What steps can I take (other than the obvious recycling, water conservation, etc.) to feel less depressed about climate change? Sometimes it feels like people just don't care and it's really discouraging.
It’s not going away, that’s for sure and it’s not going to get better for a long long time. It’s really only going to get worse and our weather and droughts are only going to get more extreme. It’s all happening twice as fast as even the most dire of models had predicted. What engages people to take action in their lives, unless they are pretty conscious, is when something effects them directly. There will be no hiding from the effects of climate change. It will effect all peoples in all places and the effects will only become more acute over time and will only become more apparent that it is related to man made climate change. That will begin to accelerate care and action. The sooner we act the less political upheaval and social turmoil there will be. That said it’s still going to get ugly, there will be Climate Refugees and scarcity of food and water. There will be sea rise that will inundate coastal cities in the near future. The best thing you can start to do is to begin to electrify your life. The sooner we stop burning carbons, including “Natural Gas” the sooner we will start to diminish the harms of Man Made Climate Change. The good news is the technology we need to transition from a carbon energy world is at hand. The economics are on our side to make this transition. Awareness is building that this cleaner future is at hand, and people are already adopting Solar and Wind at a record breaking pace every single year. The cost of electric transportation is also plummeting. Global oil prices have artificially plummeted but that too is working in our favor with the most devastating extraction techniques being held at bay while the Clean Energy Revolution unfolds. It’s going to be slow going and we are going to have setbacks but the more we stay engaged the more we are willing to take direct action when the time comes the faster we will see a just energy system come into being. I would say have some faith, do what you can in little ways to decrease burning fossil fuels and tackle the big things like heating and cooling and transportation when you can. We are all in this together. This is the time when government can do a lot. It’s a lot like mobilizing for a war. No one every complains about that when the time comes to fight, they never think there is too much government then. This will be another kind of mobilization, a peaceful one that promises greater peace by manifesting it’s existence.
kaledo-art
yousharknotpass
tangentwithtanner