Richard Michael Blaberhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/01/snowmelt-american-west. Why the Hell would it "stun" any of them? Have none of them heard of #climatechange? It seems to me the #climate #emergency is a #phenomenon that has been consistently underestimated, & those of us who have been warning of the #dangers have all been told we're "alarmists" & "doom-mongers", only to be proved RIGHT, @DoomsdaysCW!
DoomsdaysCW@rmblaber1956 I saw that story today. Yup. I really wish I had been proven wrong about a lot of this stuff.
Violet MadderMy dad told me a few weeks ago, our local ski resort used to regularly have 24 feet of snowpack when he was a kid.
This winter, it barely had 24 INCHES.
I can stand on our porch and look at that mountain in the summer, and not only does it look so NAKED, brown dirt exposed all the way to the top, even from twenty miles away it's mighty obvious the big glacier on its northeastern flank is maybe HALF the size it used to be. Glaciers like that aren't supposed to fucking shrink visibly on a human timescale!!
I was maybe 10 when we went for one of our regular hikes up around the alpine lakes and the frogs were just GONE. A place that always used to have so many thousands the whole edge of the water was black with tadpoles in a band at least 3' all the way around the lake, and so many adult frogs it was impossible to walk without stepping on some-- gone. I've seen this coming my whole life, any actual scientists who study anything related to this for a living and somehow still manage to be surprised have been living with their heads jammed WAY up their own asses.
Nantucket LitYeah, we had a decent amount of snow in Maine... Unfortunately, a great local place for cross-country skiing closed down last year because we haven't had a lot of snow the past few years, @nantucketlit , @violetmadder @rmblaber1956
@nantucketlit @DoomsdaysCW @rmblaber1956
Literally. As in, you'd be skiing on ROCKS.
Jonathan@violetmadder yes we are in big trouble
Nazo@violetmadder @DoomsdaysCW @rmblaber1956 This is what confuses me about climate change denialism. We have all witnessed big changes just in our own lifetimes. I realize that rule number one of being on the right is deep compartmentalization and lack of awareness but even so, it has to be hard to just... not remember back to our own childhoods...
But then again, I guess most of these people just walk around brain off these days. Let Fox and FB fill the blanks.
Passenger@nazokiyoubinbou @violetmadder @DoomsdaysCW @rmblaber1956
I am not a psychologist but I do a lot of research on weird groups with fringe beliefs. My understanding of the psychology here is that denialism comes from a specific place: the desire to not have to take action.
Decades ago, there were many excuses people could use to avoid having to take action. We're not sure yet, it could be a number of things, it won't interfere with business, it'll only affect other countries, the believers are just a bunch of reds.
Over time the excuses dropped away until now the only way to avoid having to take action is to go for straight-up total denialism. That's why more people are doing that.
We are not seeing denialists increase in number because fewer people believe the scientific evidence; we're seeing them increase in number because every position but those two is becoming untenable, and a lot of people just don't want to take the actions that they would have to take if they believed in the scientific evidence.
It's kinda the same pattern that we saw with creationists over the course of the 20th century.
@passenger @nazokiyoubinbou @violetmadder @DoomsdaysCW There are more people denying the scientific evidence in the US, starting with Trump & the Republicans. Furthermore, they want to ensure that funding for climate research - & scientific research in general - is cut or even eliminated altogether, so that nobody can put figures to the facts of their own eyes.
Aeáro, a SeaWyrm 
@violetmadder @DoomsdaysCW @rmblaber1956
I think the "stuns scientists" is, you know, a headline. Not a true statement. Maybe "stunned" in the sense that seeing the reality of it is still terrible, even if it was expected, but I doubt many climatologists are surprised by this as such.
Or as the end of the article puts it,
"'It is heartbreaking to see it all playing out as we have predicted for so long,' [a climatologist] said. 'The changes we have teed up for ourselves are going to be catastrophic.'”
Kinene⭐🐻@aearo @violetmadder @DoomsdaysCW @rmblaber1956 I'm tired of pointing out that "The Limits to Growth" predicted this, in 1972.
Arrrgh.
But have you read EarthForAll @c_merriweather ? There is some hope... Degrowth, Giant Leap, etc. It does look bleak, but there is hope... @aearo @violetmadder @rmblaber1956
No, not yet.
I have my doubts that humans pull their heads out of their collective asses in enough time.
I hear you, @c_merriweather . And we all know that BAU (Business As Usual) is accelerating the "doomsday" scenario. Let's hope it's not too late!
@c_merriweather @DoomsdaysCW @violetmadder @rmblaber1956
There *are* things being done, and there are tons of people who care.
What stands in the way is a few powerful people who stand more to lose than to gain from doing anything about it, and a lot of misinformation and disorganization and hopelessness.
But there's always hope.
@aearo @c_merriweather @DoomsdaysCW @rmblaber1956
Solutions exist.
Some of them really aren't that difficult, either.
The scale of what's possible is staggering.
Violet Madder (@[email protected])
I post some heavy shit. But there's a very good reason I have so little patience with the horrible crap going on all around us: Solutions exist. All of the energy and resources being poured into endless war right now, need to be aimed instead towards projects like this. It is possible to rehabilitate large-scale ecosystems. Enough carbon could be sequestered this way, to actually return us to pre-Industrial levels. I grew up with my father, an engineer, constantly explaining in detail the short-sighted flaws in how many things are done all around us, and how it could be fixed by people willing to do things the right way. This is why I'm so fired up. We can do so much better than the pathetic fate we're expected to resign ourselves to. The Paris Accords don't come close. The oh-so-greenwashed infrastructure act and inflation reduction act are laughable next to the scale of what needs to be done. People who promote net zero scams and blather about tech miracles are dodging the issue and wasting our time. They think 3C increase is acceptable. They will let us burn. They are liars who want you to believe I'm trying to discourage you by pointing out the flaws in what's happening. The opposite is true. Solutions exist. There is hope. Corporate toadies of the fossil fuel industry don't want us to realize it-- nothing else is so dangerous to the tyranny of the status quo, as the realization that solutions exist. It's an enormous job, but we CAN do it if enough resources are directed the right way. And every little bit counts. Your yard, your neighbor's yard, the median, the ditch, empty lots-- anywhere. Everywhere. Build topsoil. Like our lives depend on it. They do. Build connections, trust, friendships. Repair things. Find people with good hearts, people who are building something real. People who talk about work like this: https://youtube.com/watch?v=bLdNhZ6kAzo
@violetmadder @aearo @c_merriweather @DoomsdaysCW Quite possibly - but global capitalism is completely incompatible with all of them. The good news, however, is that that is doomed to collapse in the near future - because it is ecologically unsustainable - & no revolution is required!
We need something to shake us up! Business As Usual is going to lead us nowhere fast. We need Giant Leaps! ASAP! @rmblaber1956 @violetmadder @aearo @c_merriweather
@DoomsdaysCW @c_merriweather @aearo @violetmadder Hope, may I gently remind you, was the last - & deadliest - gift in Pandora's Box?
Actually, it was a jar, and the story was changed to demonize Pandora (whose name means, "Giver of All Gifts.") @rmblaber1956 @c_merriweather @aearo @violetmadder
@DoomsdaysCW @c_merriweather @aearo @violetmadder Yes, it was a jar, & Pandora's name does mean "All gifts". She was the wife of Epimetheus ("Afterthought"), the brother of Prometheus ("Forethought") - & it was Epimetheus's fault for opening the box, or jar, which was the wedding present of the Olympian gods.
It's really just a version of "Adam and Eve" -- meant to punish curiosity and questioning orders, imho. Pandora was allegedly the first "woman". @rmblaber1956 @c_merriweather @aearo @violetmadder
@DoomsdaysCW @c_merriweather @aearo @violetmadder How does that fit with Prometheus creating humans from clay & breathing life into them, then teaching them about agriculture, etc., following that up by stealing fire for them from the gods - with the outcome we all know about? Interestingly, there are other Prometheus-like figures in world mythology.
Yes, and Prometheus was punished by the gods -- chained to a mountain while getting eaten alive (!!!). Wisdom and knowledge is punished by Zeus (patriarchal father-figure and king of the gods). Sound familiar? @rmblaber1956 @c_merriweather @aearo @violetmadder
I would argue that Zeus / Yahweh / whoever the ChristoFascists worship are all the same deity, @rmblaber1956 .
Ighostrider@DoomsdaysCW @rmblaber1956 @c_merriweather @aearo @violetmadder as some of 'em'd say 'Yah way', then again that might just go over their heads...
@DoomsdaysCW @c_merriweather @aearo @violetmadder They are both mountain gods, & Yahweh was syncretistically identified with the Canaanite god El (meaning "god"), who was a sky god. They are all seen as storm gods, having full control over the weather.
@DoomsdaysCW @c_merriweather @aearo @violetmadder Indeed so. Raven was turned from a white bird into a black one - because he got burned - in the mythology of the Native Americans of the Pacific NW - because he stole fire (or the Sun) for the people.
Hesiod was one to just write the version of the myth that fit his agenda. Kinda like an ancient Karoline Leavitt, @rmblaber1956 . Homer was the same way. @c_merriweather @aearo @violetmadder