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Climate Crisis

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  1. unhurt
    Member

    "But where is the language for the grief itself?"

    What words are there for people who are watching the earthly elements of their home morph into something that feels remote, while they stay put?

    Solastalgia:

    "the “lived experience” of the loss of the present as manifest in a feeling of dislocation; of being undermined by forces that destroy the potential for solace to be derived from the present. In short, solastalgia is a form of homesickness one gets when one is still at “home.”"

    Posted 5 years ago #
  2. unhurt
    Member

    Growing 'ecological grief' is the mental health cost of climate change

    "One of the elders said, 'We are people of the sea ice and if there's no more sea ice, how do we be people of the sea ice?'" Consolo recalled.

    "That's such a profound existential question, and it's a question resonating around the world as things shift."

    Posted 5 years ago #
  3. chdot
    Admin

    By email

    Today, the Chancellor needed to announce an emergency Budget for the climate. He failed.

    Just weeks after the UN told us that we are on the brink of climate breakdown, they kept bankrolling the fossil fuel giants, while refusing to invest in the renewables revolution Britain so badly needs.

    This was the day for radical action. But we have been let down.

    Will you join us today to fight these dangerous plans?

    The Chancellor should have ended fossil fuel subsidies, and given solar and wind the investment they need to transform the lives of people across Britain.

    Instead, from Hinkley, to Heathrow, to HS2, this Government bundles billions into dirty white elephant projects while blocking a clean energy future.

    It’s clear they have no sense of the scale of our climate emergency. It’s up to us to take action.

    We are ready. We are ready to fight fossil fuel extraction and champion a renewables revolution.

    Are you ready to fight with us?

    They’ve got billions of pounds on their side. And they’ve got a Budget which will wreck our climate.

    Together, we have to hold them to account for climate disaster.

    Thank you,

    Caroline Lucas MP

    Posted 5 years ago #
  4. HankChief
    Member

  5. chdot
    Admin

    three major cycling investments in Edinburgh being developed and built right now

    Major?

    Posted 5 years ago #
  6. Frenchy
    Member

    Major?

    Relatively?

    Posted 5 years ago #
  7. chdot
    Admin

  8. Greenroofer
    Member

    Meanwhile, elsewhere... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46351940

    Posted 5 years ago #
  9. paulmilne
    Member

  10. chdot
    Admin

  11. chdot
    Admin

    Posted 5 years ago #
  12. chdot
    Admin

    Climate change: CO2 emissions rising for first time in four years

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46347453

    Posted 5 years ago #
  13. LaidBack
    Member

    On same page the real cost of delaying fuel tax rise in France.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46439469

    Is any government able to discourage car use with higher fuel cost? Should there be a minimum fuel price?(Highlands of Scotland of course always pay more so that won't work.)
    Petro-ecomomy in Norway is letting them drive tax free Teslas of course but not viable across planet. E-bikes are one answer to get people active and create more street space in city. Oslo has same bike hire scheme as Edinburgh so they are not totally car-centric although also have many excellent multi lane roads - albeit with tolls.

    Depressing to think that France with it's good public transport can't tackle this. I know though that rural France is probably like any rural place and devoid of public transport choices.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  14. jdanielp
    Member

    @Laidback I'm slightly disappointed to realise that you didn't write 'Oslo has ... many excellent multi lane roads - albeit with trolls.'

    Crazy situation in France just now :(

    Posted 5 years ago #
  15. chdot
    Admin

    Scientists described the quickening rate of carbon dioxide emissions in stark terms, comparing it to a “speeding freight train” and laying part of the blame on an unexpected surge in the appetite for oil as people around the world not only buy more cars but also drive them farther than in the past — more than offsetting any gains from the spread of electric vehicles.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/05/climate/greenhouse-gas-emissions-2018.html

    Posted 5 years ago #
  16. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Depressing to think that France with it's good public transport can't tackle this.

    Public transport in the Parisian conglomeration is world-class. Out in the sticks it can be brutal. France is four times bigger than the UK with much the same population.

    Car dependency in the big agricultural areas is rife.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  17. unhurt
    Member

    Be interesting to see how % contributions of overall national carbon footprint map netween urban and rural areas... I recall reading that while the population of the north of Canada is very reliant on fossil fuel, given the huge distances, remote settlements with no or seasonal road access that rely on diesel powerplants, etc. the population is so small that their overall contribution to the overall national carbon footprint is pretty minimal. That said, I don't know what the numbers are that lay behind this statement, it's just stuck with me. If it holds up, I still wouldn't expect this to be the same for countries with less extreme bigness & northness, but I would think it might be useful data to think about where changes make the most impact - and what carbon reducing changes would actually improve life for people in "peripheral" or rural areas...

    Posted 5 years ago #
  18. gembo
    Member

    @unhurt, one of the many things that struck me when I first visited north uist in the late 1980s was that the Lums still reeked. Peat mainly. So lovely smell but fair amount of toxicity belching out into the atmosphere of an evening to be dispersed eastwards by the wild Atlantic gales. Over on Skye and then onto mainland Highlands lot of coal still being used in the hearth.

    Cycling was virtually non existent but with the invasion of the motor homes you do see more unladen end day trippers and indeed the low but constant trickle of cycle tourers. Wind makes this very tough.

    No public transport except the post bus and when the cars died they were 'converted' (Ie just left) into chicken coops.

    Tiny population, almost nobody in their twenties, tcp tap water was brown and the watery moor land road sides were strewn with empty cans of tennants lager and Whyte and Mackay whisky bottles.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  19. chdot
    Admin

  20. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/10/from-freecycling-to-fairphones-24-ways-to-lead-an-anti-capitalist-life-in-a-capitalist-world

    We needed a new set of everyday crockery. Was braced for a trip to IKEA, maybe ask for vouchers for Christmas to avoid getting frivolous presents from family.

    Madame spotted a full set of Denby in the Bethany charity shop at Summerhall for about 20% of the list price - job done.

    Now there's a pottery sales manager somewhere getting a microscopic increment in their roasting for failing to sell the latest range to us. Ditto for the potters.

    We've got to decouple income from consumption or we're done for.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  21. chdot
    Admin

  22. chdot
    Admin

  23. sallyhinch
    Member

    There's a petition to parliament (apologies if this has been posted before - it's been running for a while)

    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/226054

    How much good these things do I don't know, but it's depressing to me that only 25,000 people have signed it so far, with less than a month to go.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  24. unhurt
    Member

    Very strange this morning to see Wester Ross Biosphere posting positively about the arrival of an oil platform off the west coast. Employment for young people in the west Highlands is a serious issue, no argument - but surely fossil fuel extraction threatens the future they're working into?

    Posted 5 years ago #
  25. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Anyone know how the outdoor curling season is going?

    Posted 5 years ago #
  26. Frenchy
    Member

    @unhurt - Yes, very odd.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  27. chdot
    Admin

    “Employment for young people in the west Highlands is a serious issue, no argument - but surely fossil fuel extraction threatens the future they're working into?”

    Which of course is the perpetual problem.

    The unsquarable circle with conventional economics/thinking.

    Most politicians are unwilling/unable to say ‘look the future doesn’t involve continuing consumption at an unsustainable rate’.

    No chance of ‘we’re scrapping the roads budget/Trident and investing in serious energy reductions strategies for the existing housing stock and ‘no fossil energy use for new housing’ - including the building process/materials AND the transporting of new residents to/from work etc.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  28. neddie
    Member

    When will Australia make the connection between this heatwave:

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-46886798

    and these CO2 emissions (from electricity only):?

    https://www.electricitymap.org/?page=country&solar=false&remote=true&wind=false&countryCode=AUS-NSW

    Posted 5 years ago #
  29. chdot
    Admin

  30. unhurt
    Member

    About that outdoor curling...

    Thousands of lakes across the Northern Hemisphere are set to lose their winter ice as global temperatures rise, say scientists.

    That's assuming a sub 2C rise.

    This is the bit that made me feel ill:
    In a worst case scenario, where the world warmed by 8C by the end of this century, the number of lakes impacted would be 230,400

    8. Eight. 8. EIGHT. Past ice age average temp for Europe was in the region of 8 to 10C cooler than the present.

    And what are we collectively doing to actively avoid a worst-case scenario in the lifetime of children being born this year?

    .
    ..
    ...

    Yeah.

    Posted 5 years ago #

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