Good very warm morning to you. It is also very humid which only makes it seem warmer. The forecasters keep promising us cooler weather but they keep moving it back by a day or two.
I went looking for articles like this after getting a tease on NZZ but the full article was behind a pay wall. Over a decade ago I read about the hikikomori phenomenon where young people, usually men, continued to live at home refusing to even leave their rooms. No girlfriends, no jobs, no graduating school. Evidently, from the BBC report, the hikikomori phenomenon is ongoing but now extending to younger children. I have seen similar reports of young people in China withdrawing and rejecting the social/political structures that they don't feel serve them: no fighting for places in prestigious colleges and or white collar jobs in prestigious companies. Just this morning a news/commentary show noted the lack of confidence people have in both of the main parties in the U.S. And the lack of confidence is especially pronounced among young people. I wonder how long before lack of confidence will lead to withdrawal.
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Was sunny for a bit this morning but is mostly cloudy now and should be producing thunderstorms later and overnight.
Back in 2009 ABC produced and showed a documentary titled EARTH 2100. You can look it up and actually view it today on Youtube for free. The film presents a possible future through the eyes of a fictional person who was born in 2009 and lived through to 2100 witnessing the changes due to climate change. I make a habit of viewing the show at intervals since. Interestingly many of the changes predicted (based on climate scientists forecasts) were coming about but at a faster rate than predicted. The producers and authors had a definite agenda:1) climate change is happening and the changes are happening faster than originally thought, 2) the changes will be catastrophic for humanity, and 3) that we can avoid the worst of the possible futures by mounting a global effort to change our entire societies and economies to meet the emergency.
I can agree with the first proposition. Earth's climates have changed often enough in the past and often enough in very short time periods that didn't give humans much time to either move away or adjust. I can also agree with the second proposition as well. Past climate changes have been catastrophic for the populations experiencing the changes. The Anasazi disappeared. The Mayan population collapsed in warfare and possibly cannibalism. The European Little Ice Age caused crop failure, famine and in the 14th century the Black Death that eliminated about half of the population of Western Europe.
However, I am very skeptical about proposition #3. Only six years after EARTH 2100 aired Donald Trump rode down his golden escalator and campaigned his way into the presidency. Part of his program then and today has been intense. The whole notion of a global action to effectively stop, much less roll back, climate change was a fools dream to begin with. Developing nations (and their populations) want what advanced nations (and their populations) have. The idea of cutting consumption (or anything that supports consumption) is anathema to both groups. A number of the bloggers who write about climate change and the consumer economy tell variations of the story about "activists" who go to and from climate change rally in a gas guzzling SUV. I remember the caustic references to Gore's "energy saving" incorporations into his house which was huge by most peoples' definition and experience. But most would happily get Gore's mansion or a McMansion if we had the financial wherewithal. We emulate the people we admire. How many of Trump's MAGA fans wouldn't like to have his gold toilets? Or his trophy wives? Or his luxury homes?
EARTH 2100 constantly pushed the idea of collective action on a global scale but everything that worked were local and small scale. In the end the large cities and other large scale efforts failed. I have often thought over the last twenty years or so that successful adaptation to any adversity would be on local and individual levels.
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