Extinction - the facts

Discourage people breeding. Stop over sentimentalizing children. If it became socially unacceptable to have children the world would have a chance to recover. Give medals and an enhanced pension for those couples who have not procreated.

I do not believe the climate change and carbon dioxide bit but the other environmental factors I have believed for years and been concerned about. Chemicals in fertilisers and pesticides ruining the soil and killing beneficial necessary insects, the multi use of plastics that do not degrade etc are all major concerns. We do not live in harmony with nature and are very wasteful unlike the original people’s on this earth. Also there are too many of us.

LadyBella.. why have so few of us joined in this thread?

me? I have known of this for some time now... don`t need David Attenborough or anyone else to tell me..

Man`s greed,,, has been thus since the beginning of.....
whatever our beliefs.....
our great , great grandchildren...

you off your phone? your computer... who has bought an electric car? where do the minerals (?) for the batteries come from? who drives a car indeed? flying abroad? who is the first to stop...?

just asking!

I have solar panel, pv panels and an electric car, now five years old. So Gransnet Posters how about putting you money behind some part of a remedy?

calistemon please stop telling me what you think I want to do. I won’t mention plastic tat again, but we should obviously seriously reduce our reliance on it. Ditto meat and dairy- omnivore means we CAN eat a variety of things - one of the reasons humans have been so successful in populating many different regions of the planet, but it doesn’t mean we HAVE to consume meat and dairy in ever increasing quantities to survive. There are many healthy vegans and vegetarians just as there are many unhealthy meat eaters and vice versa. But in terms of minimising our carbon footprint, reducing meat and dairy consumption, where you have a choice, is one thing people in this country could do. However, people are creatures of habit and many don’t want to change their lifestyle in order to protect the planet for future generations.

Yes, there's an element of burying my head in the sand over what's possibly the beginning of the end, and no news - be it politics, money, famous people, or religion can hide what's going on around all of us. Like others I fear for our children's future. Nine years is a tiny amount of time to begin to turn things round, we've been messing things up for millions of years. How do we start? This isn't just involving our tiny speck of land on earth, there's so many other countries and people who really aren't bothered or are unaware how serious this is. A world united to save the earth could sprinkle a couple of drops of water over raging fires, hurricanes, droughts, wars. I feel so small, alone and helpless that sometimes burying my head whilst weeping is the only way I can cope with what's happening

calistemon please stop telling me what you think I want to do.
Fair point.

What might be a good idea, though, would be to re-read the posts on the other thread, as what you are claiming about posters' opinions on plastic tat is totally wrong.

when I had my children the fear was nuclear war - when my parents had me there was fear of another world war. I think the answer lies in doing our bit as individuals, and being aware of eating wisely, not wasting food, growing our own if possible for a start, avoiding buying useless throwaway stuff. It may be too late - I remember that this was all discussed in the 70's and we were considered weirdos and cranks. But while there is money involved it is hard to get people to change. I was horrified at the trade in wild animals, and I cannot believe that people kill animals for sport. Our children and grandchildren will learn to adapt, and we will die out. I am only so sorry that my generation did not do more. Shame on the owners of factory farming, fossil fuel companies, and monsanto.

Well said @Vegansrock!

Completely agree. Vegan lifestyle, not just diet, might Dave the world. But it must be everyone, NOW.

Not Dave! Save!

Fernhillnana

Completely agree. Vegan lifestyle, not just diet, might Dave the world. But it must be everyone, NOW.

We are producing sufficient food now for the whole world plus surplus.

It is the waste of food that is the problem.
It was mentioned in that programme.

One thing that’s not often mentioned (and I got a pretty cool response when I did on a previous thread) is the environmental impact of our pets. I love dogs and cats, but their collective carbon foot (paw?) print is huge. Yes, we need to tackle human over-population, but how much longer can we close our eyes to the fact that some of our pets have a larger carbon footprint than some people?

www.transitionsta.org/paw-print-your-pets-carbon-footprint/

Hear, hear, vegansrock! I’ve been veggie for 30 years, and admire people who have become vegan. We all do our best….

Annifrance, we’ve unbalanced nature right now, its not “natural” to have the scale of meat-eating that we have now. What would happen to all the animals? Well, if we didn’t want to eat them, they wouldn’t have existed in the first place in the numbers we have now. There’s no suggestion that everyone becomes vegetarian overnight. My DH is not vegetarian, I don’t berate him for it because its an individual choice, but he only eats meat occasionally from a local source.

25Avalon I’m disappointed that despite everything we’ve seen in recent decades you don’t “believe in the climate change and carbon dioxide bit”. Whyever not?

My twenty one year old grandson said in a matter of fact way that he didn't expect to have grandchildren. That remark made my heart ache. I do fear for my GC; even for my DC as I wonder what life will be when they are old.
Like many I do my bit; I have been vegetarian for many years, and won't buy anything that I am aware is harmful to the planet , but given the behaviour of the richest nations on earth and the most industrialised, my tiny effort is wasted. I sometimes feel, like Corporal Fraser, we are indeed 'Dooomed'.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

It seems such an immense problem, so overwhelming, that many people just despair and say there is nothing they can do and it must be down to governments to act. (Not a lot of help, particularly, when the most important leader states that climate change does not exist - "It will get cooler soon!!".
However, we can all help in our little way, but ensuring that we have as little food waste each week as possible, cutting the use in our own homes of single use plastic (Cling film, etc) Using jars that can be re-filled rather than plastic containers. Learning more about things like the micro-plastic in t-bags, kitchen roll etc.
May not seem much and quite easy to do - but if most of us did this then it would definitely help

Much as I respect David Attenborough, and understand his concerns, I can’t watch a whole one of his programmes without his gentle voice lulling me to sleep. Perhaps that’s why nobody is listening to his warnings.

The problem is he is preaching to the converted. I can't imagine anyone settling down to watch Keeping up with the Kardashians will change channels to watch David Attenborough. For me, the supermarkets are major culprits where plastic packaging is concerned. Just one example in so many are carrier bags. This drives me demented. STOP PROVIDING THEM. If they must have bags for shoppers who can't/won't bring their own then recyclable paper bags would do. I know the WI is not a popular topic for some ladies on here but as I am a member I receive my monthly magazine in a compostable cover. I put this in the food caddy bin and it gets recycled. If the WI can manage it, so can others.

Here's another horror that's not being discussed enough.
But I will add that there are innovative people thinking outside the box?https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/feb/25/concrete-the-most-destructive-material-on-earth

Sarnia
Totally agree Re the carrier bags. Just stop selling the bloody crap? People will soon learn ? to buy a proper shopping bag.

I watched the programme and found it deeply concerning because it described the wide ranging damage that has already been done in countries all over the globe. It was factual whilst not being emotional. Here, quite rightly we are all, at last, becoming concerned about effects of plastic waste.
But there are so many other actions that are seriously affecting the bio-diversity of the entire planet that many know nothing about. In my humble opinion Humanity has much to answer for, not least a greed for money and profits regardless of cost or the overall detrimental effects. It has all been described as progress. But at what cost we should ask ourselves? Yes, I too, am concerned for my family and their small children but as I am now in ‘Gods Waiting Room’ all I can do practically is to make them as aware as possible of the serious problems facing them and the Planet we inhabit. Often I feel that when natural disasters occur Nature is making itself heard. (And as for Mr Trump suggesting that the dreadful fires in Western America happen because of poor forest management, who does he suggest is responsible for the droughts, high temperatures and incredibly strong
winds ?)

Watching it was sad. It told me nothing I didn't know and won't make any difference to anything because our government won't stand up to China, Russia etc. because we have too much to lose. Meanwhile, another precious pangolin appears on a Chinese dining table.

I need to not think about the apocalyse which is upon us, I am aware of it of course, but there is dam all I can do about it.

It's a massive concern, and like everyone else, I worry about my descendants, those I have now, and any future ones. Although we can all individually take tiny steps, the situation needs a huge, collective approach, as in worldwide collaboration. We need someone to step up and set the ball rolling. I don't think current leaders fit the bill.
My tiny step is to stop buying things that I don't need. Very recently, while looking at photos taken over twenty years ago, I noticed that I was wearing clothes that are still in my wardrobe and drawers - including a number of St Michael garments. At 72, I probably could manage without buying very much during the rest of my life. I'll try.