Extinction - the facts

Don't watch depressing stuff these days even with a slightly happy ending (I read). No, not head in the sand. Call it personal survival if you like.

unigran4 let’s hope you are right.

At the moment we have been given the “gift” of Covid. We are all complaining that we can’t do this or that and I don’t hear many people saying that we should get used to doing less, buying less. Amazon is booming.
Our world governments want to get back to business as usual.
Seems that we can’t live without 2 weeks in Benidorm.

We still don’t get it.

I think every generation since Victorian times (and probably long before then too) has been fearful for their children's/grandchildren's future. First World War, the Depression, Second World War, Cold War, nuclear threat, climate change - you get the picture. But each generation has coped and adapted.

My Granny (b.1880) would only have 1 child (my Mum b.1914) because the trauma of having a tiny baby through WW1 left her thinking the world would be an unsafe place for children. My Mum and Dad had 2 girls and openly apologised to us for bringing us into a world where (at the time) there was a distinct nuclear threat.

And so it goes on down the generations. You are right to be fearful, but don't let it consume you. Think about what you have already survived.

David Attenborough is a legend

I posted about this on another forum and had very few comments.
From my perspective , cutting down rain forests and taking up vast areas of land , using lots of water to grow soya. This soya goes into feeding cattle for consumption . Not eating meat ( or less meat ) is one of the solutions.
Also expecting to buy very cheap fish that has been trawled up in huge nets, in some cases killing coral beds that will never come back.

Suekie
Of course we could stop the sale of bottled water. Make it prohibitively expensive. That wouldn't be popular with voters, though, would it. In fact, no measures to help the inviroment would be popular with voters.

Happygirl
It's not your fault ? We have all been put in this position by these huge conglomerates.
Human nature being what it is who is not going to want to buy whatever they want, anytime of the year? Not me ( no halo here) because I've driven through the plastic poly tunnels in Spain many times.

I spoke to a friend yesterday who needs some parts for his very old car. £500 ( including import duty) from the US or £250 from china. What's he to do?

I'm awaiting a reply from a textile company who boast that they are a uk company. No mention of where their goods are made.
It's getting harder and harder to help the planet ?

I eat very little meat or dairy, but as veganism/ vegetarianism have become more popular there has been a proliferation of ‘junk’ products. Many of them are unhealthy and packaged in ways that are equally harmful to the environment. Several of the substitute milks are not without such an impact.
Surely we could also quickly phase out plastic bottled water which contributes to all the detritus on our beaches and countryside?

I watched it and found it very very disturbing indeed
The human race do not come out very well at all in the documentary
We should be the carers for out planet not the destroyers.
I think its all down to the greed of people that were are in this state and I feel ashamed of the ignorance of people ( including myself)

I was saddened by the program. We have ALL got to do our bit to save the planet. I fear for my great grandchildren.

Surely we can all do a bit to help. Grow a few of your own vegs, change to milk in glass bottles, solar panels on roof, buy a compost bin. Also shop wisely, so no food wasted.
These are a few of the things we've been doing for the last 10 years. I know I could do more, and I plan to , with my grandchildren in mind.

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.

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.

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 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 ?)

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

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

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.

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.

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

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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'.

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?

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/

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.

Not Dave! Save!

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