Air Polution is killing millions..
WHO Report

Cities are becoming uninhabitable..
Bejing in pictures

And the IPCC says we are all **** unless something happens fast..
Threat to Humankind

Is it all nonsense or should I be building a bunker?

No bunker required, but we definitely need to get rid of our reliance on fossil fuels.

Investment in renewables so it becomes the source of the majority of our energy.
Investment in public transport so we have an efficient way of moving people around en masse
A change in the way we access goods and services so they don’t travel thousands of miles.

Easy! Just need some political will to get behind this and put social needs before economic needs before it’s too late

Yes, build a bunker and lock yourself in.

More fuel for us if you’re locked away.

We’re actually coming out of hell, in some ways. 100 years ago things were worse in industrialised countries (but they were a smaller portion of the globe) and no-one gave a crap.

At least some people are making an effort now. But we do have a hell of a long way to go.

And people are whinging about subsidising renewable energy… *sigh*

Who is the “we” in all of this, though? Does this include China, India etc? If we’re going to do something about use of fossil fuels, we need to look globally, not locally.

It’s ‘we’ as in the whole world. Without a global approach then we may as well not bother.

I dread to think what might happen when the emerging, developing economies start to consume on north American / western European levels.

I’d say half the population of Earth will die and the Human race will adopt a village pre industrial mentality all over again, yet covered head to toe in smart tech that monitors every Human experiance then fed to some huge Uber computers on the Moon.
😉

I’ll be fine.

Is it all nonsense or should I be building a bunker?

No, just insulating your home, rethinking the way you travel and taking care what you spend your money on.

Easy! Just need some political will to get behind this

The politicians can’t change much at all about the way you live, you can.

Individuals won’t make a difference really Edukator – needs to be top down approach.

Big business is by far and away the biggest contributor

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/20/90-companies-man-made-global-warming-emissions-climate-change

We live in a demand driven economy not a communist command economy. It needs people to stop buying stuff. If you close down the companies in your link as a solution I guarantee revolution. However, if people remove the need for fossil fuels in their lives those companies will reduce supply to match.

Ten years ago my house used 600m3 of gas a year, today none. Ten years ago my house consumed 1700kWh of electricity, it still does but now produces 3300kWh. Ten years ago my car consumed 50% more petrol/km than the current one, my annual mileage has decreased thanks to improved public transport. I could have carried on as before or even increased consumption to match rising disposable income, my choice not to has very little to do with politics.

The policies that have helped me:

Better bus services – but it’s still more complicated than taking the car
The ability to sell electricity – but electricity is still too cheap
A bunus/malus system that has encouraged car manufacturers to produce more fuel efficient cars in France – although I could easily afford a vehicle that produces three times as much CO2.

Individuals won’t make a difference really Edukator – needs to be top down approach.

Big business is by far and away the biggest contributor

Yep. As I travel to London because my big business bosses think ‘my presence is important’ in the office. It’s not.

People making the effort to support remote working would have the biggest effect on transport pollution imo.

In 2012, energy consumption from the domestic sector(excluding transport use)was 43,153 thousand tonnes of oil equivalent(ktoe)

In 2012, industrial energy consumption was 25,164thousand tonnes of oil equivalent(ktoe)

Both figures from the department of energy and climate change. Industry is not the biggest contributor, and even if it were, who buys the stuff?

Climate change? Never mind that s***, here comes Ebola!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26816438

We live in a demand driven economy not a communist command economy. It needs people to stop buying stuff

Exactly what I was saying about heroin on another thread. We need to buy few, small, beautiful things rather than filling our lives with mountains of crap.

Bikes for instance.

Just to clarify – bikes are small beautiful things not mountains of crap.

Imagine the profits to be made by not being dependent on fossil fuels when they are running out. The UK could reopen it’s mines and sell the coal like it’s gold. It’s all about how you sell the concept.

Ten years ago my car consumed 50% more petrol/km than the current one, my annual mileage has decreased thanks to improved public transport.

Lucky you, public transport, particularly buses, is almost non-existent in most rural areas; fine if you happen to live in a city, though.
Even trains suck; going to a concert in Bristol by rail is useless when the last train leaves while the band is just starting to play enchores.

Where have all the deniers gone? These threads used to run and run. 17 hours with no post on the first page of a thread that would have reached several pages in a few hours in 2005. The great hack removed the record here but I had a look at an old BM thread which is a succession of long posts some of which were in two parts as they went over the post size limit.

If people now accept the science of CO2 provoking climatic change shouldn’t I be seeing less “which big, fast ostentatious, polluting car should I buy” and more “which insulation for my bedroom walls”.

There are more wood burner threads but they are generally being installed in houses that require three times the output of the wood burner to heat them.

Who is the “we” in all of this, though? Does this include China, India etc? If we’re going to do something about use of fossil fuels, we need to look globally, not locally.

And all the pollution that China produces, who is buying all the crap? Obviously the minor detail that China is investing more in green energy than anyone else isn’t important????

Take a look at the transition network which is looking to build local resiliance and “transition” away from the dependency on fossil fuels.

IanW – Member

Air Polution is killing millions..
WHO Report

It’s a natural occurrence that cannot be avoided as the population keeps multiplying. 🙄

More fuel for us if you’re locked away

between the bike, trains and a well insulated house you wont get much. 🙂

Where have all the deniers gone?

Its amazing its taken this long really.

We live in a demand driven economy not a communist command economy. It needs people to stop buying stuff

Whilst I think we broadly agree, reading between the lines of these and your other posts suggests you may have more than average resources(financial) that perhaps allow you the time to develop and implement a long term sensible strategy for reducing your personal energy use.

Most people however live with a sense of urgency to meet more short term needs like feeding the kids or keeping the lights on.
I suppose its a bit like the eating well arguments that people are responsible for it themsleves but if you surround them with sugar and sharp marketing you can expect poor choices.

In my opinion the state has a obligation to make the right choice at least as easy as the wrong one.

Its the overiding prioritisation of “growth” which is unsustainable, growth in my experience is actually just the concentration of wealth in one place at the expense of something else in another and for rich countries like ours how much is too much?

The UK could lead the way on this, develop common sense solutions to living well that dont include ripping off our neighbours, using finite resources, poluting the air etc.