Earlier quoted context omitted.
So basically the planet is starting to treat us as a kind of a ... weed, in return.
George Carlin called it.
Indeed. Talk about a man ahead of his time.
75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
381–390 of 454 posts
Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
#382Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hence why I said somewhat active, and ended my post with "I do recognize that it's not enough and we all need to basically go back pre-industrial lifestyles to really make enough of a change to matter." What are some things that you are doing?
I'm a political activist. I'd prefer not to go into specifics while I have [ending charges :) I don't mean to suggest that I have The Best strategy or tactic that you should deploy right now. These are hard problems we're talking about, and my long-term aims are plotted over 10-30 year timescales, and realistically the chances of achieving those are very tiny. I pursue a political approach because that's where my kno…
Good on you. If it's worth doing anything at all, that 'anything' has to be on a political level. Consumer action is a dead duck, albeit a convenient one for the green-hued sector of corporatocracy. Green parties have wasted enough of our time with it.
It's a shame so much political activism is protest rather than construction. That's probably inevitable given the configuration of political power and the sheer speed of the destruction (locally for example I certainly don't want the Adani lunacy to go ahead). And protest can develop community which can be a usefully subversive form of construction. But there's something slightly unsatisfying there, and it doesn't suit everyone's predispositions.
Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
#383Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hence why I said somewhat active, and ended my post with "I do recognize that it's not enough and we all need to basically go back pre-industrial lifestyles to really make enough of a change to matter." What are some things that you are doing?
I'm a political activist. I'd prefer not to go into specifics while I have [ending charges :) I don't mean to suggest that I have The Best strategy or tactic that you should deploy right now. These are hard problems we're talking about, and my long-term aims are plotted over 10-30 year timescales, and realistically the chances of achieving those are very tiny. I pursue a political approach because that's where my kno…
I believe the only practical approach is a positive one.
Lets assume we're going to survive climate change. After all, we have to.
And lets assume we're going to survive it without needing to go back to our pre-industrial lifestyles:
- we're going to drive around in our EVs, charged from renewable sources
- we're going to sit at home playing video games and living in VR (because that's a nice energy efficient way to spend our days)
- we'll hopefully have access to modern medicine and the other benefits of our existing economy
I think once we start viewing survival from climate change more positively, we can start making better decisions.
For example, if we're going to survive, do we want to do so inside some sealed dome, hooked up to a desalination plant, where our day jobs are manually pollinating the few species of plant that have survived?
Or do we aspire for nature to remain at least somewhat intact, and for our plants to be pollinated in the current way - magically, by insects?
Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
#384Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you make that a specific prediction, I might like to bet against it, if you're interested.
Well, let's see, 80% of insects, 60% of birds, 75% of fish have disappeared in 30 years (a blink of an eye). Climate change is already bringing famine and chaos around the world. We have absolutely no credible alternative to fossil fuels. The financial system is in complete disarray. Economists proved GDP is strictly tied to energy consumption (that seems obvious) therefore, they indirectly proved that GDP growth is…
I'd like to bet against civilization collapsing by January 1, 2020. Given how dire that scenario is, I see the problem ceejayoz pointed out where there might not be much value to money at that point. But maybe we can bet on a precursor, like a stock market crash. There are probably scenarios where the stock market crashes first, but there's still time to use money before civilizational collapse.
I think we can solve it like this: if the S&P 500 drops below 50% of today's value (which is 2,562, so the trigger number is 1281), I'll send you $100 immediately, which is hopefully enough time to use that money for buying survival supplies before everything collapses. If that hasn't happened by January 1, 2020, you donate $100 to GiveWell[1].
It's an imperfect measure - I might accidentally lose it due to a nuclear war, but you still might pointlessly win it in a world where the collapse happens extremely quickly, and have a worthless $100 if I'm even still alive and able to use PayPal. But maybe it's good enough?
Want to take that bet, or suggest something else?
Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
#385Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm a political activist. I'd prefer not to go into specifics while I have [ending charges :) I don't mean to suggest that I have The Best strategy or tactic that you should deploy right now. These are hard problems we're talking about, and my long-term aims are plotted over 10-30 year timescales, and realistically the chances of achieving those are very tiny. I pursue a political approach because that's where my kno…
I believe the only practical approach is a positive one. Lets assume we're going to survive climate change. After all, we have to. And lets assume we're going to survive it without needing to go back to our pre-industrial lifestyles: - we're going to drive around in our EVs, charged from renewable sources - we're going to sit at home playing video games and living in VR (because that's a nice energy efficient way to…
How do you 'survive' climate change when it results in over 2 billion refugees, resulting ineluctably in wars? How do you survive topsoil and fresh water disappearance? How do you survive the death of the oceans? How well do you think we will manage as nearly every ecosystem around us collapses due to the multiplicity of stressors that fake 'economic growth' imposes (very well-attested worldwide).
They're rhetorical questions of course. I hardly expect you to come up with a solution for the globe's ills (hats off to you if you can; I certainly don't have a clue). But the exclusive focus on climate change is itself one of the biggest dangers we face. It tempts with the prospect of a narrow technical fix while leaving current ideologies and institutions intact. We know where that road leads, with or without further climate change (in addition to that already locked in).
Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
#386Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe the only practical approach is a positive one. Lets assume we're going to survive climate change. After all, we have to. And lets assume we're going to survive it without needing to go back to our pre-industrial lifestyles: - we're going to drive around in our EVs, charged from renewable sources - we're going to sit at home playing video games and living in VR (because that's a nice energy efficient way to…
How do you 'survive' climate change when it results in over 2 billion refugees, resulting ineluctably in wars? How do you survive topsoil and fresh water disappearance? How do you survive the death of the oceans? How well do you think we will manage as nearly every ecosystem around us collapses due to the multiplicity of stressors that fake 'economic growth' imposes (very well-attested worldwide). They're rhetorical…
All fair points, and "how well do you survive" - for me, if nature as we know it has gone, it would be a pretty shit survival.
But I feel we might make more progress if we can tell people that they will be able to keep playing their video games, rather than have to fall back to some peasant existence where they till fields from dawn to dusk.
Because we do have technology on our side, we will need to travel, and its impossible to imagine us living in anything other than a capitalist structure where people are still working, enjoying themselves, competing with others. Even if its competing for the best quarters within the biodome rather than the biggest beachfront house.
I feel that talk of the death of "current ideologies and institutions" is probably scary to many, and (I don't know if you're suggesting this) starting from the point of having to stop all economic growth will alienate many.
Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
#387Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you 'survive' climate change when it results in over 2 billion refugees, resulting ineluctably in wars? How do you survive topsoil and fresh water disappearance? How do you survive the death of the oceans? How well do you think we will manage as nearly every ecosystem around us collapses due to the multiplicity of stressors that fake 'economic growth' imposes (very well-attested worldwide). They're rhetorical…
All fair points, and "how well do you survive" - for me, if nature as we know it has gone, it would be a pretty shit survival. But I feel we might make more progress if we can tell people that they will be able to keep playing their video games, rather than have to fall back to some peasant existence where they till fields from dawn to dusk. Because we do have technology on our side, we will need to travel, and its i…
I guess I'm just stating hard truths here, rather than trying to pitch to anyone. I don't know how I'd win anyone over. And in any case for other reasons, I suspect H.Sapiens overrunning the Earth's carrying capacity is probably a biological fait accompli.
> (I don't know if you're suggesting this) starting from the point of having to stop all economic growth
I sort of am, except that I put "economic growth" in scare quotes not as a childish jibe, but because I believe it is a fiction. The 'growth' is just a transfer of matter from living ecologies to dead technologies. A certain amount of that could clearly have been managed, but as (from most accounts) we're already roughly at 200-300% of the earth's carrying capacity, degrowth (ie. reducing matter transfer out of real complex ecologies so they can re-establish themselves) is now the only thing that could save us. And it won't happen, presumably.
Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
#388Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm a political activist. I'd prefer not to go into specifics while I have [ending charges :) I don't mean to suggest that I have The Best strategy or tactic that you should deploy right now. These are hard problems we're talking about, and my long-term aims are plotted over 10-30 year timescales, and realistically the chances of achieving those are very tiny. I pursue a political approach because that's where my kno…
Good on you. If it's worth doing anything at all, that 'anything' has to be on a political level. Consumer action is a dead duck, albeit a convenient one for the green-hued sector of corporatocracy. Green parties have wasted enough of our time with it. It's a shame so much political activism is protest rather than construction. That's probably inevitable given the configuration of political power and the sheer speed…
I had to google Adani. That is some farking madness.
Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
#389Earlier quoted context omitted.
All fair points, and "how well do you survive" - for me, if nature as we know it has gone, it would be a pretty shit survival. But I feel we might make more progress if we can tell people that they will be able to keep playing their video games, rather than have to fall back to some peasant existence where they till fields from dawn to dusk. Because we do have technology on our side, we will need to travel, and its i…
I guess I'm just stating hard truths here, rather than trying to pitch to anyone. I don't know how I'd win anyone over. And in any case for other reasons, I suspect H.Sapiens overrunning the Earth's carrying capacity is probably a biological fait accompli. > (I don't know if you're suggesting this) starting from the point of having to stop all economic growth I sort of am, except that I put "economic growth" in scare…
That's a fascinating concept, but I don't think all growth is of that sort (even if much of it is).
Facebook as one example has seen enormous growth. Was it bad for the planet? (apart from the incalculable cost of being an attack vector against the more easily manipulated members of society, leading to an anti-environmental administration).
Maybe not. Facebook users sit quietly, hunched over their phones, sipping small amounts of energy. Comparing them to someone who drives their 4WD for a hobby, they look good.
Re: 75% decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas
#390Earlier quoted context omitted.
This year, I left a portion of my lawn unmowed. I seeded it with a $10 bag of wildflower seeds. It's given me 4 months of beautiful flowers, loads of polinators, many butterflies, and it's given me less yard to mow. I now think that lawns of neatly trimmed grass are about as dumb as it gets.
now think that lawns of neatly trimmed grass are about as dumb as it gets. Not just dumb: as far as biological life goes those trimmed lawns are pretty close to dead useless land. Now, you don't even need the bags of flower seeds though it helps. Just mow your lawn + remove biomass only twice a year. At max 3, if you've been using fertilizer in the past, or down to 1 if the soil has gotten rid of most nutritients: by…
We hardly watered our lawn during the three year California drought. Let it go dead and even had exposed soil in spots. When the rains came again we didn't mow for many months. It was fun to see all the different plants and wildflowers sprout and grow. Wish I could have given it a burn after it dried out in the summer instead of mowing, but in urban Oakland I don't think that would have gone over well.