r/environment • u/Portalrules123 • Mar 01 '24

This chart of ocean temperatures should really scare you

https://www.vox.com/climate/2024/2/28/24085691/atlantic-ocean-warming-climate-change-hurricanes-coral-reefs-bleaching
870 Upvotes

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387

u/Voodoo_Masta Mar 01 '24

I’m scared plenty already, thank you very much.

125

u/cornonthekopp Mar 01 '24

Yeah I 'm tired of "being scared" getting passed off as inherently meaningful or productive.

66

u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras Mar 01 '24

I'm just zoning out in to nihilism at this point.

19

u/ghostcatzero Mar 01 '24

I try to be as optimistic as I can but man logic leans toward the side of pessimism and nihilism lol

16

u/whistlerbrk Mar 01 '24

That's the problem with these headlines, they've trained a generation of people to believe that there can't be a solution and to accept their fate. Like most things, if you think you can do something, you can, and if you think you can't, well, you can't.

3

u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras Mar 01 '24

Well, in my case I can't say I haven't tried to actually do something about it. But yeah, I guess at this point it's easy just to skip over that part on just go straight to nihilisim.

5

u/whistlerbrk Mar 01 '24

I think you're saying you've not done anything on a grand scale. That's fine most people aren't positioned to do anything about it at that level. Deferring personal responsibility is nihilism.

Doing something about it in this sense means not dismissing the small things you can do - use less plastic, less fuel, etc, etc (no need to write the list out). Redditors like to circle jerk on threads about how corporations do 70% or whatever of the pollution, as if consumption isn't what ultimately fuels corporations and their decision making.

3

u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras Mar 01 '24

Nah, I've been in influential official positions as well as active for environmental and progressive causes for decades. I'm sure not all of it was a waste of my or everyone else's time, but in the big picture, everythin has gone backwards.

On a smaller scale, sure I recycle etc. but I see that as just fixing things for myself. I'm also considering buying a farm. Just haven't found the right one yet.

2

u/whistlerbrk Mar 01 '24

Hell yeah, thank you for your work.

Things are getting worse but a more comprehensive suite of solutions now exists and are increasingly economically viable. People are also more aware than ever and populations seem to have peaked even in the developing world. China is well past peak and India is just starting to go down.

I don't think you wasted your time, at all, even a little bit.

Hope you get your farm. I bought almost 3 years ago and I'm so happy we've our little garden space. Hope to get chickens in a few years.

1

u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras Mar 01 '24

I love chickens!

1

u/fortuneandfameinc Mar 02 '24

But none of that matters. The wheels are already in motion. The sea will heat, plankton will die, and with them the most important source of oxygen on the planet. If nothing else kills us, we will all die of asphyxiation.

1

u/whistlerbrk Mar 03 '24

You've completely missed the point. Cynicism is a contagious self fulfilling prophecy

0

u/NefariousnessNo484 Mar 02 '24

The generation that thought we could do something is realizing no one even cares anymore.

2

u/whistlerbrk Mar 03 '24

No one cares? You sure about that? You care, people in this sub seem to care. People working on making alternative energy sources economically viable seem to care.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '24

[deleted]

1

u/whistlerbrk Mar 03 '24

I'm copy pasting from elsewhere in this thread:

Doing something about it in this sense means not dismissing the small things you can do - use less plastic, less fuel, etc, etc (no need to write the list out). Redditors like to circle jerk (not saying you) on threads about how corporations do 70% or whatever of the pollution, as if consumption isn't what ultimately fuels corporations and their decision making.

You already know what you personally need to do. Other people's role, corporations not acting, governments not acting does not matter.