Order up your Prozac!

I was worried, - when I read this thread title. I thought there was an imminent shortage of antidepressants 😧

Everybody gives lip service Gwyllt.

David Wallace-Wells has put his worries aside in order to chop down some trees, use chemicals to make paper and print, employ vehicles in distribution and ultimately, sooner or later, contribute to pile of waste and it’s management. I expect he’ll justify it as necessary.

Even the sainted David Attenborough is happy to take solo helicopter flights into the Arctic in order to record 90 seconds pointing out the effects of global warming.

Both your examples used their talents to try to publicise the problem. That is what they are good at, so they used that to persuade others that there is a genuine problem which will get worse if not turned around.

What are you doing with the talents you have? Criticising the efforts of others? If you have no talents at all, what small changes to your own lifestyle have you made? Since we can't influence China from a distance, should we all just accept total defeat while being caustic about those who have a bigger profile?

Absolutely no talents. A champion of the mediocre 😬

But managing to pollute considerably less than either of those.

I think the trouble is that many of us have read scientific papers and predictions of a dire future since the mid 20th century. Its not new.
I worked for the Green Party in the 1990s, we used to say how difficult it was at a social gathering if you mentioned 'global warming' as it was called then. People would either treat you as a party pooper or say how nice it would be when we could grow grapes in the UK and have nice, warm summers!
Climate change is definitely on the school curriculum and 99% of scientists agree it is happening. I think the problem is short-termism and helplessness as well as a lack of government leadership and willingness to implement change that might well be unpopular to many people.
France, Germany, Spain and many other countries have implemented all sorts of measures to mitigate climate change and climate change is on the public media platforms as fact. For too long, the terrified BBC would roll out a climate change denier in the interests of balance!!!
I've done my bit, my children, friends and family have all done and continue to do what we can. I am sorry for all those babies and young children I see about the place and I'm tired of biting my tongue when someone announces their latest holiday, flying somewhere distant or going on those mobile poo ships.
I won't see it but I already know that the future is frightening and very sad.

I haven't been on holiday for over five years now, let along taken a flight.
Bought a hybrid car but then worry about the source of the battery components and what happens when it comes to the end of its life.
Recycle as per instructions from the Council

What do you suggest Elegran?

I've realised that the little I try to do has little impact when looking at the statee of other countries' emissions, the pollution of our seas, ocean, countryside.
When the well-meaning who talk the talk meet, agreements are made, targets are set but does anything really change?

To limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030.

Will that happen?
Will I ever find out?

I do all the required recycling, have done for 40+ years. I do like holidays, so short flights to Europe are my sin. However, our three children fly all over the world with their children, their adult children are just as bad. They also have gas guzzling cars. They are all very well educated, intelligent people but climate change seems to be someone else’s problem. I quietly despair.

Granmarderby10

I was worried, - when I read this thread title. I thought there was an imminent shortage of antidepressants 😧

Rightly or wrongly, that put a smile on my face! {wink]

It sounds silly but every time I recycle even just a small thing I think that it will make a difference in years to come.
I think that it is amazing that so many people just don't bother, when I drop my small bags of rubbish into the landfill bins where we live I see vast quantities of cardboard in there. It's so easy to recycle this and there are huge cardboard recycling bins here too.

leeds22

I do all the required recycling, have done for 40+ years. I do like holidays, so short flights to Europe are my sin. However, our three children fly all over the world with their children, their adult children are just as bad. They also have gas guzzling cars. They are all very well educated, intelligent people but climate change seems to be someone else’s problem. I quietly despair.

I too am stunned by the amount of air and ship travelling that people are still doing, simply for pleasure. We don't fly any longer and have never cruised. We do have petrol cars though they are new and very efficient, my children have similar cars, or electric.

Frankly, if it isn't going to happen for another 20 to 30 years , I am not going to see it, so little point in scaring myself silly.

Efforts are being made to prevent total disasters - it may be too little, too late, but apart from not using substances I know harm the environment, not travelling by air and having electricity and heating supplied by "green" firms, there is nothing I can do about it.

Whilst we have Keir Starmer as our leader and travelling around the world over 40times already since July by private jet to talk about conservation what hope do we have ? Many environmentalists are hypocrites but as individuals putting lights out when not needed and sorting our recycling can we really feel we are doing anything helpful really ?

Allira

BlueBelle

If a man with a gun is running towards me screaming, about the only thing I can do is get on the ground, hide my head and pray or sing
So no I m not going to read scare stories about 20 /30/ 50 years time that I can have no control over and do absolutely nothing about
Why would I?

Quite!

We can only try our best but it's up to younger generations to act and, as far as I can see, many of them are busy gadding off on holidays, weekends abroad etc.

I don't think it's predominantly our generation which throws fast food containers along the sides of roads either.

I'll be dead in 30 years time. Probably way before then!
Their future - it's up to them.

We may feel we have no control, but that isn't true. We don't have control over other people's actions, but we have control over our own. We need to do the little things we can do. We may not ultimately save the world but we may make it hang on a little longer. I worry about the future for my grandchildren, but I'm not giving in to despair. I will continue to recycle everything I can, reuse and repair, give to charity shops and freegle. It is not the responsibility of the younger generation, it is the responsibility of all of us.

Having said that I'm not without fault. My DD lives in Dubai and I'll soon be taking my second long haul flight to visit her there. I don't always avoid using plastics but I recycle as much as I can. When Sainsbury's introduced extra plastic packaging to a particular product I wrote to them telling them I'd be buying elsewhere - and I did until they removed the offending extra plastic tray - so there is much we can do in our own small ways.

The Tale Of The starfish
IT ALL STARTED WHEN…
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

“Well, I made a difference for that one!”
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.

Let's remember the tale of the starfish!

I think those are right who say the planet will go on & lifeforms on the planet will persist, but that doesn't make me feel any better.There is so much beauty & diverse life now, & after all we are human & pretty amazing apart from realising far too late that we were wrecking our environment.
I would like to believe something of our earth as I know it will survive. I don't think we are past the point of no return, we won't limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees now but if drastic things happen politically in the next few years, we could still stabilise earth's environment.

Pippa22

Whilst we have Keir Starmer as our leader and travelling around the world over 40times already since July by private jet to talk about conservation what hope do we have ? Many environmentalists are hypocrites but as individuals putting lights out when not needed and sorting our recycling can we really feel we are doing anything helpful really ?

Ah but you see, he was raising awareness 😬

As a planet it really did pretty well when the temperature was much higher and the seas covered the land. It was beautiful and diverse the Vivaldi. Much more diverse actually.

What a self-focussed species we are, to be sure.

Save the planet? Save us humans is what we really mean😬

Mankind destroyed the earth, so it's only fair that mankind dies off.

Jocork

🙌🙌 agree with your sentiments - we do what we can but have to live in the modern world.
Point beautifully illustrated with the starfish analogy.

We may feel we have no control, but that isn't true. We don't have control over other people's actions, but we have control over our own. We need to do the little things we can do

If you'd read my other post jocork you can see that I do care about the starfish.

Just bought it on Amazon and will take chocolate to ease off the stress !

No thanks. I don't need any more anxiety.

I like the Gaia principle. As soon as Earth/Nature finds the human race too much, it will cull it; the Three Horseman of the Apocalypse comes to mind.

I agree about the starfish,every little thing helps. I think it is very selfish to say I won't be here in 10 /20/30 years so it won't bother me. I am concerned for the people I love who are younger than me.

BlueBelle

We can only do what we can do, each in our own way and no, it’s not going to be enough, but I don’t want to die with my last thoughts being about my grandkids suffering so I ll carry on doing what I can do I ll carry on encouraging others, but that’s where it’s ends. I’m not going to be purposely reading or watching things that are just going to make me miserable because I personally have no power to change them.

Agree… I’ll do what is within the power of a 79 yr old with health issues, but I do not wish to die miserable and worried about things I have no chance of changing!

Before hitting the depths of despair, try a different book:

Not the End of the World: The Sunday Times bestseller that will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about climate change

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/152993124X?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&tag=gransnetforum-21