AIBU - to be worried about the future for my grand children

Oh crumbs Chestnut You don't think I'm walking about wearing sandwich boards or worse shouting "The end is nigh!" do you? I value your good opinion of me! I have never actually shared my feeling that I think the Christians who have pointed out the many parallels in what is happening now with the events in the Revelations might be true. I said it here because This is always a safe and caring group. I'm definitely not saying I am certain of it! But I followed a few courses and it was quite striking.
That aside, Yehbutnobut, forgive my elderly ignorance, but I don't know what the abbreviationsOh crumbs Chestnut You don't think I'm walking about wearing sandwich boards or worse shouting "The end is nigh!" do you? I value your good opinion of me! I have never actually shared my feeling that I think the Christians who have pointed out the many parallels in what is happening now with the events in the Revelations might be true. I said it here because This is always a safe and caring group. I'm definitely not saying I am certain of it! But I followed a few courses and it was quite striking.
That aside, Yehbutnobut, forgive my elderly ignorance, but I don't know what the abbreviations. “Nkt.” and “FFS.” mean. Please could you elucidate?

MarieEliza. I totally agree with you

I think no normal and kind older person especially a Granny would want to frighten or upset a young person. I do however think that the climate change challenge that is facing us and which will impact out GC far more, is a drastic thing which is not comparable with other challenges that generations have faced before. I believe that it must be place first and foremost in any policy of every government and we all need to respond to it. I do have confidence in our GC for their laudable attitude to it.

OH big woops. I copied and pasted because I needed to check Yehbut's abbreviations and obviously I messed up how I did it. So Sorry! Not had cataracts done yet!!

WishIwasyounger. I feel really mean, because I have not actually listened to you in a personal way. You are a very caring Granny. Yes, I agree, I too have the same fears that you have so clearly described. I have to try hard to remain confident and never show my anxiety to my GC. I have said previously how I try to deal with each of the subjects you raise. I just wanted to say here that you are not alone. I would like to comfort you in that I believe our GC will find ways to cope. I have a lot of faith in them. Try not to become distressed. Lots of love, Elle ?

As has been said by many GNs, each age produces its own challenges, and the accompanying worries.
Thankfully, in this country at least, so many diseases have as good as been irradiated (cholera, TB, etc) but more population, development will present more problems. Hopefully our grandchildren will be able to see cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, etc wiped out.

There has always been Climate change.
What you need to think about is LOVE in every sense of the word for we are heading into times which sadly, will get worse unless we follow the teachings of Christ. Yes, I know many do not believe, but as Easter approaches we are reminded how Christ suffered for each and everyone of us so that we can be saved, by his dying for the forgiveness of all our sins.
Our world now has much evil in it. The light of a lamp is more beautiful than the lamp itself and in a world going towards ruin in the darkness, be it's light!
Yes, I worry about my children and grandchildren but my answer is prayer. Prayer for families is most important.
I have hope and faith and know that ultimately everything will be changed for the better.
As a Christian I do not fear criticism because my faith in the Lord can ride any storm.
So your answer is pray for them.

NannyC2. I know that the climate has always gone through changes. Do you attribute the recent changes simply to the normal changes in Nature that have always been with us? Obviously, these can be drastic. A return of an ice-age would be very challenging!
But do you think that the emissions into the atmosphere which mankind has created have no effect on the climate?

Oh Tillybelle I was replying to yehbutnobut not referring to you. And I certainly don't think of you inside a sandwich board ?
I agree we shouldn't frighten the children, although Greta Thunberg is doing a good job of doing that. She may be 16 but it's the younger ones I worry about who may get scared and I think are far too young to worry about such things until at least secondary school.

Thanks Chestnut! I entirely agree about the younger ones. My GC at Primary school impress me by their knowledge of recycling and the need to protect the environment. I had a long talk from one of them last summer about how important it is to protect the bees! I was so pleased, I thought I might be the one explaining to them, but they are well in formed at their little school.

Tillybelle, did you know that an active volcano has been unexpectedly discovered beneath a rapidly vanishing glacier in Antarctica by a team of scientists studying the melting ice shelf?
Rising temperatures in the polar oceans still contribute to Antarctic melting, but volcanoes buried deep beneath the ice are a “wild card” that are also playing a role. Scientists are warning this hidden source of heat must be taken into consideration when predicting future sea level rises.
Yes, mankind is not helping and we can play a part in what we do.
I agree with Chestnut that Greta Thunberg is doing a good job at frightening children.

We all think of our Granchildren,s future especially in these troubled times, but as someone else said, there have always been threats of some kind, insecurety etc.We will all have to put in a greater effort to combat some things which we can influence.
I shudder every time they show on TV the icebergs breaking up, that is frightening ,and we have caused this ,think of our Grandchildren and do more about it.

I think that's great for primary children Tillybelle to learn about bees and recycling. They should also be taught NOT to buy plastic drink bottles, but to take a bottle or flask already filled. I think that would be one of the most useful things to teach them. I don't agree with too much detail on extreme weather, rainforests and icecaps at that age. They have plenty of time for all that at secondary school.

just go with the flow.no mattter what we do or say or think ,will make one iota of a difference .you can ask people to recycle till you red in the face. people will always think that the world is ok ,when clearly it is not .just teach them its good to recycle ,share and be respectful at all times .

Negativity and doom mongering will never encourage a bright future. Positivity, strength of spirit and personal responsibility will. All those fearing for the future of their loved ones should try opening their minds to treat the world better than each and every one of us older inhabitants have.

NannyC2 That's amazing! Thanks for the information. I do try to follow what different websites report. I know that the contribution by people is not the only reason by far. However, we can see some changes locally such as the loss of the top soil and plants on the west side (mainly) of the Peak District where the Industrial Revolution and factories in the Manchester area caused acid rain to kill the plants leading to a different terrain and the washing away of the topsoil.

Then again, killing bees by insect spraying is a terribly dangerous thing to do. I realise that is not about the climate though. I do know some groups are entirely convinced that climate change is nothing to do with the pollution of the atmosphere by man-made emissions such as aircraft. One of these groups also believes that the MMR vaccine causes Autism. I have to say I am sceptical about that as I had access to just about all the research on Autism and my Boss was the World Leader at the time on the condition.

Do you think that nothing we do affects the climate?

Sorry, NannyC2 you did say mankind is not helping and we can play a part in what we do. I knew I read it but i got muddled about who wrote it! Apologies. I'm tired!

Chestnut, I agree absolutely!

That's okay, Tillybelle, I feel tired too. The wind was so strong last night it kept waking me up and then we had downpours during today.
Although I do feel for people living further north who have suffered more than in the south with their houses being flooded.

Rest well x.

Hetty58, I agree with absolutely everything you've written. Those are exactly my views.
Last week there was a TV item about planets. Think about ours - as far as we know, the only one like it - absolutely beautiful and full of amazing plants and animals. And what do we do? We pollute it and constantly try to blow it up. We don't deserve it.

We are constantly bombarded with information both true and false. Imagine if people had dealt with that during the Plague, world wars, Norman raids, Roman invasions, etc.! Somehow, man still survives. Be a source of calm to thr GC. They will be better for it and so will you. We will survive,even without Wheatabix!

I think you will find Chestnut the children are already being taught that. I expect you think David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg are ridiculous and should just shut up too.

Take no notice of the Chicken Lickens who are rushing round saying, 'The sky is falling in!' Remember it was only an acorn after all!

My father used to terrify me in the late sixties with talk of 'atomic war'. A teacher admitted buying overdose levels of painkillers for his children during the Cuban Crisis. My husband worked knows a chap who, in the eighties, was convinced Russia was going to bomb Greeenham Common. A mad chap wandered up and down Oxford Street for deacades with a placard reading 'The end is nigh.'

On the contrary, President Obama reminded us all that there was not a better time in the history of humanity to be alive.

Climate Change will go the same way as atomic war, the Cuban Crisis and the bombing of Greenham Common.

I have made a small and informal study of cults and cult thinking and much of the present doomsaying has affinities with the self policing, fear based mindset of closed group thinking.

There are also strong parallels between current fears with Puritanism which used to tie end-of-the-world scenarios with human immorality just as the Green movement promises we will all die in an inferno brought on by not recycling our crisp packets.

I should just get on with enjoying life and cheering up your fearful children and grandchildren.

I have been reading the threads on here with some amazement. A number of posters don’t seem to realise that you can be concerned about something without being paralysed by your own fears.

Those of us who think climate change/pollution/ environmental degradation is a real thing and could end the world as we know it are being compared to Chicken Licken! This hen of course had no understanding of what was going on and was basically spreading news that was just wrong.

Unlike the hen, we are not simply “prophets of doom” - we are ordinary people who have looked at the facts, recognise the damage we have caused to the planet and are calling on the governments around the world to act.

We all can help in our own small ways but this problem is global and it will take a major shift in places of power if the problems are to be turned around.
This is a job like turning around a giant tanker and we need to get on with it.

I don’t feel any rising panic for myself and I’m sure I’m not alone in this. It’s a more “thought” than “gut” feeling, based on evidence not fear. Please don’t assume we are all lacking joy just because we care deeply about something!

Lilyflower I so agree. A teacher friend said that during the Iraq war she had children crying in her school, in rural Berkshire, because they expected to have Iraqi bombs and missiles landing on them any day. I think the longest range rocket Iraq had at the time had a range of less than 200 miles, and this was stated on radio, tv and in the newspapers, that is how I knew the rocket's range.

Many of the events you mention were fears of things happening, as distinct to climate change, which is real and happening. I write the last sentence having just been out to to see the flooding in our village for the fourth time in just over 10 years. Previous floods were in 1893 and 1947.

But I think we will deal with it as we have every other major change in climate. In the Bronze Age, people were driven off the moors and high ground to river valleys and low gound by a decline in weather conditions. There is a period known as the Little Ice Age from the 13th - 19th century, when the river Thames froze over regularly in winter, glaciers expanded all over the world and temperatures fell by over 0.5 degrees. Prior to that from 950-1250 there was a warm period when average temperatures were much as they are now.

This is not a denial that our current climate change is mainly man-made, but when these extremes happened, whatever the cause, humankind adapted to them and lived through them with none of the knowledge or science we have now. If they could do it, so will we.

Notspaghetti I do not think there is one person on this thread that has not been concerned by climate change. But we fall into two groups those who see Armageddon and the end of the world and sound helpless and hopeless. The second group believe that worrying though the situation it can and will be dealt with - and without us having to return to a medieval lifestyle, where we walk everywhere and live by subsistence agriculture.

There are many huge concerns for us to worry about, but there always have been. We can only do our best to help
overcome them, each in our own way.
But why spoil today by worrying too much about tomorrow?

Personal responsibility and recycling will be like the proverbial needle in the haystack. People do these little things to cope with the overwhelming guilt that we've ruined the planet.

Governments need to introduce drastic changes to slow down global warming. They won't, of course, it'll just be too little, too late - as always.

Comparisons with past challenges are completely irrelevant. We just haven't had any comparable potential disasters in the past. It's another strategy to deny that there's a problem.

Potentially, the rise in sea level will mean many low lying areas will be permanently flooded (including my house) and there's the real danger of mass starvation within the next century.

But never mind, recycle your packaging, change to an electric car, cut down on flights abroad, relax and close your mind - all will be just fine!