This has been a doozy of a year. And it’s the best year so far blah blah. So how are you all coping? Does it hit anyone else like a bolt of lightning that probably I - we - won’t die of old age?
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I bike as much as possible instead of driving and lobby my local government for zoning reform.
Incredibly based, same here.
You’re a hero
100mg Fluvoxamine and 5-10mg Diazepam a day seems to be working for me.
I’ve been doing occasional psilocybin and hedonism and that’s been pretty good so far
I really wanna try psilocybin. Like so much I’m thinking about growing it myself, just for one time, ego-shattering trip to break this cycle.
Sure, or even if you want to just microdose your first time, it’s super worth it. It’s pretty fun imo
My issue is trying to get my hands on it. I’m hopeful the up-and-coming trials of this, ketamine, and the like prove overwhelmingly successful, and quickly. I’m drowning in my own to-do list!
It grows wild on the Oregon coast along the beach grass basically as soon as it rains in the fall (maybe give it a week or two of rain) throughout winter. It is decriminalized here in Oregon so not illegal for me to tell you this, either :)
You can also legally order spore kits, which I recommend for a beginner, if you’re growing yourself.
Thank you for the information. I may try my hand at growing it if I’m feeling brave this fall!
We live on an ocean-going sailboat. We make our own water and electricity. We have ~25 years of membranes, filters, and most parts. While we have the means to move around to cooler climes, going further northward means more severe storms and shorter working life of everything. So there’s that consideration.
Having the escape hatch of the boat does a lot to ease the anxiety.
Other coping mechanisms:
- fixing people’s bicycles for free and evangelizing micro-mobility
- monitoring and mapping marine health in maritime communities (kelp, fish counts, bottom conditions); yes this is “just” monitoring, but one measurement is worth 1000 opinions and hopefully helps to move the needle on getting everyone to pull together on environmental protections
- community education on aeroponics and micro-hydroponics
- community support on emergency preparedness
I’m sure I’m skipping over some of my other copium prescriptions, but those are the most salient.
Wow that’s amazing, do you have social media I can follow?
Our social media and blog are severely neglected, in large part because of surveillance and chokepoint capitalism (see: Cory Doctorow). But this would probably be the best entry point into our socials: https://youtube.com/@svcascadia
We had the same idea. Even ended up living on an old 37’ for about a year… then we popped the stern tube during an engine test (40 years worth of copper corrosion)…
Well you can imagine what that was like. It was only through sheer dumb luck that we saved literally everything we own. That coupled with some expensive engine repair and we ended up spending the cost of the boat again in repairs.
There’s more to the story but ye, we live in a house now.
This is not to discourage any one btw, just pick your boat better than we did. Also, you need to be really into DIY or really rich, because God damn, boat stuff is expensive!
then we popped the stern tube during an engine test (40 years worth of copper corrosion)…
0_0 HFS! Glad you’re okay AND saved your necessarily minimal (because boat) belongings!
I love this guy
Hopefully you can evolve some webs on your feet for better swimming after we all live in Water World.
This thread is ridiculous
I become a stauncher anti-capitalist every day, since capitalism and its unsustainable and literally impossible aim of infinite growth, and the greed and corruption it encourages, is why climate change is not only happening but also not being treated seriously, and abolishing it is the only hope we have of dealing with the damage climate change will bring and try and minimize it going forward (since its past the point of stopping it entirely).
The whole point of those responsible shifting blame on to individuals who have nothing to do with the decisions that got us here, nor the profits they make, is to get you to the point you’re at now - hopelessness which leads to inaction, or desperation that leads to futile action (like banning straws or paying to reduce your “carbon footprint” - a term they made up for this exact purpose, and so on, all of which are there to make sure you’re criticising your neighbour for their recycling habits instead of the companies that say they’re recycling and get paid to but really send the garbage directly to landfill, or to a developing nation already drowning in western trash).
What you actually need to be is angry and focused, to ensure your anger is aimed at the right people and the systems they uphold that got us here. Those systems are not natural or inevitable or immutable, they are artificially created by and for the benefit of a really small group of humans, a group we could easily be rid of if we actually united to do so.
…instead of the companies that say they’re recycling and get paid to but really send the garbage directly to landfill, or to a developing nation already drowning in western trash).
More to the point, instead of the companies that say they’re recycling but haven’t done a damn thing to reduce how much trash they manufacture in the first place, and in fact are doing every single thing in their power to keep expanding to manufacture trash at ever faster rates.
This could have been written by me. I despise capitalism, capitalists, and if I could, would ensure that every company knowingly polluting or harming people or the planet would be dissolved and their boards put in jail, or worse. I have always hated capitalism, I’m realizing, the older I get, and learning how many of these companies KNEW the consequences of their greed makes me even more radicalized against it.
We glamorize wealth hoarding and that baffles me. I have a 4yo son. I see in him the same things I see in these capitalists. I give him what he wants, say a scoop of ice cream. I get some for myself, maybe a different flavor, and he asks for mine. He gets upset when I tell him to enjoy what he has and that I want to enjoy my ice cream too.
Recently, we got into LEGO and I will be building something, usually just fucking around, and I’ll start to make something cool. He’ll come up and want it. Even with other blocks, it’s what little I have that he wants. Sometimes, there is no amount of persuasion to allow me to continue what I’m doing.
I’m convinced that greed is just a regression/stopping of cognitive development to the level of a child. I would pity these capitalist fuckers if they weren’t destroying the planet and our lives for their greed.
Makes me think, sure, go ahead, build that bunker to escape the disaster you [capitalists] created. Nature may not be able to get in that easily, but people didn’t become the apex hunters of this planet from giving up. Persistence will reap what you have sowed.
I honestly believe that billionairism is a mental illness and should be treated as such. Involuntary confinement and treatment, because they’re a danger to others.
Right? But they have the power that comes from large amounts of capital so any attempt to label them what they are – hoarders, but with money, not cats or garbage – we’ll never see their ilk in the DSM. :(
What a sad existence they must live. They’ll never be truly happy in any meaningful way.
Does it hit anyone else like a bolt of lightning that probably I - we - won’t die of old age?
Wait, do you actually believe this?
Yes. I am friends with ecological scientists, biologists, soil scientists, ornithologists, and other various environmental researchers. The rest of my natural life would be ~40-50 years. We probably have 10-20 at most. Remember, the heating is exponential and delayed, and we’ve also exceeded several other planetary boundaries. Our governments are decades too late. We are literally already in the middle of an extinction event.
Even if everyone TODAY stopped burning all fossil fuels, we’d still have to sequester millions of tons of carbon in 10-20 years with no infrastructure for it. To do this will release more greenhouse gases. Amd we still have to address the 9 other planetary boundaries we’ve crossed including ocean acidification, soil destruction, and pollution.
The absolute best shot we have is to deflect a percentage of the sun’s rays from ever reaching earth with some kind of space blanket or shield. Likely we will just inject sulfur into the atmosphere with unknown consequences.
That you don’t realize how bad it is, is the sadder thing. We have seriously failed in educating people about science. Chemical reactions need specific energy requirements to work, which means specific temperatures. It’s a big deal to our very cells themselves that the planet is getting hotter. And again, that is only 1 planetary boundary and we have crossed others.
You can literally see footage online of people’s housing falling into the ocean, and their property wasn’t oceanfront when they bought it. You can look u0 articles about billions of sea life boiling alive off the oregon coast and baby eagles flinging themselves from their nests to die due to heat. You can see the recent article about Dubai being beyond the wet bulb temp for humans to survive. That’s not normal, ya’ll. None of this is normal.
But whatever, it’s too late. Enjoy your remaining years as much as you can, and don’t forget you can always starve yourself to death for free if you don’t have a bullet. Good luck everyone.
Likely we will just inject sulfur into the atmosphere with unknown consequences.
Kind of the only hope we have left at this point. One which I’m desperately holding onto.
Articles about insect populations being decimated by something like 70%… They are the ones most vulnerable to climate change, and they’re all dying. How people can see that and not understand is mind boggling.
The insect population part really is staggering, huh? I remember how disgusting my grandma’s station wagon got in the 90s traveling. Now I pretty much never really “need” to clean my windows off from bug guts. Usually dust.
I think we should put up a metal blanket in space. Tbh all the space junk and satellites are already doing that a little
Very very little, the planet is kinda big
This is doommongering nonsense.
I’m no climate change denier at all, but the idea that the planet is basically going to be unliveable in 10-20 years is ludicrous.
Even the most pessimistic of scientists don’t believe that.
AMOC collapse could happen as soon as 2025.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adk1189
Scientists have been forced to give “optimistic” findings relating to climate change for decades because we were told not to scaremonger. We were told no one would believe us. Well, no one believed us anyway (see: you) and now our conservative estimates are turning out to be wildly too conservative. It is exponentially getting worse and we didn’t consider numerous cascading events like the methane bubbles in the arctic permafrost.
We are literally already in the middle of a sixth extinction event relating to passing 6-8 of 9-10 planetary boundaries. It’s not doomerism, it’s literally reality. Measurably and empirically happening.
Wikipedias page on AMOC is much less pessimistic:
High-quality Earth system models indicate a collapse is unlikely and would only become probable if high levels of warming (≥4 °C (7.2 °F))[14] are sustained long after 2100.[18][19][20] Some paleoceanographic research seems to support this idea.[21][22] Some researchers fear the complex models are too stable[23] and that lower-complexity projections pointing to an earlier collapse are more accurate.[24][25] One of those projections suggests AMOC collapse could happen around 2057[26] but many scientists are skeptical of the projection.[27]
I would very much doubt an actual collapse happens anytime soon.
That’s wikipedia though, not a scientific article, and it acknowledges that many think it will happen sooner.
Here’s an article from CNN that is hours old, based on a new study, which is confident AMOC collapse will happen by 2037-2050 https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/08/02/climate/atlantic-circulation-collapse-timing
That’s pretty soon.
What do you expect your manner of death will be in 10-20 years?
AMOC collapse could happen as soon as 2025 so my 20 years was extremely optimistic btw
Hard to say. It could be from a power grid failure during a weather event. It could be from an earthquake (increased seismic activity due to climate change). It could be from a freak storm or mudslide. Could be from supply chain collapse and starvation. Could be from supply chain collapse/social collapse and lack of medical care. Could be bird flu or any number of novel diseases occurring due to climate change.
That’s why i suggested a magic 8 ball ;)
My only hope is that I’ll be dead by the time the water wars begin.
Splatoon
I’ve got a super soaker 50 in my truck just in case
truck
Do you keep it in the squeaky clean, unscratched cargo bay?
Badly. Really, not much more that I can say about it. The future terrifies me.
At least you can acknowledge it’s real at some level 😭
I’m mostly just staying inside this time of year. I personally likely will not die of climate change as I’m privileged enough to be able to keep moving when I need, but I probably will die from micro plastic induced cancer.
We have solar and a plug in hybrid car. I try to support small local businesses. We moved to a place with historically cooler weather above sea level. I vote in all the elections I can. I keep up with the town planning board and try to influence towards car independence. I stay hydrated, wear natural fibers, and try to buy used when I can.
I still try my best to do what I can. But at the same time I’ve come to terms with the fact that we’re all fucked and everything I’m doing is pointless. But I’d rather do what I can and strive to do better than give up and make things worse. I have completely selfish reasons for doing my part and it’s literally just because I’d feel like an asshole.
I’ve been keeping my mind busy, learning actionable skills and survival stuff. I am learning foraging, growing food, I’ve made a real decision to not reserve my happiness for retirement, as that day isn’t guaranteed but today is. I convert the worry into little reminders about how today is the most important time to do the thing. I live immediacy and radical self reliance. I recycle, upcycle, reuse, buy second hand, adopt, occasionally dumpster dive, and reduce my negative impact on the planet. I donate to charities that help people in crisis, so more people can enjoy today while they have it. Also, instead of anxious, I get high.
related… There are now ac/heat pump mini split units that are set up to be linked directly to solar panel systems and run offgrid or with grid assist.
This is great for a few reasons:- solar radiance and need for cooling are related.
- if you hook directly to solar you don’t need to convert AC current to DC and lose 10-20% of the energy.
- if you dont tie the system to the grid, you might be able to avoid the use induction effect. That is, installing air conditioning tends to make people use more grid energy.
- It also helps with adding solar capacity to people who have electrical issues in their house and can’t get typical solar install, or who can’t add more solar capacity due to net metering edicts by their utilities, or dont want to pull permits for electrical work.
I’ve had my eye on a system from Airspool here in the US - should help with these warmer summers and help offset a little of the heating need in the winter too.
I would look into a full central system - but I have a relatively new gas furnace and can’t justify replacing it and dealing with all the required electrical work.
About time those things became mainstream, bonus: that 20% of lost energy isn’t more heat in your house
Point 2) isn’t really valid, compressors all run on AC because they’re designed to plug into the AC grid. Even the fan motors are usually AC
I’m no company rep. But the site of the one mentioned says it’s designed to run on DC, not ac, power. Seems like that’s a thing.
Well it works on both so it’s either less efficient on the grid or on the solar panel…
Yesterday I had a climate change anxiety attack. I came to the conclusion that despite wanting to have children, I shouldn’t because the earth is currently dying underneath our feet. Watching outside my window, a cat I’ve been taking care of brought her litter of kittens to take shelter under my awning, and it had me feeling very bitter, that I would never know the blissful highs and devastating lows of parenthood. All the joy and pain and love that embodies raising a child, past generations have forfeit through destructive environmental/corporate/profit-centered policies.
I was able to calm myself down, oddly enough through a few memes I saw. one of which being an old cunieform tablet that had a transcription of a man from Assyria decrying how the world was falling apart back in 1200 BC. And the second, one of Neil Degrasse Tyson saying simply, “If we can geo-engineer other planets, we can certainly fix our own.”
Made me feel a little more hopeful, that we could still prevent the worst of it, and perhaps fix what we couldn’t prevent.
Still not sure about having kids though. If I still even can, with the level of microplastic in my testes, and PFAS everywhere else.
Kids are very adaptive. They will grow up in this changing world and it will be normal to them. They will grow up instinctively being able to deal with things that we will forever strugle with. Kids are amazing in finding their own solutions, even at a young age.
I think it is much more important to be financially and emotionally able to support a child. You should ask yourself if you are able to do that. You can get financial and emotional support from your environment, many people do that (“it takes a village to raise a child”), but you can’t afford a full blown mental breakdown when you have kids.
I’m not trying to convince you to have children or not, just giving my two cents. There’s probably plenty who disagree, especially in a thread like this, so feel free to ignore me.
In my head, I envision year 2084 as one where humans are isolated mostly to the poles of the Earth, the only suitable farmland left. Where life is nothing like what I would recognize, and we’re merely prolonging the inevitable migration into underground dwellings, away from the harsh barren hellscape of our own creation.
But that’s not the reality. Human beings have the remarkable ability to adapt, and change our environment to suit our needs. I know that there are people smarter than I, that will figure out how to curb, and ultimately roll back the most devastating aspects of our pollution crisis. I know that we will survive, and thrive into the future, even if it means shrinking the population down from it’s current 8 billion.
But today, I can pick any spot on the globe, and find a terrible human caused crisis there, and some conservative politician doing everything in their power to make it worse (and make money off of making it worse). And that just fucking kills me.
It’s devastating. I want to be a mother so badly, but I know I’ll never be able to. It’s not even the fact that I’m infertile. After all I’ve been through my life has just been left too unstable. I’ve been left too unstable. I would love to adopt and raise a kid, but I know deep down I could never provide the upbringing that they deserve. I would just watch in horror as a precious child deals with the consequences of my instability.
We’ve both been afforded far too much trauma. It’s not our fault, but I’ll be damned if I make my problems someone else’s. It’s like, the one thing I don’t want to do. There are other ways to make a positive impact on the world without having children, heck, just look at Mary “Mother” Jones!
You won’t even adopt?
If I were in a better place financially/emotionally, I ABSOLUTELY would.
Same.
I’ve resigned myself to the extinction of our species. We had a good run.
Same. Ironically, very funny to me, we are arguably the stupidest species by far. I mean, we are the only species to extinct the whole planet. That’s wild. That one insect species that’s confined to a solitary rock in Africa wouldn’t do this. Even they are smarter than people.
we are the only species to extinct the whole planet
Planet sure doesn’t look extinct to me, and if it were we wouldn’t be the only one.
This just confirms that climate change cookers aren’t aware of history beyond 200 years ago.
Have you ever read what happens to people who get fatal doses of radiation but didn’t die from the radiation outright? They feel normal. Everything feels normal. But all their skin cells have died and as they die, they get pushed out and not replaced. That’s where our planet is at. Palliative care right now. We may not all be extinct yet, but we know how this disease progresses. Let’s not be cowards and at least admit that. At least die with some courage and honesty about what we’ve done.
What other species extincted the planet?
What on earth made you think that climate change is going to lead to the extinction of our species? What kind of exaggerated analysis have you been consuming?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LxgMdjyw8uw
I found this video to be helpful in putting things in perspective. Basically, despite all the news, we are making progress and it is a priority. Technology is improving really fast to the point where renewable energy is actually the more economical choice.
A lot of companies are actually making an effort to implement more green policies. I work for a tech company, and a lot of discussions revolve around energy efficiency and performance per watt.
Remember that climate change activists want to make the world seem much worse than it is. That’s their “job” after all - to raise awareness and attention. It doesn’t mean what they are saying isn’t true, just that you should view it as them putting a negative lens on it.
Personally, I worry about many things, but not really climate change. With most issues there conflict between two groups. But I think most people generally think climate change is a real thing, even if they disagree on its priority.
It already is worse. The number of extinctions in the last few years alone is heartbreaking.
I don’t think that activists want it to seem worse than it is. I think they’re trying to wake us up from sleepwalking collectively into disaster. The ones I listen to seem pretty measured.
I found this video to be helpful in comforting me. It minimized all those scary truths those pesky scientists keep bringing up. Once you find just the right take you can be on the bandwagon but with zero responsibility and accountability!
This is why the moderates will be first.
I didn’t say that.
My point was that saying “nothing is getting better and everything is terrible” is doing a great disservice to all the hard work of people actually working on solving this issue. There’s certainly a lot of work that still needs to be done.
There are three lenses on how to look at the world:
- The world is awful.
- The world is much better.
- The world can be much better.
These need not be mutually exclusive and you are limiting yourself if you only focus on the world through one of these lenses.
I should minimize the hard hard work and message of the others to protect the feelings I think they have. Then, I should create a strawman argument.
No, apathetic moderate. You’re the greater obstacle.
Eh. I do what I can where I can. It’s something I’m trying to get better at accepting about myself. No use sressing about things I have little influence over.
Given all the arguments I’ve been in online, I’d hardly describe myself as “apathetic” though. :P
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Dude, don’t waste your energy on this guy.
I’d hardly describe myself as “apathetic” though
I believe your heart’s in the right place. I’ll write a sincere response, though it’s deep meta.
Given all the arguments I’ve been in online
If you ever feel like that alone isn’t the best thing for you then the rest of my message could apply.
Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.
The individual who wrote the line above called it the “great stumbling block in (our) stride toward freedom”.
I do what I can where I can.
One thing you could choose to do is read his words in the context he wrote them, think about how the themes apply to almost everyone today, then target specific individuals with good questions.
