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Is it still ok to have kids in face of climate change?

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Re: Is it still ok to have kids in face of climate change?

#61

Post by umvi »

enraged_camel wrote: post #39
natalyarostova wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not so sure that it does. I would say the expected cost of climate change to the lives of children born today is still far far less then the expected cost in the past due to disease, war, famine (etc). So the poster above is noting that if people were, or we would have, been okay with having kids in the past, then we still should today.

>> I would say the expected cost of climate change to the lives of children born today is still far far less then the expected cost in the past due to disease, war, famine (etc). This is exactly why it misses the point. Having kids is a significant contributor to carbon emissions, and therefore climate change.

More significant than cows? I would rather cut back on meat and dairy consumption than be forbidden from raising children.

Re: Is it still ok to have kids in face of climate change?

#62

Post by Accipitriform »

ergothus wrote: post #36
crobertsbmw wrote: post #24

I’ve always believed that if you’re a smart, educated, motivated person (if your reading this than I’m assuming you are one) that probably the best thing you can do for the world is to have kids. Those kids will likely contribute to the world in all sorts of ways that we can’t imagine.

> the best thing you can do for the world is to have kids ...yet what is the best thing for the kids? That's a harder thing to know - you can't really compare "not existing" with "living in a world that has a ton of issues". You can debate how bad the issues will be, but that really dodges the inability to make that comparison.

> ...yet what is the best thing for the kids? That's a harder thing to know - you can't really compare "not existing" with "living in a world that has a ton of issues".

LOL! I certainly can 'compare "not existing" with "living in a world that has a ton of issues"'.

In the "don't exist" case, there is no possibility of anything good happening.

In the "exist" case, there is a possibility of something good happening.

Easy choice, and that's entirely outside my belief that the human race should continue, thrive, and expand across the stars. Climate change is likely not as severe as the alarmists portray, and is very likely to be solved by market forces. The future is bright!

Re: Is it still ok to have kids in face of climate change?

#64

Post by Bhilai »

If you and your partner want to have kids then please do so and educate them and for God's sake please vaccinate them. Most importantly, when the time comes move out of their way (unlike the current set of politicians who only want to live in climate change denial.)

Re: Is it still ok to have kids in face of climate change?

#65

Post by cortesoft »

crobertsbmw wrote: post #24

I’ve always believed that if you’re a smart, educated, motivated person (if your reading this than I’m assuming you are one) that probably the best thing you can do for the world is to have kids. Those kids will likely contribute to the world in all sorts of ways that we can’t imagine.

I get your argument, but in terms of environmental impact on climate change, those ‘smart, educated, and motivated’ kids will likely have a greater negative impact on climate change than less educated kids.

It is the successful people who harm the environment the most.

I still don’t believe that we should stop having kids, but let’s not pretend that OUR kids won’t harm the environment.

Re: Is it still ok to have kids in face of climate change?

#66

Post by f- »

Angostura wrote: post #54
lqet wrote: post #30

My ancestors thought it was okay to have kids during times in which many scholars where certain the apocalypse was due in the next 25 years, during periods in which the plague killed more than half of the population, during the 30 years war and in a time when there was a realistic chance of nuclear annihilation in the next 10 years. I am glad they did.

Did any of those groups they have a scientific basis for believing that having kids would speed up the advent of the apocalypse or worsen its effects? Let's not draw false parallels.

"The Population Bomb" was a pretty fashionable scientific prediction back in the 1960s which had a significant following in the academic and policymaker circles at the time.

It extrapolated from data about population growth, farmland capacity, etc, to reach the irrefutable conclusion that there is going to be mass starvation and famine in the 1970s. It led to calls for China-style population controls, to articles about whether it's ethical to have children, etc.

What happened instead is that population growth has slowed down quite a bit without government intervention, and that we've gotten a lot more efficient at growing food.

This does not prove anything when it comes to climate change, but is an interesting anecdote.

Re: Is it still ok to have kids in face of climate change?

#67

Post by Accipitriform »

jxramos wrote: post #60

The thing I never understood that if entropy steadily marches on, and the sun's energy is finite, isn't this all going to end bad anyways? What will it matter to if we all voluntarily go extinct and add another millennia or two or three to the Earth? It will either overheat in a global warming or face eternal freezing when the sun burns out. Why not enjoy the ride while it lasts and allow others to as well.

> The thing I never understood that if entropy steadily marches on, and the sun's energy is finite, isn't this all going to end bad anyways?

Ha, well the current estimate is that things should be roughly OK for about another billion years, give or take.

It is interesting to reflect that the run of life on Earth is 3/4 (or so) done, though...

> What will it matter to if we all voluntarily go extinct and add another millennia or two or three to the Earth? It will either overheat in a global warming or face eternal freezing when the sun burns out. Why not enjoy the ride while it lasts and allow others to as well.

We'll be in other star systems long before the Earth is uninhabitable...

Re: Is it still ok to have kids in face of climate change?

#68

Post by chris_mc »

jxramos wrote: post #60

The thing I never understood that if entropy steadily marches on, and the sun's energy is finite, isn't this all going to end bad anyways? What will it matter to if we all voluntarily go extinct and add another millennia or two or three to the Earth? It will either overheat in a global warming or face eternal freezing when the sun burns out. Why not enjoy the ride while it lasts and allow others to as well.

One outcome happens in the next hundred years, another in the next few dozen billion years. I know which one I prefer...
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