly within the world.
Reminds me of that quote from Frozen. "All one can do is the next right thing"
I don't have a lot of words because I'm in the same boat, but I'm really sorry that you're having to go through this. :-(
If you’ve never considered therapy, here is a sign to talk to somebody professionally. In my experience, existential dread is best discussed with building up a foundation of good mental health practices. A couple of more specific thoughts:
Every generation of humans have thought they’d be the last. We are a resourceful species.
What does the future hold? How will climate change impact our lives? It’s really unknown at this point. All the articles and science in the world is educated speculation.
There are new technologies being created but in a lot of ways the pandemic showed us that people really cannot seem to get it together. If you are passionate about the environment, there is many areas of activism and volunteering to get involved with.
Ultimately, you cannot control what happens with the climate or the future. A lot of times anxiety can come from situations we can’t control but so much of life is out of our hands. Learning to live in the moment and go with the flow is an art.
I appreciate the advice and I am considering therapy right now.
I'm unsure about returning to my previous "carpe diem"-esque lifestyle, because at the moment I am pretty convinced that disaster is coming within the decade and I'm afraid that every moment will be tainted by this fear. I also don't know if I want to talk to other people about this, because I don't want to push this onto them and make them feel the same way as I do now.
And yes, every generation thought they'd be the last but I do think ours is in a bit of a more dire situation. Maybe that's just a dumb take on my part, but that's how I feel at the moment.
Sorry for basically dumping all my yucky feelings right now but I guess it had to come out somehow and I'm not waking up my roommate at 4AM
Every generation was convinced that their fears was the real one, and all past fears were just irrational. There is no reason to think that this has changed.
It is also important to note that some past fears were arguably just as extreme if not worse than current fears. After all, a massive nuclear war was a real possibility. It never meant that people had to put everything down and just wait for death.
If you can't stop the (possible) coming disasters, what's the point in paralyzing yourself with fear? Do what you reasonably can to prepare, and enjoy the life that you have now while it's here.
Things will certainly get worse, and disasters will happen in the coming decades, but the end is not right around the corner. The decline will be slow, and it's still possible that solutions, or at least mitigations, will be found. Look for little ways to contribute something positive, and try to appreciate the moment.
Disaster IS coming within the decade. Disaster is coming this week, this summer, this year to someone, somewhere. But the thing is, disaster has always been a very common and normal part of the human experience. It doesn't happen to everyone, everywhere, all at once. (See what I did there? ;)
When I was in high school, the chemical factory where my mother worked had an explosion that killed three people and started a fire that threatened to kill both my mom and my dad who was working at a nearby factory. For nearly a decade of my life afterward, PTSD convinced me that nothing was worth doing because it would all just end at any second anyway.
I really missed out on a large chunk of my young adult life because I was stuck in my own head about it. A lot of cognitive behavior therapy and I learned how to live in a world where disasters are part of it.
I went on to do crazy things like live on a Caribbean island for six years. That was later leveled by a Cat 5 hurricane. But all my friends and the vast majority of the general public there were fine! And five years later, life there is right back to normal.
Humans are resilient. To quote one of my favorite Crystal Method songs: There is hope.
Try therapy. It's great.
Someone linked this to me a while ago cause I expressed climate despair: https://thecarbonalmanac.org/
I then found it to download for free from the zlibrary (I can‘t afford it ok), and so far it‘s good, it gives a more action focused perspective and is more optimistic than I would be.
So far it made me rethink my liberal use of cow products, while I struggle with even approaching a vegan diet, the "stop feeding into demand for cows" is a bit easier for me, I already didn‘t buy the meat for a long time and now I finally switched to an almond milk too and it‘s alright.
I also did switch my search engine to Ecosia to plant trees, it‘s not much, but maybe it helps. Works alright so far.
A lot of people want you to be fearful. Fearful people make for very avid readers and sharers of media. Fearful people spend a lot of their precious time convincing other people to be fearful. Fearful people often don't make the most rational decisions.
I'm not downplaying the problem or saying climate change is some sort of fairy story, but I am saying that it is almost impossible to have a 100% impartial birds-eye-view of what is a tremendously complex problem, especially if you just ingest whatever random media crosses your door.
There is no point beyond which the entire game is lost and we should just lie down and rot. Things can always get better, and things can always get worse. So act, get involved in local action and put pressure on government to make the right calls. Act with the hope of a better future in your heart, and save the despair for when the end is known beyond all doubt. It's just another day at the office.
I also think it's important to have hope for technological advancements. Carbon capture technology exists and is improving rapidly. We need to get to net zero, of course, but we can also go negative and cool the planet to pre-industrial levels.
The world is changing rapidly, both for the worse and for the better.
Yes, there is going to be a mass extinction event. But mass extinctions have happened before and biodiversity recovered. We also have technology to save species and reintroduce them later, too. A hundred years from now, when CO2 is back under control, who knows; maybe we'll be able to "print" extinct species' zygotes from saved DNA code.
The problem with carbon capture is that yes it exists, but is not nearly close to good enough for our needs. Add to that the fact that we physically do not have enough materials on Earth to implement it on the scale required and that becomes a tough pill to swallow.
I'm hopeful that some farming techniques may be promising and that not everyone's going to die, but relying on technology that doesn't really work yet seems foolish.
At any rate I'm not gonna sit around and twiddle my thumbs, I'm probably going to become an activist this summer instead and see where that takes me
Well put. My personal litmus test for any piece of media is this: if it makes you scared, angry, or horny, your red flags should be raised. It's likely that the article/video/whatever is trying to manipulate you. The fact that OP mentioned a political rant tells me the video might be using climate change as a tool to make people angry in a political direction. Acknowledging this doesn't take anything away from legitimate political criticism or climate research. But anger and fear are tools to bypass your reason.
I'd say don't let fear control you.
When fear gets too out of hand it becomes a problem; However there's a side of fear that can also prompt us to improve a situation, where we can recognize the threat which then allows us to educate, inform, act, and build a better world.
There will be a lot of challenges to face, especially considering the limits to change based on how rampant wealth inequality is, but I don't think it's a good idea to feel frozen and shocked at not being able to instigate positive change.
If it helps, this is 100% grade-A bullshit. Science does not say this. Scientists do not say this. It is absolutely a lie.
You're welcome.
can you give sources where they explicitly don't say this? i'd like to ease my anxiety as well
That's not how this works, that's not how any of this works
You want me to post a source where scientists aren't saying absolute bullshit? A scenario where the human race is wiped out is actually so absurd, no scientists that I'm aware of are even LOOKING at it.
It's basically (smokes blunt) yoooo duuude like, what if...what if...like...the moon were to fall, man, that would be craaaaazy
And then you want a scientific study with thousands of dollars on how the moon won't fall and that's not even how gravity works.
Here's actual information on what climate change does from NASA, the EPA, NOAA, and Wikipedia. Nothing anywhere even discusses human extinction.
Human extinction is NOT A THING. We are cockroaches, with opposable thumbs and pack hunting instincts and highly evolved brains. We're the most unkillable life form ever created in the history of life. We can live in SPACE for fucks sake. Even global thermonuclear war can't kill us. NOTHING can kill us.
We'll destroy the whole planet and live as kings of the ashes, that's what you should actually be worried about. Not what happens to our species. We'll be fine.
There's thirteen known species in the genus homo. Twelve of those are extinct.
It's not a given that climate change will lead to human extinction but there's no reason we should tempt fate.
Yeah. There isn't any good news on the topic. It does look grim. But, the sun's out at the moment. Focus on now.
Stoicism teaches us to only concern ourselves with things we can control. Everything else is external, and you can't affect it.
Read Marcus Aurelius and feel better.
If it makes you feel better, it won’t all be bad for everyone. It’s going to largely depend on where you live. Some places will become…better.
Some places won’t change at all.
Many places will change for the worse.
The key is that things will change, but it doesn’t mean it’s a death sentence. It won’t be an overnight thing. You’ll have plenty of time to adjust.
If anything, humans are the most adaptable animal when it comes to climate.
Just throwing it out there. Im not trying to belittle the issue, it’s real and should be addressed. Just focus on today and take it as it comes.
I used to get very anxious and stressed out about this. I started reading a book that reframed my mindset on the issue. Now I don't get nearly as stressed or anxious as I used to.
Being stressed and anxious about the issue is coming from a mindset that we could still prevent it, and wanting to do something to "stop" it from happening.
So maybe try thinking about it like this instead:
Humanity will not end with Climate Change. It will become different, and worse. But it will not end society.
Animals and nature will not end with Climate Change. They will become different, and worse. But it will not end all other forms of life.
Climate change is not something to stop. It is already here. The world you used to know is already gone. Accept that you live in a different world, and that's ok.
Mitigation is still a good thing, we should still be actively trying to mitigate what we can. But it won't make things the way they used to be.
Start preparing and planning your life around these changes. It will help you feel more empowered, and help you accept our new reality.
My recommendation is to read "How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos". Reading that book in some ways felt like going through the five stages of grief. But in the end I felt like I came out feeling healthier, and more capable of helping mitigation efforts because I didn't feel paralyzed by fear anymore.
I want you to at least consider stepping away from the news if you can. Focus on what make you happy, what make you enjoy a life. Do you have a hobby? Is it something we can play with sometime?
"You will find that if you look for the light, you can often find it. But if you look for the dark, that will be all you will ever see." - Uncle Iroh in Legend of Korra
I am not going to deny that those topics you brought up are serious topics indeed, but it requires balanced mind to be able to confront such challenges and to ward off those who prey upon your vulnerability, so don't neglect yourself.
I try to enjoy every day with nice weather like it's the last. Even back in high school 15 years ago I would feel terrible if I knew it was nice out and I wasn't able to be outside. Feels like we only have so many left. My last job was in a cubicle in a box inside a factory with no natural light. I nearly lost my mind. And when I talk to people about my feelings, I get talk about antidepressants and antianxiety medication. I look at people my age raising kids and I think they are so fucking selfish to bring new people into this. I feel like we should consciously choose to be the last generation and go down with the ship.
Uh. That got dark for a second, sorry about that. I recommend going for walks anytime it's nice out, every chance you get.
I'm in the same place without having read that piece you mentioned. And I'm not going to be looking it up.
As I see it, climate change is the greatest threat the human race has ever faced. It makes World War II look like a squabble in a kindergarten playground. We should all be INCREDIBLY impacted by this, and yet everyone keeps going on as if nothing is happening.
But I think 50 years is a little bit of a narrow time frame. More likely we'll all die within 100 to 150 years. I mean, our species will go extinct.
Lately I've been thinking about what a sane society would do to try to mitigate the worst effect of climate change, while preparing society for the world that's coming. A world without fossil fuels or basic infrastructure.
Welcome to the club. The more people who wake up to reality, the better. Food insecurity and socioeconomic collapse are honestly the scariest parts to me. I try not to think about it, since I can't change it.
It's rough feeling that way. I don't blame you, OP. Climate science and the political situation around it look pretty grim right now. But I don't think humans are going to go extinct—rather it's just going to suck major ass after the 2.0°C threshold is breached.
I'm right there with you. It may as well be a meteor on track to dead-center the planet, for all we can do about it.
There's a miniscule chance it'll miss us, or that we'll come up with some way to deflect it at the last minute, and if that does happen, you don't want to be the guy who sold all his stuff and went out into the cornfield to wait for Jesus to show up, if you know what I mean. No matter how certain we are, we have to hedge it as if we're not about to be smashed flat. And the only sure way we can help the meteor not hit us is by voting in literally every election, from president to dog catcher, for the people who believe meteors are real and dangerous. No amount of metal straws and reusable bags will cancel out letting meteor-skeptics keep their decision-making positions.
Can you please provide the link to where you read that?
While the situation is dire, some solutions we don't see yet may come forward still.
Thank you for this!! That was a very interesting and insightful perspective!
We as a species fucked ourselves, and we refuse to step away from the edge of the cliff. Get used to it.
Can you please provide the link to where you read that stuff?
It’s tough. You’re having a rational response to a difficult future. But there are things you can do to at least help your peace of mind. Take news breaks. Meditate. Reflect on the things you are grateful for.
We're not going to all die in half a century.
We haven't even reached the tipping point yet so if you want to believe humans can still be saved, that is still technically a possibility - at least short term.
Ultimately humanity will go extinct one day, there's no way around that. If you want to believe the worst news (I'm not saying you shouldn't) then sure, it looks like humanity is in its way out sooner than later. But it's not within your lifetime, not even your kids if you have one, This is a slow burn, it's gonna take hundreds of years at least.
And ultimately there's nothing you can do about it. Even if you go vegan and stop driving, it's not going to change billionaire superyachts and private planes. It's not going to stop Nestle ruining our rainforests. Or BP destroying our coasts with oil spills. It's not going to stop our politicians being unable to enact policies to save ourselves.
The extinction of humanity is not in your lifetime and not your fault. Stop worrying and go watch TV
You should worry, and stand up. Get politcal, reduce your consumption, learn to grow some food, start building a resilient community. All you can do is at least try to make the future slightly more survivable. Just throwing in the towel and apathetically watching the world go to shit is exactly why we are in this mess to begin with.
If you enjoy fighting this hard, if you have the free time, and the money and the energy to do so, and it makes you feel good, you should, but recognize it comes from a place of privilege.
Most people are overworked, broke, and tired. To expect them to cycle to work and grow their own food, and spend their weekends community building, when megacorporations are polluting more everyday than anyone ever could in a lifetime, is out of touch with reality.
Until we can make sweeping systemic changes to society, any individuals efforts to reduce consumption is futile, and thinking that everyone must do everything they can to save the human race because humans are so vital to the universe is delusional. Humans can go extinct, it's fine, it wont matter.
The concerning part is that a lot of the data is the most conservative available, so as to not seem alarmist. When even that looks grim, it's hard to hold onto any hope that our planet is on track to becoming anything other than a hellscape. A lot of climate change is the result of positive feedback loops -- self-aggrivating conditions. E.g., warmer arctic climate causes the release of methane previously trapped by ice (methane is a ridiculously potent greenhouse gas... something like 30x more potent than CO₂), so its release causes the climate to warm even more, which melts more arctic ice, which releases more methane, which makes the climate warmer, which melts more arctic ice, etc...
Even if every human just suddenly got thanos-snapped out of existence right now -- no more cars, no more shipping, no more deforestation, no more industry of any kind... full stop on pollution and active environmental destruction... even then, the positive feedback loops we've set into motion aren't just going to stop on their own. The process would be slower, sure, but Earth is (rather, the things on earth that make it more than just a dead rock floating in space, are) fucked.
On the plus side, we'll only be alive long enough to see the start of the 'find out' era. It's the generation after you that's really fucked; and the generation after them that's really, REALLY fucked, rinse and repeat until humanity is an eco-dome filled with oligarchs, or just straight up extinct.
At this point we're dependent on a (series of) miracle-tier scientific breakthrough(s), or literal divine/extraterrestrial intervention. I don't see the latter two happening. Vote for candidates who give a shit about science if you think there's any hope in that route.
This is easier to digest and accept if you don’t live in one of the areas already impacted by climate change. When you are actually experiencing the effects the reality of it is in your face and hard to tune out.
OP, just do what you can on an individual level and try to relieve your anxiety. It will take major, massive change to offset the Holocene extinction we’re currently in, enjoy the life you have and are living currently.
I've just given up to preserve the little remaining bits of my mental health. I continue to do my personal part, but I have lost any sort of hope that humanity will get the curve. Right now things seem to go more in the opposite direction, the far right is booming and the worse it gets, the more people will flock to them because they promise continuous denial. The required climate neutrality by 2035 is nothing but a pipe dream, especially when governments aim more towards 2045 - 2060. We've had decades to act, we did nothing. And now when things start to get dire, we still just half ass our way through it, hoping it will at least not lower our living standards for the current older generations (the majority of voters in a lot of places).
Honestly, for me who already had a lot of issues, this decision was freeing. I've tried so hard, for decades, to somehow make it right by society & the government, but I can't. This was nothing but a constant downwards spiral. Now I'm just here for myself. I don't care about it anymore, because I can't change it anyway. When the time comes I'll just eff myself and be done with all the bullshit. Let them reap what they sowed and learn it the hard way. If that's what the majority wants, then that's what's going to happen.
We're so thoroughly screwed, that it's the best I can do to get through the day without having a massive panic attack about it.
I try not to talk about it in real life because everyone is so in denial or like me, can't deal with the fact that we're still pretending "this is fine" while the house is on fire.
Rogue Black Hole says "hold by beer"
We're just along for the ride. The people profiting from this have all the money and aren't going to change their mind because they think they can buy a solution for just themselves.
So, like the knowledge that we all die one day no matter what happens, it just has to be something you live with. Until you don't.
i don't know if this will help, but technology is advancing at a faster rate every single day. perhaps a potential solution will appear out of these advancements
This is free market copium propaganda to continue the current course instead of taking action.
i did not mean it that way, sorry. i was just trying to comfort the person who was in distress. we 100% do need to take action, but its not us as individuals causing it. i personally cannot make the rich stop wanting to get richer and fucking our planet over to milk as much profit as they can. it just sucks all around
It isn't just the rich, just as much as it isn't a personal responsibility. Both are propaganda meant to distract one side to not take the necessary actions. All the shit the rich produce is what we consume - especially in the West / developed world. The truly poor people are the ones in developing countries that barely have anything at all.
I wouldn’t call myself terrified, but I’m pessimistic. I’ve had this attitude for years, so the fear has faded into a constant, dull, background gloom.
It would take major, expensive, immediate action to combat climate change in a meaningful way, and I don’t think my government (US) has the willingness to do it. It’s too corrupt, and there are too many climate deniers in positions of power.
Now multiply that problem a few dozen times. Imagine how difficult it would be to get countries that hate each other to work together. Even if we narrow it down to the top polluters, it’s not gonna happen.
Next, consider individuals. A lot of people are greedy, selfish, and think climate change is a hoax. Plus, people are wired for denial. That’s not a condemnation of any group. It’s just a psychological fact.
Lastly, think about the nature of the problem itself. To avoid the worst of the consequences, we need to act before undeniable proof exists. Too many people don’t trust science, and will refuse to act until their personal standards for proof are met. Unfortunately, by the time there’s “sufficient” proof, it will be too late. Even if we could flip a switch and stop burning all fossil fuels immediately, it would take years for the environment to recover.
Of course, I could be wrong. I’m not one of those depressing clods who uses pessimism as an excuse to do nothing. I still try to do things that don’t harm the environment, even though I think it’s useless and trivial. I live as though my actions could matter. We’ll see… sooner rather than later, I think.
Billionaires and greed part is actually right, and we as people should prepare accordingly. Those with more resources (money) will be able to afford travel, appliances, insurance, and better locations. Those who are struggling will have high mortality rate.
Just like what happened in titanic - if you were a third class passenger you were likely to die compared to first class passenger.
There are advertisements telling people to do their part, but that is misleading propaganda. Because a badly managed industry will actually spend more in a day than a person can produce in their lifetime. Only real reason would be to reduce consumerism to increase wealth, but very few places tell this real message or work for it.
We should try our best to increase this resource of money(to increase our survival) and also use our knowledge and wisdom to secure the resources people are not putting real value on.
Climate change would be unsettling during initial period as that would be the period of change. Suddenly, the weather will become really harsh as climates are moving and reorganizing. After that, a harsher equilibrium will be reached. We should accept that reality and work to help our loved ones weather it through.
Take the bus, an electric bike, or an electric scooter. Yeah it doesn't do much in the grand scheme of things - but it does get you outside and exercising, which leads to better health - and it's also helpful to connect with your community when you're outside of a car.
Yes, people will mock me for saying this - but that's part of the problem. I lived in LA for years without a car, and it was totally workable and a fraction of the cost of having a car.
Wouldn't that be the most human thing to do. We truly are our worst enemy, even on the grandest of scales
I'm glad I don't have any children. I can just imagine the guilt I'd feel if I did…