This page was created for the participants in one of our Climate Conversations. Responses are edited for clarity and anonymity. They represent the personal feelings and opinion of participants around that topic. They are not intended to be used as a source of factual information, they are not fact-checked and there may be errors and inaccuracies.
What do you think or feel when you hear the phrase ‘no one’s got any idea how awful it’s going to be’?
This week’s topic came from a remark made by a friend of one of our participants.
“It’s a really strong sentence”.
“It triggers dread”.
“Humans have always imagined the end of the world. Living it is something else”.
“Reality vs our fantasy world”.
“I’ve read people have been researching climate change since the 1960’s, it’s been known about and it’s carried on”.
“I think we do know what will change but we don’t know the timescales”.
“We’re in privileged position. We’re able to adapt in ways other people can’t. Like the hurricane in Jamaica”.
“We don’t need to look at the data to talk about it. We can focus on the emotions”.
“Part of the problem is it’s incomprehendable so it’s hard to act”.
“Our heads are full of rubbish like consumerism”.
“Or some people are struggling with everyday life and don’t have the bandwidth”.
“I hope people will look ut for each other (except billionaires going to Mars)”.
“Resillience”.
“A lot of research was suppressed”.
“The coal industry put out disinformation”.
“Mathmatical models can tell us, but they also vary”.
“I’ve started spiralling and thinking about armageddon”.
“Increasing floods and fires”.
“I’m good at distracting myself – is that a good thing or not?”.
“It immediately made me feel quite depressed”.
“I’m worrying about what kind of life my nieces will have”.
“We need to appreciate the world and the life that we have now”.
“Is it helpful or not to think about?”
” When they say ‘no one’, who do they mean?”.
“Tipping points”.
“The media are supressing information”.
“Donald Trump, corporations, politicians, are all invested in the staus quo”.
“People are wanting to believe it’s not that bad. We see what we want to see”.
“Climate change seems to be falling off the progressive agenda”.
What do you think or feel at the end of today’s conversation?
“There’s a family who were on the news in Jamaica. WHat did they think was going to happen? Did it happen too fast?”.
“Definitely bleaker than last week”.
“Despondent”.
“Conflicted. Should I distract myself or should I think about it. But thinking about it doesn’t change anything”.
“Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t know”.
“I shouldn’t wallow in it”.
“We’re like frogs in a pot”.