In short, we aren’t on track to an apocalyptic extinction, and the new head is concerned that rhetoric that we are is making people apathetic and paralyzes them from making beneficial actions.

He makes it clear too that this doesn’t mean things are perfectly fine. The world is becoming and will be more dangerous with respect to climate. We’re going to still have serious problems to deal with. The problems just aren’t insurmountable and extinction level.

  • jemorgan@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Did you even read the article, Mr/Ms climate scientist?

    He’s asking people not to talk like the world is going to catastrophically end once we hit that 1.5 degrees milestone, because it’s making people feel hopeless and apathetic, which is actually slowing our efforts to change.

    And he’s totally right. If the government told people a meteor the size of Texas was going to impact earth in 12 hours, there would be effectively zero effort to stop it. If you tune in to a lot of the conversation around climate change from people who are not climate scientists, but who want to leave a better world for their kids and believe climate scientists, they feel hopeless. It feels like a foregone conclusion that we are going to go over the 1.5 degree goal (probably because it is), and if we think the biosphere is going to collapse when it does, it is really, really hard to take action.

    It’s not saying to undersell the risks, he’s saying to be truthful about the risks. We can definitely still salvage complex life on earth with optimistic, consistent effort, but recent media coverage has been giving the impression that it’s too late. This is bad and counterproductive.

    Keep on fighting the good fight brother/sister.

    • heeplr@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      because it’s making people feel hopeless and apathetic, which is actually slowing our efforts to change.

      That’s the thing I don’t get. How to come to such a conclusion?

      If you ever have been on a sinking ship, you know how suddenly even the worst enemies will cooperate willingly quite well in face of time pressure and a life threat. Some might even be willing to sacrifice themselves when in such a situation, even a few minutes gained can make a huge difference. But aswell if the situation seems hopeless.

      It’s totally atypical for most humans to just accept fate and relax in any life threatening situation. Humans tend to die fighting/ defending.

        • heeplr@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          climate change unstoppable != scary life threatening consequences

          Those are two entirely different narratives.

          (And I didn’t get past the paywall.)

          • jemorgan@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Homie I’m trying to explain what you’re obviously not understanding about this, and you keep responding with arguments about how you’re correct to not understand or something?

            Guy said “don’t be hyperbolic about the 1.5c goal because if people feel hopeless they are less likely to act.” We shouldn’t be acting like the scary life threatening consequences of climate change are unstoppable. That is one narrative, you silly goof.

            • heeplr@feddit.de
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              1 year ago

              Guy said “don’t be hyperbolic about the 1.5c goal because if people feel hopeless they are less likely to act.”

              Then he’s wrong. But it’s more likely you misread the study since that’s not the conclusion.

              • jemorgan@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                My guy I can only imagine how hard it must be to go through life completely illiterate.

                “The belief that climate change is unstoppable reduces the behavioural and policy response to climate change and moderates risk perception.”

                • heeplr@feddit.de
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                  1 year ago

                  So you are saying

                  “The belief that climate change is unstoppable”

                  is the same thing as

                  “a temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius is an existential threat to humanity”

                  Those are fundamentially different things and you just pulled some study you think is fitting to OPs article. But allright… I’m the one who’s illiterate.