There is no Planet B

I lived in London until I was 23, under the flightpaths to Heathrow and Gatwick. I don't think that air traffic has lessened any since then. What about the pollution from planes? There is no tax on aviation fuel, either. Even at 1p per gallon, surely this would be a good way to raise money for the NHS and local government services?
How many 'environmentalists' take a long haul flight or a majorly polluting cruise ship holiday?
We are asked to buy electric cars but how is the electricity produced? and don't get me started on the number of public buildings etc that are floodlit at night.

Those of us who live in very rural areas need our 4WD vehicles to get about in poor weather - they came in very handy to extricate cars and people stranded in snow last year!

There is no governmental joined-up thinking on this.

Agree with lemon and others. Youthful enthusiasm and commitment are always good to see, but ‘striking’ is a bit silly - nothing that their schools and teachers can do to meet their demands, so why not pick a Saturday? And am I the only one to have found the self-righteous tone unappealing? - ‘You have destroyed your own future, Don’t destroy Ours.’
‘You have let Us down’ and so on.

It is heartwarming to see these children protesting climate change.

Next week I look forward to seeing them walk to and from school.

Exactly what Grampie said.

Although in this country we are now more aware of climate change and what we can do about it, we are only a small island and whatever we do will have little impact on global warming etc. Other countries need educating, and I include the USA where stupid Trump does not believe in global warming and is keen on coal production etc. because it gives Americans jobs.
As for population increase, many countries have people who cannot afford contraception and have many children who also grow up unable to afford it. I saw a program where an African girl said something like "I think big families of 8 or more children are unnecessary and expensive, I think 6 children are plenty."

I agree with many of the comments posted here, but it's always interesting to see the occasional observation about India, China and the USA being the world's biggest polluters.

The UK has exported its pollution to places like China and Ghana, and the finger is pointed at them. Why? We have simply asked them to create our pollution, so it can't be seen in the UK.

The Ghana one interested me a while back - a TV programme highlighted the way the UK exports its IT and electronics waste there, where computers are stripped, cables removed, and burned on bonfires to recover the copper. The children doing this are exposed to the toxins produced when plastic insulation is burned, from our discarded laptops, desktop devices, and other electronics waste.

So who's pollution is it?

Just a small point but here in Scotland (Don;t know about England/Wales) it is the Half Term holiday week. Therefore none of the young people participating in demonstrations are losing a day's education. They are, rather, selflessly giving up their holiday.

Our holiday times are a week or so different.

The comments such aslemon's made about China Countries like India and China are polluting the planet in a big way
show how little some people pay to the current developments in the field. China has cut its pollution rates in cities by a huge amount, has a strategy, and regards global warming as of great importance www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/world/asia/china-climate-change-report.html
Unlike the US where Trump doesn't believe in it!
Well done these young people who are not prepared to let the issue slip into obscurity, but will hold our government to account.

granny23 my GC are from a small community in the West of Scotland ,no demo there so they banded in groups to collect plastic and rubbish from the beaches .My youngests GD is 7 and she wasn't the youngest in her group and they ALL know the effect of global warming and do clearups with and without school suervision .My GD's group collected 20 bags of rubbish from a beach 3 minutes walk from their school .Other groups went a bit further afield but by all accounts they made a serious haul of things that cause problems in the rivers /seas .Oh and they all think Trump is an eegit for dismissing GW ...wise young people .

Trisher is absolutely right. China is implementing huge renewable generation systems. It’s doing a lot more than we are. According to UN figures, China is emitting less CO2 per head than we are, the total is bigger because China is bigger. India emits only a quarter of what we do per head. cotap.org/per-capita-carbon-co2-emissions-by-country/. What’s more, the figures are distorted by the fact that we import a lot of manufactured goods from China. If you account for the emissions related to goods that we consume, we look even worse. Not much good preaching to others if we’re not prepared to put our own house in order. All strength to the school strikes!

Until and unless ALL COUNTRIES make the effort to address the issues, our contribution is but a grain of sand in the Sahara.
The air we breathe is not exclusively English air or European air, therefore China, India, USA, Russia and all the worst polluters will nullify any of our efforts.

lemongrove

India and China are not all bad:

www.goodnewsnetwork.org/nasa-says-earth-is-greener-than-ever-thanks-to-china-and-india/

GabriellaG54 China and India both have lower per capita CO2 emissions than us. Russia is only a bit worse than us. The USA is a big problem, but even there action is starting to take effect. The striking schoolchildren are seeing that everyone can argue that their individual contribution is negligible. But arguing that way results in nothing being done, and impending climate disaster. Progress is much too slow.

We should set our own house in order - or “remove the plank from our own eye” in Biblical terms, at least it is something we can all do. If we have a garden, balcony or just a window box we can start there with plants that bees love. I soend many an hour in summer watching and listening to the bees flying hovering about my lavender and lavatera - even though 5hey are close to the patio the bees pass happily within inches of me but never touch me. We can lobby our local council for more wild flower areas - every park should have one. We can buy more organic foods (or food we are sure is not sprayed with harmful pesticides), and talk to our friends and family about the issue. If we belong to a group - WI, U3A etc we can ask them to find a speaker on the subject and someone could write to the local paper afterwards with a report. The longest journey starts with a single step - even with a zimmer frame!


More good news: www.goodnewsnetwork.org/senate-passes-biggest-public-lands-package-with-bipartisan-approval/

Yet again pressed the wrong button so could not correct typos.

There is still hope for America
www.goodnewsnetwork.org/senate-passes-biggest-public-lands-package-with-bipartisan-approval/

Well, if all governments are aware of environmental concerns, and it is a big if, they are doing precious little about it.

Frankly, I feel the Swedish schoolgirl who justified taking time of school to protest was right when she said that education is no use to her, if there isn't going to be a world to live in.

I'm just glad that the present generation of schoolchildren have acquired some kind of political awareness. It makes a pleasant change from their parents' generation who have been and still are too buy earning money to count the cost of how they earn it.

I wonder how many of those children, who skipped school to protest, are the ones who refuse lifts in their parents' cars and choose to walk everywhere or are willing to give up their tech devices or have decided never to fly in an aeroplane Do they spend their spare time picking up litter etc. to prevent the earth and animals being contaminated. I suspect the majority just wanted a day off school and very few of them are really prepared to make sacrifices for the sake of the future of the planet. If it's humans causing climate change then there's only one solution - Get rid of the majority of the humans. A minimum of 90% of the human race should do nicely, and those first to go should be the ones who use the most of the planet's resources.

Agree with lemon on this one.

Lot of sneery/ negative comments here. Climate change and pollution are amongst the biggest threats to the planet. Hundreds of species becoming extinct due to human behaviour. It’s a huge issue and the idea that we are all doing our best is certainly delusional. Governments aren’t interested in long term planning as they are only interested in their own survival for the next four years. More direct action is going to be the norm. Hats off to the children, some of them so articulate and informed they put many oldies to shame.

Some posters write as though today's schoolchildren are the first to care for the environment or have social consciences. Not so at all, remember dolphin-friendly tuna? And DCs taking the lead in checking labels to ensure that everything was Fair Trade, boycotting Nestlés etc (while our own generation was banning the bomb) Today's children have learned how to protest en masse and have vastly more media attention to make them more effective, but they shouldn't think that they are the first, and nor should we.

I am bemused by the fact that thousands of children, apparently unsupervised, walked out of school and went off to a demonstration.

Don't tell me that the nanny state is beginning to wane, at last! Would the schools have been sued if anything had happened to one of the children?

My Scout Leader son has to jump through hoops just to take the children on a supervised outing.

Spot on winterwhite
Has anyone seen the rivers choked to the hilt with plastic and rubbish that drifts out to sea ( miles wide) from Indian rivers.
Here in the UK we do all we can I think to mitigate pollution for the moment at least.Petrol and diesel cars and lorries are the things to tackle, can’t be far in the future before we all drive electric cars.

Has anyone seen the rivers choked to the hilt with plastic and rubbish that drifts out to sea ( miles wide) from Indian rivers.
Yes!

We can do our best but we are only a little country - unless governments worldwide start to take positive action there is no hope.

Would the schools have been sued if anything had happened to one of the children?
I don't think so - but I wonder if they are ready to send fines out to the parents for unauthorised absences?