Climate change and Zombies!!

[Guest *Ste***cque**]

Zombie apocalypses and climate change. Can we do anything about either one??

 

Might be a good thing for the planets sake if we had a zombie apocalypse. Once the undead ate all the human brains and eventually starved to death(for good!), the planet would be free of our negative influence and might have a chance.:) Seriously though, do you worry that unless our behaviour changes your children's children might not want to be born on planet earth in a hundred years anyway. 15 billion people, suffocating pollution, extreme weather, crushing poverty. A star trek utopia is by no means guaranteed!

 

If we can't get our collective act together maybe homo sapiens won't remain as earths dominant species (we may not regardless of our actions). If we won't live in harmony with our host then something else will, if it isn't too late for them too. I don't mean to be so serious but we should consider what we're leaving for future generations. The insurance industry is already planning for more frequent extreme weather disasters now, and not just through rate increases. I'm not sure if they have a plan for a zombie apocalypse? Probably just exclude coverage. ;)

 

Are you concerned or are you relying on future technology to fix things? I'm talking about climate change now, not zombies.

[Phaedrus 209521]

Well, leaving aside the zombies for the moment (we have another thread for them somewhere...)

 

At the risk of sounding horribly gloomy... I've stopped worrying about climate change. It's clearly happening, but there are still vested corporate interests pouring huge amounts of money into denialism, and the fact remains that seriously addressing the issue would cause significant pain for many people in the industrialized world, and so politicians simply won't do that (kinda like they'll never be honest about the fact that you can't have low taxes and gold-plated public services, either). These two factors have combined to ensure that nothing was done to address the issue early on. Note also that any remedy won't take effect for years or decades: again, public policy just doesn't work on such long timescales, ever.

 

So, as I say, I've given up. Climate change is happening, and will continue to happen. People in places like the Maldives and Bangladesh are basically fucked; their countries will be reclaimed by the sea and previous refugee crises will look like child's play by comparison to what we'll see then. Extreme weather events will continue to become more commonplace (and, by definition, less extreme). I'll never buy a house on low ground or close to the sea, or anywhere frequented by hurricanes or tornados. I won't live anywhere that depends on glacial meltwater for much of its drinking water (things are going to get very interesting in the western US when the glaciers in the Rockies that feed their rivers finally run out). Mass extinctions, of species both discovered and not, will continue - and note that I said "continue", not "begin".

 

On the plus side, Canada's a pretty good place to be. Plenty of fresh water, and a warming climate will just make the vast north of the country more habitable.

 

Right, having typed out that thoroughly dispiriting post, I'm going to have another beer (and thus continue my own consumerism, contribute further to the problem, and help to prove myself right). Maybe I should change my handle to Cassandra...

[Guest *Ste***cque**]

Yeah, it is a gloomy topic. I still hold out hope though that we can change the path we're heading down. It will take more than wishful thinking and Facebook likes, for sure. I'm not expecting people to sell their cars and start biking everywhere right away but we need to keep discussing it and writing to our gov't reps to make them aware of our concern.

My worry is we won't adopt any changes until it is too late. This may not be an issue that greatly affects me as I'll be dead in 30 or 40 years and I have no kids but once you're past a tipping point things WILL get exponentially worse, and then it may be too late.

Thanks for your post Phaedrus and you don't have to be 100% green before you can take a stance. I consume too much resources but I'll still speak out even if some think I'm being hypocritical.

[CristyCurves 169032]

This is a subject dear to my heart. Climate change, not zombies, lol. However I am sure I've met a few zombies . But climate change is a topic I often discuss and consider as a very serious and important issue. I do my part, I walk when I can, use as little electricity as possible, recycle and compost as much is allowed and I'm always picking up litter in the parks, really where ever I see it.I only use biodegradable soaps, products and recycled paper products. If I eat meat I buy local, farm raised, eating factory poultry and meat just doesn't taste the same. There is a great market on quinpool road in Halifax that sells it. I also have no problem giving any one a free and unfiltered lecture when I see them littering, its not just their planet!! It always, always surprises me when those people that don't recycle, compost, that do litter, have children and, don't seem to care that they are passing on their bad habits and suffocating planet to them. I don't have kids, no one to leave behind, yet I care! I just wonder if those who are so neglectful are that way when in their own homes.

Imagine this world without forests, green spaces, no fresh air or water, well if things don't change, if you don't do your part that's what you have to look forward to so get ready!