Global Warming - Are we trapped by short termism?

Question

Some people with very difficult lives live from day to day. Others plan a bit longer ahead. Fewer still are lucky enough to be able to plan long term. Could this be a reason why many are so ready to dismiss AGW as irrelevent or even wrong?

Answer 1

Very astute. I consider that you really have the underlying trend with many of the environmental problems we face today. As Permaculturists we try to think in terms of generations. For example I have been planting Walnut Trees today they may fruit at the end of our lives. They won't be really productive until our children have their own children. The timber won't be available for use for a couple of hundred years. As Permaculturists we think of the future - Permanent Agriculture and Permanent culture.

But even as Permaculturists we still don't think (or is it 'Can't Know' how to really think) in really long terms; centuries.  We, as a society, find it extremely difficult. Even our Governments hold short terms of office so they do not invest in really long term solutions.

In order to accept Global Warming we have to understand and take action for some time in the future. We may not really see some of the adverse effects of global warming in our lifetime. Difficult then for some to accept the inconvenience of dealing with it now when it can be delayed and the problems passed on to the next people who 'hold office'.

Answer 2

You got it in one the third world does not care about Global Warming as they live their lives one day at a time because that is all they can do and really if you are hungry you only care about what is on your dinner table that night and not what happens next year or the next decade.It will take a long time before the seriousness of the situation sinks in.

Answer 3

Absolutely.   Thats exactly what caused the problem in the first place.  In the 70s the solution to imported oil prices was "conservation" which effectively dumped the ultimate solution on future generations.

And today the most zealous proponents of Global Warmingism blissfully ignore one of the final conclusions in the IPCC Summary Report:  its going to be around for literally hundreds of years no matter what we do or don't do about it.

Thus we see the daily bombardment of silly nonsense solutions like "eat organic food", "turn down your thermostat even more" and "buy a new car that gets 50 MPG instead of 20 MPG", instead of doing what we should have started doing in 1980:  building more nuclear power plants.

Answer 4

Why do you want to believe humans are the cause? Is it so you can feel like you matter? That what you do makes a difference to our planet? When it doesn't. There are so many forces at work on our planet, that are beyond our control, and to think we even understand how even half of those forces work and react to one another enough to build an accurate computer model is unbelievable to me. Since the computer modeling programs they use for weather forecasting don't always get it right. And I've also heard that these computer models they are using to predict our planets future climate aren't very accurate and don't even take in the effects of cloud cover.

So no it has nothing to do with short term-ism, since me and a lot of other skeptics do believe in controlling real pollution.

Edit: Robert - I will never be indoctrinated into the AGW belief system. So don't ever suggest it ever again to me.

Answer 5

I would be more inclined to think its more along the line of we know its a lie.  One day you might come back to reality, there's aways hope.

Answer 6

That certainly plays a role in global warming skepticism/denial.

People are by nature self-absorbed, and global warming is a somewhat abstract concept.  That's why we always get people asking "why should I care about global warming?" or "the planet has warmed less than 1 degree in 100 years - so what?".  People live for the now and for themselves, and so if global warming is not directly impacting their current lives, it's hard for them to care about it.

You are correct that as we are able to live more comfortably, it enables us to look a bit more at the big picture.  For those who struggle to pay the bills on a day-to-day basis, it's understandable that they would have a hard time caring about global warming.

For those living more comfortably, the problem is often self-centeredness.  "How is global warming going to impact me?  Why should I care when I'll be dead before it gets bad?".  That sort of thing.

Then of course there's the people who don't want to believe we can be altering the climate.  The type of question asked by Mikira always puzzles me.  We've had significant impacts on the climate before.  We've caused acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer, just as 2 examples, and there are many more.  The mindset that "we're too insigificant to have an effect on the environment" is naive and frankly ignorant.

Answer 7

Another reason is that people are waiting for "the government" to solve this problem for them, with little or no effort, expense, or sacrifice on their own part.  That is one reason it will be hard to get the US on board- because most people here in US don't want to be told what to do, what car to buy, etc.

Answer 8

Why base long term plans on unproven theories?

Answer 9

If you really want to understand the problem, Robert, study Mikira's answer and if you are honest and truly self aware, you will see that she is absolutely right.  My guess is you won't.

Answer 10

Absolutely.  Especially the young.  Add to that a lack of understanding of science, and the way the scientific community operates.

Wonderful - Do you suggest that I believe you?  Or one of the the very few skeptical scientists?  I can only choose one of them because they all disagree with each other.

Or should I believe these people, who say with a united voice that global warming is real, and mostly caused by man?

The National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute of Physics, the American Chemical Society, the American Meteorological Association, etc.

I think I'll go with the NAS, thank you.  This is true:

Global warming is almost a no-brainer at this point.  You really can't find intelligent, quantitative arguments to make it go away."

Dr. Jerry Mahlman, NOAA

Mike S - All I'm suggesting is that you study this more.  It's simply true that there's a lot to learn.  Here are some good places:

http://profend.com/global-warming/

http://environment.newscientist.com/chan...

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/sci...

http://www.realclimate.org

"climate science from climate scientists"

Answer 11

Could it be that I have a hard time with people who are condescending and down right rude when they challenge my intelligence and or claim that I'm ignorant?  Just because I don't believe the same thing you do?