Prepping and climate change

[PreppingPingu]

I know it sounds a bit doomsayer ish but I see the only way forward for the human race is a good ole natural disaster to wipe a couple of billion of us off the planet and so effect the world globally from a social and economic stand point. Make it reset itself so as to speak. It's something that I have always said for years to my family and friends and they tend to look at me rather horrified, pointing out that a pandemic might wipe me out too, to which I have always said that's fine if the human race can renew itself. Take the black death - when that ravaged Europe it brought down the serfdom feudal system so changed the social structure as well as the physical landscape as many villages ended up deserted. (Archaeologists still find old Deserted Medieval Villages in the landscape from time to time.)

The problem is "pandora's box" if you will, has been opened. The modern masses are used to having things, living a certain way and suddenly being told to change our life styles dramatically won't go down well. It not only affects the individual but the whole global economics as our modern businesses are built of consumer demand.

The planet doesn't need saving - the human race does. Human are highly adaptable but we have been lucky in that we have living and in particular, thriving for a good period of time as the climate has been very stable. However that changes naturally , never mind when you add the human factor into it. I am glad for Greta and Sir David - they have brought the attention to the forefront and got people talking about it that wouldn't have done before. I am of the opinion that any discussion is better than none at all regardless on our personal views on these two people.

So how to prep? Financially it will get tough, so food stores and getting yourself financially secure is a good start. Food stores come into play as certain food may become hard to obtain as crops fail. Getting my family used to eating more seasonal foods, getting on top of a productive allotment will help. They only said today about the UK being warmer and wetter in the last few years than it has ever been before and how this may well continue. So thinking about protection from water: making sure my crops don't wash away, as well as making sure the house is ok. (That may just mean good roof and external wall maintenance to resist the onslaught of heavy rain.) I already prep for power outages in a basic way but maybe that needs looking at more closely given the issues with lack of capacity in the grid. The things we already prep for make us a little bit more resilient so it's just tweaking it with a focus of what climate change brings to us here in the uk.

[jansman]

All of the above^^!

However, regarding preparing, food storage and financial security are ( in my opinion) only short term fixes. Starting with finance: your job can disappear in an instant- we all know that. If you have investment income( pension), that can disappear too, as it relies on stocks and shares that create money in what is essentially a notional market. We have seen people lose vast chunks, if not all, of pensions accumulated over a lifetime of work. British Steel was a good example. Money only exists because we believe it to be valuable.

Skills are the key. I have a deep pantry. But that will not last forever if supplies dry up, and we have to rely on local, seasonal foods. So, I have the skill to grow plants and animals. I can ( and do) shoot and fish. I can execute house repairs, and pretty much fix many things. Learning skills is where it’s at. This year I am going to learn how to bottle foods using a pressure cooker. Many will know this as ...cringe... pressure canning. Sorry for the Americanism. It’s about more than packratting.

[Deeps]

I know it sounds a bit doomsayer ish but I see the only way forward for the human race is a good ole natural disaster to wipe a couple of billion of us off the planet and so effect the world globally from a social and economic stand point. Make it reset itself so as to speak. It's something that I have always said for years to my family and friends and they tend to look at me rather horrified, pointing out that a pandemic might wipe me out too, to which I have always said that's fine if the human race can renew itself. Take the black death - when that ravaged Europe it brought down the serfdom feudal system so changed the social structure as well as the physical landscape as many villages ended up deserted. (Archaeologists still find old Deserted Medieval Villages in the landscape from time to time.)

The problem is "pandora's box" if you will, has been opened. The modern masses are used to having things, living a certain way and suddenly being told to change our life styles dramatically won't go down well. It not only affects the individual but the whole global economics as our modern businesses are built of consumer demand.

The planet doesn't need saving - the human race does. Human are highly adaptable but we have been lucky in that we have living and in particular, thriving for a good period of time as the climate has been very stable. However that changes naturally , never mind when you add the human factor into it. I am glad for Greta and Sir David - they have brought the attention to the forefront and got people talking about it that wouldn't have done before. I am of the opinion that any discussion is better than none at all regardless on our personal views on these two people.

So how to prep? Financially it will get tough, so food stores and getting yourself financially secure is a good start. Food stores come into play as certain food may become hard to obtain as crops fail. Getting my family used to eating more seasonal foods, getting on top of a productive allotment will help. They only said today about the UK being warmer and wetter in the last few years than it has ever been before and how this may well continue. So thinking about protection from water: making sure my crops don't wash away, as well as making sure the house is ok. (That may just mean good roof and external wall maintenance to resist the onslaught of heavy rain.) I already prep for power outages in a basic way but maybe that needs looking at more closely given the issues with lack of capacity in the grid. The things we already prep for make us a little bit more resilient so it's just tweaking it with a focus of what climate change brings to us here in the uk.

Great post PP, I think a lot of us are on the same page with regard to the problem, US !

From a purely selfish point of view, I don't think I'll live to see things deteriorate too much. We're 'comfortable' enough and certainly in a few years when the mortgage is paid off have a lot more slack in our personal system. Assuming it doesn't go full 'Mad Max' of course, I'm thinking more of the global warming stuff on the 'I'm alright Jack' position. That aside, I've a daughter who this will probably affect more and she's at the age where she'll be thinking of calving. We really do need to get our act together and it has to be as a planet. There's no point (well little point) in the UK busting a gut to be fantastic about it and all carbon neutral if the likes of China, India, Brazil and the US giving it a stiff ignoring. I can't see it but it would be nice if this became a rallying call for the planet, even if the global warming thing has been played up, the sheer number of people consuming stuff needs to be addressed.

[Arwen Thebard]

After years of trying to learn as much as I could about the science of CC I came to the conclusion that its already too late as we (as species) are not prepared to make the changes that are necessary to live sustainably. At least lemmings rush over the cliff edge without knowing any better, we humans understand the potential problems ahead and still do almost nothing to help ourselves. I know it sounds defeatist but we just look out for ourselves now and watch others in their denial and ignorance.

[PreppingPingu]

There's no point (well little point) in the UK busting a gut to be fantastic about it and all carbon neutral if the likes of China, India, Brazil and the US giving it a stiff ignoring. I can't see it but it would be nice if this became a rallying call for the planet, even if the global warming thing has been played up, the sheer number of people consuming stuff needs to be addressed.

Yes the "carbon neutral" thing is a weird one. From how I understand it, its basically a numbers balancing game, like a crooked accountant trying to make the books looks good. The premise seems to be "I can still produce XX amount of CO2, provided I pay money into environmental project X or if I do environmental thing Y to "offset" it." While it's a start of sorts, it is not really fixing the underlying problems of dramatically reducing humankind's effect on the changing climate and the subsequent break down the planet's eco systems which are vital things that help keep humans alive. Arh well, yes as Jansman said - practical skills and knowledge will be very important in the future I think!

[Deeps]

There's no point (well little point) in the UK busting a gut to be fantastic about it and all carbon neutral if the likes of China, India, Brazil and the US giving it a stiff ignoring. I can't see it but it would be nice if this became a rallying call for the planet, even if the global warming thing has been played up, the sheer number of people consuming stuff needs to be addressed.

Yes the "carbon neutral" thing is a weird one. From how I understand it, its basically a numbers balancing game, like a crooked accountant trying to make the books looks good. The premise seems to be "I can still produce XX amount of CO2, provided I pay money into environmental project X or if I do environmental thing Y to "offset" it." While it's a start of sorts, it is not really fixing the underlying problems of dramatically reducing humankind's effect on the changing climate and the subsequent break down the planet's eco systems which are vital things that help keep humans alive. Arh well, yes as Jansman said - practical skills and knowledge will be very important in the future I think!

Aye, I get the principal but as you say, it seems to have been hijacked along the way by people who have a guilty conscience but enough money to 'offset' that guilty conscience. Conveniently forgetting that even if they live in a yurt (and don't get the train to London for an Extinction hoedown) that there's a big old planet out there who are fair battering through the carbon.

[ForgeCorvus]

The main thing to remember about fossil fuels is that once we've dig it all up and burnt it, its all gone.
Then we'll have a climate like we used to have..... Back in the Carboniferous

Nuclear power is not really a suitable replacement either.... Not when the waste takes centuries to become safe*

We keep getting told it'll be alright if everyone switches to Hybrid or All Electric vehicles because people perceive them as 'clean' or Carbon Neutral..... Without admitting that the emissions just happen somewhere else
Switching off street lights and not flying strawberries around the world would make a bigger difference.

I live in Norfolk. If sea levels keep rising, rainfall patterns keep going the way they have been and greedy B'stards keep building on flood plains my next house will have to be on stilts.
Either that or I emigrate to Bhutan.... The whole country is a Carbon Sink


*For a given value of safe, rather then properly safe as in 'let your kids play there' safe

[jansman]

Here is an interesting article that ties in nicely:


https://consciousnessofsheep.co.uk/2019 ... f-storage/

[Deeps]

That was an interesting read Jansman, put some numbers to stuff.

Ultimately though while every man and his dog is getting all angst ridden over global warming we're all using more lecky to power our 'essentials' like big tellies etc. I'm as guilty as the next man, I love my big telly and fridge freezer etc, I wonder how it would work if our lecky was rationed. It wouldn't be popular so a vote loser but one way for a State to meet its emissions targets.

[jansman]

That was an interesting read Jansman, put some numbers to stuff.

Ultimately though while every man and his dog is getting all angst ridden over global warming we're all using more lecky to power our 'essentials' like big tellies etc. I'm as guilty as the next man, I love my big telly and fridge freezer etc, I wonder how it would work if our lecky was rationed. It wouldn't be popular so a vote loser but one way for a State to meet its emissions targets.

Bang on Deeps! I love the way I live,just like you do.