We are still essentially mammals sharing most of our DNA with all other life forms. Our basic drive is to procreate before we die. We are not wired to look very far ahead so what is our actual point ? I am not sure we have one and we certainly have inflicted terrible damage on our fellow travellers on this planet. If so many of the scientists aren’t prepared to speak out because of the same short term thinking what hope is there ?
I believe we should be involved in hospice care at this late date and focus on helping those suffering now. I’ve been studying climate science for 50 years and I believe most ‘woke’ climate scientists are in consensus that extinction within a couple of decades is virtually assured.
Replenishing atmospheric aerosol terpenes that have been lost with the deaths of the boreal forest and marine phytoplankton is the priority. Hemp is the only crop capable of repairing Earth’s atmosphere in the time we may have left to make a difference.
Hemp is the only crop that produces complete nutrition & clean energy from the same organic harvest, as it heals Earth’s atmosphere soil water air & wildlife. Time is the limiting factor in the equation of survival. The amount of time it takes for mankind to understand the true essential value of Cannabis will determine the quality of life on Earth for everyone's children.
Shhh-we are piling on the coals or thinking to re- ignite the coal plants that are still workable. That’s the approach we have taken until the next Climate Conference, till we look at what we pledged in Cop26.#Climatechange# global warming # glaciers melt.
I agree that things do not look good. There is still some hope, however, that certain dangerous climate will not become cataclysmic. Although this is admittedly faint. Still, we have to keep plugging away. Every 0.1C rise we stop is critical.
Rations and quotas, economic decline, high unemployment, population control measures and severe reductions in living standards which, includes sacrificing infrastructure are some of what is required to address this issue and as yet, none are on any list of things to do.
Population reduction must happen to limit to pollution, scarcity (water), resource depletion (oil, etc), climate change, the sterilization of our oceans and the destruction of our environment. The pursuit of other solutions like renewable energy, are not going to do it and are a complete waste of time and precious resources. We would do much better to abandon consumerism, reduce populations and conserve what's left of those precious resources which, ain't much.
Here is the problem that mainstream is trying to solve:
Increase energy production, grow populations, grow the economy, build massive amounts of energy guzzling infrastructure, protect the environment and pay off debt all while trying to reduce greenhouse gasses and the budget deficit.... Ha!
This is the problem:
It is the ideology of compound growth and the absurd pursuit of it that is the problem.
Here is my solution and so what if few billionaires go broke:
1: Forget economics. It is "fatally" flawed. It has polluted the planet, poisoned us all, does not factor physics nor the environment and is what has got us into this mess in the first place.
2: Implement national and encourage international population reduction strategies otherwise, one way or another, nature will drag us back to sustainable levels and it won't be pretty.
3: Properly manage our finite resources which, are currently being pillaged.
4: Reduce consumption using quotas and not with unfair taxation. We can not shop our way to sustainability and we can not borrow our way to prosperity.
5: Plant lots and lots of trees. Massive scale reforestation will help the climate, rainfall and be a valuable renewable resource for future generations.
6: Restore the liberties and freedoms stolen from us by corporate serving politicians.
Lack of knowledge/understanding of the severity of the climate crisis is only one, and probably not even the most significant, bridge that must be crossed. If the Covid pandemic has revealed nothing else, it has very clearly shown that the solution lies as much, or more, in mass psychology than in actual science. There are multitudes of people that just happen to hold disproportionate amounts of power that believe "that God alone can solve the problem" and no amount of data will change their minds. If you look at the age demographics of climate denial, you also have to acknowledge that an extremely large, wealthy, and politically powerful cohort simply does not seem to care about a future beyond their expected lifespan. On top of those challenges, some countries have split into warring factions where group identity is partially defined by large scale rejection of science/logic/reason itself. I don't think any politician in any country could survive telling their people the truth of the situation - they would simply be replaced by those willing to tell the people what they want to hear. In reality, both average carbon emissions per person, and the total number of people, must fall dramatically and humanity must decide if they wish to collectively manage the solution, or have it managed in a more traditional manner (by four horsemen).
This should be a letter to all scientists, not just climate scientists. We all need to speak up. Humans have evolved into a potentially deadly and extremely invasive virus in the Earth's life-support system (ELSS), a virus I like to call the Homo sapiens Cataclysmic Virus (HSCV). An alien ecologist would probably conclude that the only cure for the ELSS is to eliminate the virus to guarantee a future for the ELSS without humanity. But if the virus can transform itself into the healer by meeting the needs of humanity while safeguarding the ELSS, then there could be a future for the ELSS with humanity in it. Science provided the knowledge required to become this invasive HSCV, and science is needed to turn us into the healer. But we also need to give economy an official purpose that is better aligned to the de facto purpose of economy. The current official purpose is to create human wealth, and that is degrading the ELSS dramatically. In its nature, economy is a supply system with the de facto purpose of meeting our needs while safeguarding the Earth's life-support system on which the welfare of all current and future generations of all human and non-human animals depends. Building an economy that has this purpose is a transdisciplinary challenge and requires all parts of science. However, without getting rid of the global ruling class of billionaires discussed in Bernd Hamm's work, there is little chance to make this transition. A global science-driven revolution might be needed to achieve this.
I was born in Belgium in 1949. The fifties were the Middle Ages cum electric light, but we missed nothing essential.
Incredibly, I lived through the greatest ascent of prosperity to absolute luxury, with a more than tripling of the number of living humans.
But I can also see the end of the anthropocene now. My 3 children and certainly my 7 grandchildren will go through the reverse evolution, unfortunately.
The power of 1 to incite change must never be underestimated. Each of us must act by pledging to reduce our carbon footprint and preach the gospel of climate preservation. This is my goal in life and my mission.
The burden of truth is on the scientific community. They are the ones who need to take a stand. They are the town criers with a grave responsibility to future generations. Let the flood gates for change open in their name. I applaud you Mr. McGuire.
Dear Bill - I can't find an email address for you on here so I hope you see this comment. May I please republish this post at my Substack? gendread.substack.com - thanks!
The only way you will ever get action is if there are visible & massive negative effects in a short time period.
When timeframes of 200 years are discussed, nobody cares, if sea level was going to risk 6 metres in 5 years, people may actually take things seriously.
It's like the vaccine, all these clueless protestors, they do it because the consequences are not harsh enough. If the virus behaved like ebola, there would be zero people protesting over it.
I strongly agree with this statement and have been waiting for many years for my timid colleagues (that’s almost everyone) to start speaking out. But I’m not sure about this: “The time to worry about what your colleagues think of you is long gone. Prestige will mean nothing in the world to come” … in fact, speaking out now about the urgency of stopping all carbon emissions in every area and so in, saying it like it really is, all that is a GOOD way to achieve prestige in the world to come. Be on the right side of history! Risk losing some friends and gaining a whole lot more! Of course, defending the rights of young people everywhere is even more important. But we can have both.
You are absolutely right, of course, Richard. I guess I was thinking of academic prestige, which has a tendency to be completely detached from reality!!
I actually think that although we may be still essentially mammals, the way our brain are wired becomes sufficiently changed by the un natural effects of smoking and alcohol that our care for the ecology is damaged, significant damage occurred from the 1850s onwards persecution of the natural indigenous way of life and for money the slaughter of Whales and Bison and Forests, they were not threatening us, but our bloody mindedness made us do it, under “the new diet”.
How can the human species be expected to adapt efficiently and effectively to the world in which we live when the reality of it, based upon science, is not seen because of the generativity and power of false, culturally sanctioned memes? Can the monoculture known as modern civilization be sensibly considered as a global cult because so many culturally sanctioned and widely shared memes lack a sufficient reality orientation and are bereft of compelling, objective scientific evidence? Cultures are cultural transmission generators. A cultural transmission or meme is a perception, value or belief that spreads virally among people who find favor in its content. Thanks to sound science, a culture presents us with many memes that are reality oriented or based upon objective, compelling evidence. But other memes that are delusory are also promulgated. From a psychological standpoint, because humans are shaped early and pervasively by memes in learning to perceive reality, it is an evolutionary challenge for humankind to see the world as it is. In the early days of a human being's life memes are deeply impressed into the young mind and set in place there years before the child has developed the intellectual capacity to objectively examine and critically question what has been transmitted by ones parents, caretakers and teachers by language and example. Individuals are who we are in large part before acquiring the cognitive capabilities to examine our culture and its widely shared, false memes. Fatally flawed memes occasionally exert more influence over the conduct of human affairs than objective correlates derived from science. https://countercurrents.org/2021/06/human-population-activity-the-primary-factor-that-has-precipitated-a-climate-emergency-biodiversity-loss-and-environmental-pollution-on-our-watch/
We are still essentially mammals sharing most of our DNA with all other life forms. Our basic drive is to procreate before we die. We are not wired to look very far ahead so what is our actual point ? I am not sure we have one and we certainly have inflicted terrible damage on our fellow travellers on this planet. If so many of the scientists aren’t prepared to speak out because of the same short term thinking what hope is there ?
There is always hope. We need to keep fighting!
I believe we should be involved in hospice care at this late date and focus on helping those suffering now. I’ve been studying climate science for 50 years and I believe most ‘woke’ climate scientists are in consensus that extinction within a couple of decades is virtually assured.
I really hope you are wrong Chuck, but I fear you may be right.
There’s only one way to heal Earth’s atmosphere. https://www.amazon.com/Cannabis-vs-Climate-Change-1/dp/1497451477
Replenishing atmospheric aerosol terpenes that have been lost with the deaths of the boreal forest and marine phytoplankton is the priority. Hemp is the only crop capable of repairing Earth’s atmosphere in the time we may have left to make a difference.
Hemp is the only crop that produces complete nutrition & clean energy from the same organic harvest, as it heals Earth’s atmosphere soil water air & wildlife. Time is the limiting factor in the equation of survival. The amount of time it takes for mankind to understand the true essential value of Cannabis will determine the quality of life on Earth for everyone's children.
Shhh-we are piling on the coals or thinking to re- ignite the coal plants that are still workable. That’s the approach we have taken until the next Climate Conference, till we look at what we pledged in Cop26.#Climatechange# global warming # glaciers melt.
I agree that things do not look good. There is still some hope, however, that certain dangerous climate will not become cataclysmic. Although this is admittedly faint. Still, we have to keep plugging away. Every 0.1C rise we stop is critical.
Hope = action. Everyone must take personal responsibility and follow your lead, sir.
Thank you for the kind words George. Yes indeed, we need to keep shouting from the rooftops. There is no excuse for any scientist to remain silent.
Rations and quotas, economic decline, high unemployment, population control measures and severe reductions in living standards which, includes sacrificing infrastructure are some of what is required to address this issue and as yet, none are on any list of things to do.
Population reduction must happen to limit to pollution, scarcity (water), resource depletion (oil, etc), climate change, the sterilization of our oceans and the destruction of our environment. The pursuit of other solutions like renewable energy, are not going to do it and are a complete waste of time and precious resources. We would do much better to abandon consumerism, reduce populations and conserve what's left of those precious resources which, ain't much.
Here is the problem that mainstream is trying to solve:
Increase energy production, grow populations, grow the economy, build massive amounts of energy guzzling infrastructure, protect the environment and pay off debt all while trying to reduce greenhouse gasses and the budget deficit.... Ha!
This is the problem:
It is the ideology of compound growth and the absurd pursuit of it that is the problem.
Here is my solution and so what if few billionaires go broke:
1: Forget economics. It is "fatally" flawed. It has polluted the planet, poisoned us all, does not factor physics nor the environment and is what has got us into this mess in the first place.
2: Implement national and encourage international population reduction strategies otherwise, one way or another, nature will drag us back to sustainable levels and it won't be pretty.
3: Properly manage our finite resources which, are currently being pillaged.
4: Reduce consumption using quotas and not with unfair taxation. We can not shop our way to sustainability and we can not borrow our way to prosperity.
5: Plant lots and lots of trees. Massive scale reforestation will help the climate, rainfall and be a valuable renewable resource for future generations.
6: Restore the liberties and freedoms stolen from us by corporate serving politicians.
Exactly my thoughts. The first imperative is striving for a drastic population reduction - by a factor 10.
Lack of knowledge/understanding of the severity of the climate crisis is only one, and probably not even the most significant, bridge that must be crossed. If the Covid pandemic has revealed nothing else, it has very clearly shown that the solution lies as much, or more, in mass psychology than in actual science. There are multitudes of people that just happen to hold disproportionate amounts of power that believe "that God alone can solve the problem" and no amount of data will change their minds. If you look at the age demographics of climate denial, you also have to acknowledge that an extremely large, wealthy, and politically powerful cohort simply does not seem to care about a future beyond their expected lifespan. On top of those challenges, some countries have split into warring factions where group identity is partially defined by large scale rejection of science/logic/reason itself. I don't think any politician in any country could survive telling their people the truth of the situation - they would simply be replaced by those willing to tell the people what they want to hear. In reality, both average carbon emissions per person, and the total number of people, must fall dramatically and humanity must decide if they wish to collectively manage the solution, or have it managed in a more traditional manner (by four horsemen).
Indeed! You are not wrong.
This should be a letter to all scientists, not just climate scientists. We all need to speak up. Humans have evolved into a potentially deadly and extremely invasive virus in the Earth's life-support system (ELSS), a virus I like to call the Homo sapiens Cataclysmic Virus (HSCV). An alien ecologist would probably conclude that the only cure for the ELSS is to eliminate the virus to guarantee a future for the ELSS without humanity. But if the virus can transform itself into the healer by meeting the needs of humanity while safeguarding the ELSS, then there could be a future for the ELSS with humanity in it. Science provided the knowledge required to become this invasive HSCV, and science is needed to turn us into the healer. But we also need to give economy an official purpose that is better aligned to the de facto purpose of economy. The current official purpose is to create human wealth, and that is degrading the ELSS dramatically. In its nature, economy is a supply system with the de facto purpose of meeting our needs while safeguarding the Earth's life-support system on which the welfare of all current and future generations of all human and non-human animals depends. Building an economy that has this purpose is a transdisciplinary challenge and requires all parts of science. However, without getting rid of the global ruling class of billionaires discussed in Bernd Hamm's work, there is little chance to make this transition. A global science-driven revolution might be needed to achieve this.
You are absolutely right, of course, Hans-Peter. I am in complete agreement. All best, Bill.
I was born in Belgium in 1949. The fifties were the Middle Ages cum electric light, but we missed nothing essential.
Incredibly, I lived through the greatest ascent of prosperity to absolute luxury, with a more than tripling of the number of living humans.
But I can also see the end of the anthropocene now. My 3 children and certainly my 7 grandchildren will go through the reverse evolution, unfortunately.
The power of 1 to incite change must never be underestimated. Each of us must act by pledging to reduce our carbon footprint and preach the gospel of climate preservation. This is my goal in life and my mission.
The burden of truth is on the scientific community. They are the ones who need to take a stand. They are the town criers with a grave responsibility to future generations. Let the flood gates for change open in their name. I applaud you Mr. McGuire.
A heat wave that kills half India in one day will do it.
In response to such an event, the whole world will change course completely and immediately.
Before, as of now, nothing happens
Dear Bill - I can't find an email address for you on here so I hope you see this comment. May I please republish this post at my Substack? gendread.substack.com - thanks!
The only way you will ever get action is if there are visible & massive negative effects in a short time period.
When timeframes of 200 years are discussed, nobody cares, if sea level was going to risk 6 metres in 5 years, people may actually take things seriously.
It's like the vaccine, all these clueless protestors, they do it because the consequences are not harsh enough. If the virus behaved like ebola, there would be zero people protesting over it.
I strongly agree with this statement and have been waiting for many years for my timid colleagues (that’s almost everyone) to start speaking out. But I’m not sure about this: “The time to worry about what your colleagues think of you is long gone. Prestige will mean nothing in the world to come” … in fact, speaking out now about the urgency of stopping all carbon emissions in every area and so in, saying it like it really is, all that is a GOOD way to achieve prestige in the world to come. Be on the right side of history! Risk losing some friends and gaining a whole lot more! Of course, defending the rights of young people everywhere is even more important. But we can have both.
You are absolutely right, of course, Richard. I guess I was thinking of academic prestige, which has a tendency to be completely detached from reality!!
I actually think that although we may be still essentially mammals, the way our brain are wired becomes sufficiently changed by the un natural effects of smoking and alcohol that our care for the ecology is damaged, significant damage occurred from the 1850s onwards persecution of the natural indigenous way of life and for money the slaughter of Whales and Bison and Forests, they were not threatening us, but our bloody mindedness made us do it, under “the new diet”.
Stop flying and driving then
I am on my third electric car. Our house is heated by biomass and solar and I haven't flown for more than a decade. Over to you!!
I live in a teepee, I ride my bike or snowshoe and haven’t flown in 20 years.
OK. You win!!!
How can the human species be expected to adapt efficiently and effectively to the world in which we live when the reality of it, based upon science, is not seen because of the generativity and power of false, culturally sanctioned memes? Can the monoculture known as modern civilization be sensibly considered as a global cult because so many culturally sanctioned and widely shared memes lack a sufficient reality orientation and are bereft of compelling, objective scientific evidence? Cultures are cultural transmission generators. A cultural transmission or meme is a perception, value or belief that spreads virally among people who find favor in its content. Thanks to sound science, a culture presents us with many memes that are reality oriented or based upon objective, compelling evidence. But other memes that are delusory are also promulgated. From a psychological standpoint, because humans are shaped early and pervasively by memes in learning to perceive reality, it is an evolutionary challenge for humankind to see the world as it is. In the early days of a human being's life memes are deeply impressed into the young mind and set in place there years before the child has developed the intellectual capacity to objectively examine and critically question what has been transmitted by ones parents, caretakers and teachers by language and example. Individuals are who we are in large part before acquiring the cognitive capabilities to examine our culture and its widely shared, false memes. Fatally flawed memes occasionally exert more influence over the conduct of human affairs than objective correlates derived from science. https://countercurrents.org/2021/06/human-population-activity-the-primary-factor-that-has-precipitated-a-climate-emergency-biodiversity-loss-and-environmental-pollution-on-our-watch/