Chosun,
The "real cause of climate change" is not a single thing, but a legion of sins both major and minor. The more I know about the effects, the more it concerns me that we as a species are screwed. Also the more I tend to believe that over-population is the root cause. This mostly because the best solution to most problems plaguing the environment seems to be that we're taxing and abusing the environment and if there were alot less of us, we'd be better off.
So I have to ask, if you personally believe we can sustain all the human beings currently in existence on this little blue orb, what would be your first step to give billions of people a swift kick in the backside (aka, the necessary, sudden epiphany) required to about-face on their mindset?
And what would that mindset look like? How would the ethics work? The politics? The societal organization? The standard of living?
Jeez ! An easy question then ! :eek!:
Calvin, Setting aside the natural causes, it is clear that we are having a massive deleterious effect on the world through the way we live, and the sheer numbers of us. Fixing one without the other won't see us end up at a better place. A root cause must be a lack of respect for the environment and other living things.
Do I personally believe it's possible to repair the damage done, live in harmony with other living things and live sustainably on this planet ? ....... YES ! however, the paradigm shift required is beyond the vision or imagination of most people at this point. Short answer we need to flip the place on its head - from ever shrinking islands of nature in amongst a sea of humanity ..... to islands of humanity - smaller footprint self sufficient cities miles high, in amongst largely uninterrupted and interconnected nature. Flooding (hence moist soil building, hence old growth vegetation, hence natural cooling), hence core wildlife habitat is key. I would suggest nothing gets built below the 1 in 200 year flood level elevations .... perhaps even more 1 in 500. It would need research, but that is the gist of it :t:
In a future world where a lot of the construction, manufacturing, supply chain, transport, service, health, and commerce activities become more and more robotized and automated - apart from scholars, scientists, robot engineers, creatives, business execs, medical faciltators, and hairdressers, etc what's the world to do ? ...... travel and tourism ! but that becomes self defeating if the joint is ruined ..... :-C
What would it take for such an epiphany? That's the hard part. There is a growing sustainability drive that is making good progress - the trouble is that legacy financing of all manner of polluting industries and deleterious land uses is locked in for circa 30 years or so. Inefficient and problematic buildings have 80 years to go before their usual lifespan ends. Rampant urbanization and inappropriate infrastructure is being rolled out as we speak. That's going to be the hard one to stop and turn around. We need a plan.
I will relate this story of our recent heatwaves - 45°C+ and the near death of a river system the size of France and Germany put together .... a million fish floating belly up .... and from our elected representives - not enough. This short few minute video makes compelling viewing. The bloke speaking is an ex Rugby Union player and a lot of the time dumb as a box of rocks - but even he nails it here:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=382845979178685&id=163164813757533&_rdr
What would the mindset look like? Nature first, humans second.
There are plenty of answers to our energy needs:
https://www.carnegiece.com/wave/what-is-ceto/
How would the ethics work? Ban all military for a start - that frees up a heck of a lot of money.
The politics?, the societal organization? Again, difficult. Much the same as cleaning up chewing gum of the Singaporean streets - it might need a global dictator .... I'd be the only one I trust in that position, and then, not for long.
The standard of living is easy - much better.
It needs the developing world to bypass the old problematic ways and technology and leapfrog straight into a sustainable future.
The 'developed' world has to dismantle at least a third of the built environment and repair and rewild it. The remaining built world then operates much more efficiently, generating its own energy and a fair chunk of its food. Transport and distribution happens seamlessly and automated at night while we sleep. It can be a beautiful world.
Given that a significant proportion of the population are mindless zombies, I can only hope that we get there in time .....
Chosun :gh: