Mastodawn

Prof. Tatiana Ilyina

What strikes me still a lot when communicating the severity of #climatechange with concerned non-specialists is that for most the greatest fear is to not being able to pursue their recreational activities due to say a #heatwave or lack of snow and not the drying rivers, failing crops, #biodiversityloss.
How do we change this deeply nudged mindset of ours? We can’t exploit natural resources endlessly!
#ClimateDiary

Murat Cem Mengüç Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina I can say the exact same thing about the artists. There is no art or recreational activities on a dead planet.

RobCornelius Jun 2, 2023

I am just a well trained web monkey with a very rusty Environmental Science degree.

I think people won't act unless climate change affects them personally. No snow in the Alps so no skiing, too hot to live without aircon etc.

However I think that when people have somehow survived a large scale natural disaster they come together magnificently. We stop seeing other people as competition and see them as fellow survivors that need our help and they can help us.

So things have to get a lot, lot worse before people help one another.

Phil Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina maybe a person's interests can be used as the gateway to help them see the true seriousness of the situation? You've got their attention when something threatens their interests. Is there a way to build on that? What links back from skiing to the rest of the climate crisis?

Dr Keith Walker Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina It is very difficult. There are still far to many politicians who prefer not to face up to reality, or even to try and understand it. I think their education is the most pressing need.

Wolfgang Cramer Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina I think this problem is quite a deep one and only partially explained by the heavy investments in #greenwashing and #technosolutionism. Most people in rich countries truly believe there will always be food in the stores and markets, whatever happens.

This is why I think the current 4-degree-debate in France, however ill-framed it was launched by the government, could actually make some people understand how serious the #climatecrisis is.

Daniil Baturin Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina Well... I guess by now most people finally agree that killing elephants for their tusks is not just unsustainable but also morally wrong.
Maybe that mindset will also change after all.

carahuata Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina It's more difficult for people to acknowledge a problem as a problem when they can't see it right in front of their face. And most still can't.

ombra Jun 2, 2023

This is only the 1st phase. When people sit in the (air-conditioned) office all day and there is no shortage of food in the supermarket and they only "live" in their free time, they feel the unpleasant changes especially in their leisure activities.
For me, the zeitgeist just felt like: quickly still enjoy the world as it is and fulfill dreams, even if it does not save resources.
Who knows what will come..

... like one last cigarette before the cancer surgery

Nick Appleyard Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina
Why try to change it? Use it to get engagement.
You don't build a movement by telling people that your priorities are higher than their priorities!
[Lesson learned from beginners' engagement with the web: first ask what their hobby is, then show them how to find content that relates]

maiamaia Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina what I most get is "stop complaining" "stop being negative" it's seen as rude, trying to ruin other people's day by making them worry, or complaining when you have good luck in the weather "some people will find anything to complain about, only happy when they're miserable". I also meet disbelief "where is climate change?" "in pakistan (start explaining)" people either say it's boring, change topic, or don't believe it "I've seen no evidence". 99.9% of public like this

maiamaia Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina other 1% think skipping the odd plastic bag will solve it. I promise you, among normal working people, the idea has no purchase

Debbie Goldsmith 🏳️‍⚧️♾️🇺🇦Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina My deepest concern is food chain and ecosystem collapse due to loss of habitat and unforeseen nonlinear effects in the climate. Not to mention all the standard stuff based on linear effects of increased temperature.

One World One People Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina TWW: People have begun a long transition that will define our success or failure. As we move from the use of fire and explosions to bubbles and magnets for our basic needs and creativity, the destructive nature of our use of primitive forces will continue to threaten our world and require that we assist the Earth to recover and its creatures to thrive.
*For many people if I explain climate cycles and history of warming periods they begin to understand. It’s pollution. OWOP

Berk Jun 2, 2023

@TatianaIlyina it’s a good place to start from, and then explore all the other impacts they may be unaware of - e.g., how does loss of biodiversity affect their enjoyment of those activities

Hopeful Humanizer Jun 3, 2023

@TatianaIlyina Modernity separates us from the natural world. We hear the words at funerals, "dust to dust", but don't believe it. Our needs are mediated entirely by currency. We need to recapture our dependence on the natural world. Perhaps even the sacredness of creation. Then, possibly, we might not stop desecrating each other and creation.
https://www.tumblr.com/aowski/686216840520794112/de-spiritualization?source=share
#ClimateDiary #creation #sacred #modernity #desecrate

Provocations

As Western Christians observe Pentecost Sunday, we might ask ourselves what does the recognition (and denial) of the Spirit mean, in practice?

Tumblr

Scott Matter Jun 3, 2023

@hopefulhumanizer @TatianaIlyina

While out and about amidst a huge crowd this evening, I drifted to thinking about just how much of this planet’s living material is accumulating in 1) human biomass, 2) our built environments, and 3) the domesticated plant and animal food systems we’ve established to support 1.

On 1, I also randomly thought how odd it is that in some human cultures we try to keep that biomass in preserved bodies, buried in long lasting coffins, rather than returning it to the living world from which it came.

Stephen B Jun 3, 2023

@TatianaIlyina on one hand, though, if all those folks care about are recreational activities, that gives some kind of hook to convince them to pay attention. It isn't great, but it's better than someone who only cares about their stock portfolio or oil investments..