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I used to not worry about climate change. Now I do [video]

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Re: I used to not worry about climate change. Now I do [video]

#151

Post by haizhung »

127361 wrote: post #45

It's taboo to say this, but people worldwide have had far too many children, and I believe that overpopulation is the root of the sustainability crisis, including climate change and pollution. And that taboo is probably rooted in evolutionary psychology, people have a genetically driven tendency to criticize those who advocate having less children? So could there be an instinctual drive behind it? https://www.flashpa…

It’s not really taboo, it is being mentioned in, like, the comments on every 2nd post on climate change.

The problem with this line of thinking (and similar ones like „what about China?“) is that it basically absolves you from any responsibility in the matter. After all, there are simply too many people on the planet, what could you possibly do about it?

As other commenters pointed out - the west uses way too many resources compared to their population, and that is a problem.

And it is absolutely possible to have a society that doesn’t drain the planet dry, but not with capitalism :-)

Re: I used to not worry about climate change. Now I do [video]

#153

Post by okr »

yungporko wrote: post #149
127361 wrote: post #45

It's taboo to say this, but people worldwide have had far too many children, and I believe that overpopulation is the root of the sustainability crisis, including climate change and pollution. And that taboo is probably rooted in evolutionary psychology, people have a genetically driven tendency to criticize those who advocate having less children? So could there be an instinctual drive behind it? https://www.flashpa…

i don't think overpopulation is the problem, but maybe it's a symptom. the problem is we've forced our way up to an unrealistically high standard of living which is completely unsustainable, and now we're trapped in an inescapable death spiral because nobody wants to go back. people aren't willing to stop paying for conveniences because they're cheaply available, corporations aren't willing to stop selling them becau…

Yea, yea, people making their life better is now the reason. We must all live in poverty, because that is the natural state, where we obey the needs of nature. Nature is healing!! And for that we need to abandon demoncracy.

And the leader should be who? Of course you, because only you know the solution! Cheeky ;)

Re: I used to not worry about climate change. Now I do [video]

#154

Post by tonyedgecombe »

alexvoda wrote: post #140

@dang Is it just my impression that HN is drifting rigtwards on this topic? I remember HN being more in favour of proactive action against anthropic climate change. This thread feels dominated by attitudes reflecting inaction.

It feels orchestrated, just like every recent post on EV's.

Re: I used to not worry about climate change. Now I do [video]

#155

Post by swiftcoder »

127361 wrote: post #82
10xDev wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LOL. You wrote a comment on how India is the main problem not the west (either now flagged or deleted). You singled out a race as being the problem.

I didn't single out a specific race, I think, I just mentioned that it was that specific region of the world where the problem was located. As far as I'm aware it was nothing to do with discrimination because of a specific characteristic (which is the definition of racism). It was just that population growth in that region was very large combined with a high per-capita CO2 footprint. Many NGOs are actively trying to…

> While in the west population growth is relatively slow and we still have a high per-capita CO2 footprint.

A footpirnt so high that it more than counterbalances population growth in the developing world.

Re: I used to not worry about climate change. Now I do [video]

#156

Post by kleiba »

alexvoda wrote: post #140

@dang Is it just my impression that HN is drifting rigtwards on this topic? I remember HN being more in favour of proactive action against anthropic climate change. This thread feels dominated by attitudes reflecting inaction.

The whole Western world has shifted rightwards in recent years as can be witnessed in election results.

Re: I used to not worry about climate change. Now I do [video]

#157

Post by mytailorisrich »

dagss wrote: post #124
127361 wrote: post #45

It's taboo to say this, but people worldwide have had far too many children, and I believe that overpopulation is the root of the sustainability crisis, including climate change and pollution. And that taboo is probably rooted in evolutionary psychology, people have a genetically driven tendency to criticize those who advocate having less children? So could there be an instinctual drive behind it? https://www.flashpa…

I think there's 2 topics that need to be held apart here: 1) Limiting number of children in rich countries. This is what your links talk about I think. Yes, perhaps there is a taboo in place here. Is that relevant to sustainability crisis though? Population is already declining in rich countries, quite naturally. 2) Limiting number of children in poorer countries. Well, as in the article pointed to in a sibling comme…

The issue is the global population. Obviously, that's the metric that matters for global issues like the climate and environment.

The global population is still increasing. Furthermore, as poor countries develop this is compounded by increased consumption (both resources and energy) per capita. In that respect, "richest 1% account for more emissions than poorest 66%" should be interpreted as very worrying when the poorest are getting richer.

Ultimately we don't anyone to be poor. At current population levels this would probably mean a total collapse of the environment.

Overall, the global population is indeed the root cause of our problems.

Re: I used to not worry about climate change. Now I do [video]

#158

Post by coryrc »

green7ea wrote: post #150
StanislavPetrov wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There's no such thing as "overpopulation" on its own. There's only population relative to resource abuse. This is an unfortunate delusion that is widespread, and exploited by governments and industries that seek to ravage what is left of our environment for profit. If you believe and understand that the earth is a finite place, with finite resources (as all intelligent, rational people do), then you believe and unde…

Most essential resources aren't consumed but part of cycles — food, water, shelter. These cycles are sustained by energy and, if we were to use it well, the sun alone provides more than enough. A simple example of this is that water isn't used up, it gets dirty. It can be made clean again but that requires energy. This can be done by humans (water filtration) or by nature (evaporation and rain). We don't manage these…

The amount of vitamins in food is trending down. We say we're farming, but the plants are living on materials delivered from petroleum or natural gas in a media where we attempt to kill all life. There's not a cycle. We shouldn't complete that cycle because our waste streams are doomed with toxic chemicals (f.ex. PFAS).

In the US we build shelters either out of carbon-intensive materials or use significant carbon fuels for upkeep... or both, usually.

It's not that the technology isn't there, we just choose not to. Hell, some 30% of people love that reality star turned president. Sadly we're getting what we deserve.

Re: I used to not worry about climate change. Now I do [video]

#160

Post by mytailorisrich »

yungporko wrote: post #149
127361 wrote: post #45

It's taboo to say this, but people worldwide have had far too many children, and I believe that overpopulation is the root of the sustainability crisis, including climate change and pollution. And that taboo is probably rooted in evolutionary psychology, people have a genetically driven tendency to criticize those who advocate having less children? So could there be an instinctual drive behind it? https://www.flashpa…

i don't think overpopulation is the problem, but maybe it's a symptom. the problem is we've forced our way up to an unrealistically high standard of living which is completely unsustainable, and now we're trapped in an inescapable death spiral because nobody wants to go back. people aren't willing to stop paying for conveniences because they're cheaply available, corporations aren't willing to stop selling them becau…

Whether standards of living are sustainable depend on how many people live that way.

Obviously they are not unsustainable in absolute terms but only when too many people live that way compared to the planetary capacity.

So population is inescapably key because we want everyone to have high standards of living.

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