global warming

[miriam_e]

When I mention global warming and sea levels rising tens of meters many people cease to listen, oddly preferring to insulate themselves from reality by belief. But all you need do is look at the Seychelle Islands to see that we are already in the midst of a massive period of global warming since end of the last great glaciation. All we need is a little more melting and these islands (the tiny spots in the middle of the little rectangles) will simply disappear under the waves.

Look how big that place once was. The last great melting sent the waters hundreds of meters higher, covering most of a massive system of islands, leaving only a few bits of high ground showing.

Unfortunately people always see their own time as "normal", when a glance at such pictures shows how unusual our time is. Do we really want to shrink our lands even further when our population continues to expand and remaining land degrades under mismanagement?

Comments

[dorjejaguar.livejournal.com]

:)
Normal is what is normal to a person generally, not what what's normal for a planet, unless that's what they're talking about. Depends on context.
People feel overwhelmed and unable to do much about these big things. I don't think they "want" to lose more land. Hell, most people just want a backyard and that seems like a big deal to get.
I'm thinking people are just trying to keep their emotional equilibrium and know that if they contemplate certain things it may throw them into despair.
Despair is dangerous in that it's hard to do anything from despair.
It's not that everyone is willfully ignorant, they just don't want to feel miserable.

I figure it's best to tell people what they can do, what they can do easily to make positive change, not what they'll have to give up, not what they have to worry about.

I've been lucky in that there have been some changes I have been able to make fairly easily to help.
Even so there's some things I continue to do that I know don't help. I'll figure it out eventually or I won't. I guess I'll find out.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

It is true that despair is a dangerous thing. It can paralyse people into inaction. But talking to many people that isn't the feeling I get. They aren't despairing. It is more that they simply don't want to know. They understand, in the back of their minds, that there is a problem, but if they have to do anything about it then is has to be somebody else's problem.

Some of us do alter our actions. But if we all made relatively small changes to our lives (driving only when absolutely necessary, putting warm clothes on instead of the heater, and so on) we could make a genuine difference. Then, later on, encouraged by those successes we could tackle some of the more important ones. But we aren't even getting started. Our politicians are dragging their feet and many people are gladly deceiving themselves that there is a climate change debate. The only "debate" is one fabricated by the fuel companies.

What is worse, there seem to be surprisingly large numbers of people who say "Climate warming? Bring it on! Longer growing seasons, more warm days at the beach. I like it." They haven't given thought to the tropical diseases now invading temperate regions, or the loss of all the major residential and industrial areas when waters rise, or, even worse, the very real possibility of the warming triggering a new ice age.

[dorjejaguar.livejournal.com]

Certainly there are levels of ignorance, willful or not.
I gotta say only driving when absolutely necessary is not a small change.
If I did that, I'd spend an extra three hours every workday in commute. That's not small.
If the first thing we tell people is that they have to give up comfort or significant chunks of time then of course they won't be interested.
Telling them about alternatives to what they're already doing, like how they spend their dough, that might help.
For example, where I am we have the option to designate what source our power is coming from. It cost a bit more for renewable but not enough that I mind. So all the power to my home is coming from renewable sources. And I know that all that money spent on it continues to help create renewable sources for energy.

Anyhoo, guilt doesn't work in my opinion and suggesting to people they're just selfish if they dont' want to give up this, that or the other is counterproductive.

If people really thing that global warming simply means things are just gonna be a bit cozier then clearly they're misinformed.
We can't really worry about the ones who really aren't ready to know though.
I've gotta figure a lot of people would like to help and they would like small and large ways to help, they just don't know what they are yet. If they can be educated that it's not all about sacrifice, that there are just better alternatives, perhaps that will help.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

All true.

I got to thinking... I was wrong, there is despair: it is in me. I honestly don't think we are going to fix this in time. I know there are a lot of people trying to help and I understand many of the obstacles. But I can't help wondering about what Jared Diamond said of the person who cut down the last tree on Easter Island. I also can't help wondering about all the people before that person. It must have been obvious that they were destroying their world... yet they did it anyway.

Sorry. I should really wait till my medication ends before I post. (Only another month to go.) The medication often makes me anxious and easily despondent.

[dorjejaguar.livejournal.com]

:( I'm sorry you feel that way. That's gotta hurt.
I hope you feel better very soon.

The old frog in the pot of water story

[revbobbob.livejournal.com]

We aren't good at thinking in long timelines.

If the future stars Kevin Costner, kill me now.

[satyapriya.livejournal.com]

Powerful imagery, and thought-provoking,too.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

It is from GoogleEarth. A stunning piece of free software.

Even more impressive to me is an even larger section a little to the south-east of that, showing a truly massive island, of which nothing remains above the water. The entire place is drowned. But if I'd included it, the islands peeking above the waves in the section I did show would have been impossible to see at all.