No, this timeline started with “Shit, our calculations show that we might ruin the world in just a few decades at this rate. Oh, well. Probably best not to mention this to anyone.”
Do you think they're thinking "we'll be dead before things get really bad and fuck our kids" or "if we make our families super wealthy they'll be feudal lords after civilization collapses"?
Philosophically speaking, there's a certain nihilistic philosophy out there where nothing matters after you die, so technically, the only thing that matters is the here and now.
So there's definitely a cohort of people out there who intentionally went "fuck the future, my present is good and then I'll be dead."
It's like the "I've got mine" but on an existentialist level.
Having personally experienced the afterlife, and being one of the few who has the foresight - there is a specific and highly ordered way to make sure they reincarnate in the best possible location to live through the shit they've caused.
No just-world fallacy, only just-desserts, because two can play at being really petty on an existential level.
I remember a few years ago people arguing the temperatures have changed before and that theres billions spent on climate change and it's all propaganda.
They wouldn't listen to the rate of change argument then or acknowledge the trillions spent in industries causing climate change. I'm not sure they've changed their minds still ( I refused to engage them any further) but this is the challenge - so many people believe what they want to believe and don't want the hard truth.
The Inconvenient Truth. That was so aptly named. Humans will do anything for the sake of convenience and climate change is quite inconvenient.
Maybe if we make burning up the planet MORE inconvenient then it will change. Ridiculous taxes for carbon output sounds nice. Those tax dollars then spent on cloud seeding for the short term and carbon capture for the long term.
There's no oops or fuck about it. They are gleefully driving us off the cliff like Thelma and Louise with conservatives cheering the whole way down.
The best we can hope for is to exact some form of harsh justice before nature has its way with them. We are already dead either way. Will they die in luxury or will they die in the streets with the rest of us?
The "oops" and "fuck" are the public who are successfully reached by oil giant marketing and propaganda, the majority of people who think the first two statements are true and won't enjoy the final results.
I notice more and more people trying to push us into stage 4 - "Maybe there was something we could have done but it's too late now" - just so we can put all of the uncomfortable guilt behind us.
Don't disagree with this at all, just noting that the start of that line could be stretched much further back, we have known that human consumption of coal was having/would have a detrimental impact on climate for well over 100 years 1856, 1902, 1912 source
Sadly in that timeline, profit has always mattered more than humanity (or the planet).
The mastermind behind all this must be building fallout vault-like structures to allow people to survive the planet when all is said and done. They will rule the world in the end, perform experiments, whatever they want.
I actually got a long ad on YouTube recently for luxury bunkers equipped with everything to go on for decades no matter what's going on outside. So yeah, that's a business now.
We're in the "make no plans for the future because the ocean is no longer producing enough oxygen and there's no way to reverse it" phase. People being born right now might see the end of humanity as we know it.
What really sucks is that we are penalizing newer, greener technologies in order to prop up older non-profitable technologies.
There is a huge subsidy in the US for coal power plants. That needs to wind down, preferably in the next 4 years.
A few states charge higher registration fees for hybrid and electric vehicles, while at the same time suppressing or almost eliminating the gas tax during post-pandemic inflation.
Certain groups are dead set on boiling the the frog here, without even realizing that they are a lobster in the same pot of water.
I don't care if it is caused by humans or natural causes ( and it's likely both). The issue is that it's a problem, because we've evolved to live in a cool environment (relative to wherever this is going). Part of responsibly using this planet we find ourselves on is terraforming it to sustainably and efficiently suit our needs. I support decarbonization because it helps. But due to other natural factors effecting our environment for the worse (as far as we as a species are concerned), we will need to take more artificial measures to cool the planet in the future.
But the first step is decarbonization. We have two choices - accept natural inefficiencies and extreme conditions, and slowly lose our intelligence in exchange for resilience (evolutionary "crabification"), or terraform the planet to a constant, efficient environment to continue developing as an intelligence.
We are caught, environmentally, in a neutral zone between extreme fluctuations that will continue until the earth cools entirely from its formation. We did not exist during the last extreme. And if we do not prevent the next, our species will not survive.
Everyone here write how they are doing their part on climate change. Ill go first, i stopped getting my daily coffee at starbucks and instead now I get espresso coffee in bottles. I dont recycle them ofcourse and its more packaging but its still better right? Ill go second, so i recently decided i wont purchase my bags of groceries from amazon unless they put them all in paper bags. It takes more bags and its probably creates more waste but im taking a stand. Ill go third too why not. I was shopping for my 4th car (because why not) and i decided to get the hummer which is so much nicer than any other option. Its less cars on the street because now i can take my family on road trips. Just one more. I recently installed some solar panels to go green but i really just use more electricity. Everyone wins! Anyone else with these green life hacks?
Edit: if my sarcasm wasnt blatant enough then ill just say it. You guys are the reason companies produce so much and why emissions keep going up. You say you want to reduce climate change but what are you doing to prevent that? Nothing.
I vote everytime for political parties who focus on the climate, and fight against privatization of government, and works for more and cheaper public transport. A good cause to be political for even if I don't have a head for politics. Hows that for a green life hack?
I don't envy those of you with two or less-party political systems. Or corporate-backed politicians. Or no trust in their govt to get anything done. You really need to get that fixed to get anywhere in this fight for survival of earth.
If I may give tips to take your efforts to the next level. Find your local coffee roaster whom hopefully sourced their coffee beans in a sustainable fashion. Use oats milk instead of cow milk for your cappuccinos, bring your own bags instead of taking any bags for doing groceries, exchange all your 4 cars for 1 electric car, and now charge your ev with the solar production you have for a free charge up.
In my defence, I today did NOT buy a sticker saving that we need to save the planet. Because it's stupid spending resources on something only to show of how you care for the planets resources. So I do my part :-/