The Greta Thunberg Debate
02 Oct 2019, 10:31 pm
I am, quite frankly, very surprised that at WP, with all the focus and brain power we have here, people think that "Anthropogenic Climate Change" is actually a catastrophic crisis.
I highly suggest that those of you whom are scientifically minded start looking at the IPCC's actual reports and data, and the climate science itself, and start ignoring the media and politicians on this one.
I was a card carrying believer in 2004 to the point of buying carbon credits to offset my carbon footprint. I am not anymore, now that I have had the chance to see 100% of their predictions fall flat, and I have looked deeply into the mathematics, models and politics behind all of it.
As far as GT is concerned, watch her live interview on a panel of other young people to see her extemporaneous and unscripted. It appears to me that she was coached, and was acting the entire time she was on camera. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. But her parents should be seriously scolded for using their daughter like that... by exposing her to the winds of politics at such an age... I doubt that GT will be able to withstand what is coming her way, or the fact that not too long from now, she will be discarded as yet another poster child who grew up and became irrelevant.
Have you all forgotten the terrible yearning to "fit in"? The desperate seeking of "approval"? The almost terrifyingly powerful need to belong, and not belonging? The holding on to whatever little scraps you were fed of acceptance? Have you forgotten the pain of what it was like to be discarded?
Perhaps not all of us have experienced this, but I understand it is common, and it happened to myself. For her parents to use her like this.. it is shameful. Greta did nothing wrong. It is her parents, and the extended family and State, as well as the UN that have some answering to do for this travesty of abuse.
02 Oct 2019, 10:35 pm
I highly suggest that those of you whom are scientifically minded start looking at the IPCC's actual reports and data, and the climate science itself, and start ignoring the media and politicians on this one.
I was a card carrying believer in 2004 to the point of buying carbon credits to offset my carbon footprint. I am not anymore, now that I have had the chance to see 100% of their predictions fall flat, and I have looked deeply into the mathematics, models and politics behind all of it.
As far as GT is concerned, watch her live interview on a panel of other young people to see her extemporaneous and unscripted. It appears to me that she was coached, and was acting the entire time she was on camera. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. But her parents should be seriously scolded for using their daughter like that... by exposing her to the winds of politics at such an age... I doubt that GT will be able to withstand what is coming her way, or the fact that not too long from now, she will be discarded as yet another poster child who grew up and became irrelevant.
Have you all forgotten the terrible yearning to "fit in"? The desperate seeking of "approval"? The almost terrifyingly powerful need to belong, and not belonging? The holding on to whatever little scraps you were fed of acceptance? Have you forgotten the pain of what it was like to be discarded?
Perhaps not all of us have experienced this, but I understand it is common, and it happened to myself. For her parents to use her like this.. it is shameful. Greta did nothing wrong. It is her parents, and the extended family and State, as well as the UN that have some answering to do for this travesty of abuse.
well, that was a lot of shite.
03 Oct 2019, 4:18 am
I highly suggest that those of you whom are scientifically minded start looking at the IPCC's actual reports and data, and the climate science itself, and start ignoring the media and politicians on this one.
I was a card carrying believer in 2004 to the point of buying carbon credits to offset my carbon footprint. I am not anymore, now that I have had the chance to see 100% of their predictions fall flat, and I have looked deeply into the mathematics, models and politics behind all of it.
I get the impression that most of the people who go on about climate change only have a rudimentary understanding of it, that doesn't really extend beyond what they read in The Guardian and similar sources. I think they let themselves be conditioned to not challenge it, to not have any doubts. And to denounce anyone who does.
03 Oct 2019, 6:19 am
I highly suggest that those of you whom are scientifically minded start looking at the IPCC's actual reports and data, and the climate science itself, and start ignoring the media and politicians on this one.
I was a card carrying believer in 2004 to the point of buying carbon credits to offset my carbon footprint. I am not anymore, now that I have had the chance to see 100% of their predictions fall flat, and I have looked deeply into the mathematics, models and politics behind all of it.
I get the impression that most of the people who go on about climate change only have a rudimentary understanding of it, that doesn't really extend beyond what they read in The Guardian and similar sources. I think they let themselves be conditioned to not challenge it, to not have any doubts. And to denounce anyone who does.
The same could rightly be said about those that deny the effects of climate change . I personally don't know what to believe . Are those talking about climate change ,and its effects, completely wrong or are they merely wrong with regards to the degree and timescale of what will happen?
The thing that stands out is that it's a very emotive subject whatever side of the fence you're on .
03 Oct 2019, 9:34 am
This event was yesterday, at my school.
https://climate.mit.edu/symposia/live/? ... ePIDgrxCGc
A lot of people with brain power and focus have concluded that it is a catastrophic crisis. And a present one, not a future one. Climate-induced migrations are going on right now, with people forced to leave their homes in the Middle East, Central America and the South Pacific.
graceksjp
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03 Oct 2019, 10:47 am
Im no expert but personally i have done a whole lot of in depth research on climate change for the past several years and made it the focus of my senior thesis and did a 30 minute presentation about climate change and its effects on species loss and the sixth mass extinction. Specifically with regards to recent global warming trends.
It IS a legitimate issue that is happening right now and primarily human induced.
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ASPartOfMe
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31 Dec 2019, 4:13 am
Mr. Thunberg said Greta struggled with depression three or four years before her first school strike for climate change awareness took place. "She stopped talking, she stopped eating... she stopped going to school," he told the BBC, adding it was the "ultimate nightmare for a parent."
The family went to doctors for help and Greta was diagnosed with Asperger's, on the autism spectrum. Earlier this year, the teen opened up to "CBS This Morning" about her diagnosis, saying that in some ways the condition gives her an advantage.
Over the next few years, the problem of climate change became her passion. But her father was not at first supportive of her taking an active role in fighting the crisis. He told the BBC his daughter confronted him about the issue.
The Thunbergs identify as "very active" human rights activists, and Greta called them "huge hypocrites," for not supporting her activism. "Greta said: 'Whose human rights are you standing up for?' since we were not taking this climate issue seriously," Mr. Thunberg told the BBC. That spurred them to make changes.
Her mother decided not to travel by airplane anymore, and her father became vegan and also accompanied Greta on her zero-emissions sailing expeditions to U.N. climate summits. "I did all these things, I knew they were the right thing to do... but I didn't do it to save the climate, I did it to save my child," he said.
While his daughter is much happier now that she has become an activist, he still worries about the "hate" she faces, he said.
Svante Thunberg told the BBC that he is especially worried about "the fake news, all the things that people try to fabricate [about] her — the hate that that generates." However, the teen deals with criticism "incredibly well," he said.
"You think she's not ordinary now because she's special, and she's very famous, and all these things. But to me she's now an ordinary child — she can do all the things like other people can," he said, adding Greta "dances around, she laughs a lot, we have a lot of fun — and she's in a very good place."
Mr. Thunberg thinks Greta wants to return to school and he hopes things become "less intense" for his family. However, Greta, who was named Time's Person of the Year earlier this month, will turn 17 soon and she won't need a parent to accompany her during her travels around the world.
Her father said if she needs him, he'll go with her — but he thinks she'll become more and more independent and do it by herself.
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
31 Dec 2019, 8:23 am
I can completely tune out hunger pangs, and I find it convenient up to the point where I wake up and there's someone hovering over me asking if he should call an ambulance. My son has the same trait. He can go all day without giving any hint that he's hungry, and then eat like a wolf. So when I read that the Thunberg family was dealing with a daughter who was refusing food, well, it hit home and it hit hard.
Dear_one
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01 Jan 2020, 12:27 am
I highly suggest that those of you whom are scientifically minded start looking at the IPCC's actual reports and data, and the climate science itself, and start ignoring the media and politicians on this one.
I was a card carrying believer in 2004 to the point of buying carbon credits to offset my carbon footprint. I am not anymore, now that I have had the chance to see 100% of their predictions fall flat, and I have looked deeply into the mathematics, models and politics behind all of it.
I get the impression that most of the people who go on about climate change only have a rudimentary understanding of it, that doesn't really extend beyond what they read in The Guardian and similar sources. I think they let themselves be conditioned to not challenge it, to not have any doubts. And to denounce anyone who does.
Ahh, I was wondering where the Thunberg threads had gone. There are, of course, some people agitating for climate action who can't follow the science themselves, but the IPCC numbers are truly alarming to me. The Banff Glacier used to end in a beautiful, turquoise blue lake, and when I first visited, there was a fine old stone hotel for enjoying the view. Now, it only shows a rubble field and a distant scrap of ice. Our grandfathers knew that glaciers don't move, but now, watching them break up has become a tourist treat.
My AS mother inspired me to live experimentally because she thought that the A-bomb had made peace imperative. After a decade trying to tackle that issue, I saw better odds of my talents making a difference on oil conservation and have focussed on that since. The reasons have only become more compelling over the decades - now, a "Nuclear Winter" is looking more like an antidote than a threat.
When the methane started boiling out of the permafrost and the sea floor, we should have gone to full wartime measures to stop a runaway positive feedback loop. To me, the sensation is like riding a bicycle over a long hill. First, it seems as if nothing will change, but then it starts to get easier. Eventually, you reach a point where you can coast. At first, you just creep along, but it keeps building speed until you may lose control. In the analogy, we can now coast at almost a walking pace, and we need to turn around and start pulling CO2 back out of the air. Even 1C rise has proven to be too much over the long term.
I have watched the debates over the years, and every time, representatives from the carbon companies have managed to reduce the estimated problems being announced, but they were actively planning for the changes themselves, based on their own research. Now, measured changes are much closer to the original, un-lobbied predictions.
I have been enjoying a web-cam at my own latitude, but about 12 hours around the earth, in Siberia. Until this summer, our weather was averaging very similar, but since then, they have been far warmer most days. I think the ice fields that feed our continental rivers also acted like lane markers for the prevailing winds, and those have now shifted. This puts our food supply at great risk, because crops need predictable weather.
I'd wish you all a Happy New Year, and decade, but I prefer better odds. Instead, I hope you will be kind to refugees, and have the luck to be able to.
Sweetleaf
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01 Jan 2020, 1:02 am
I say go greta, do your thing.
Like seriously I find her to be a pretty cool kid, I like what she is doing and I fully support her. I do kinda wish I had the guts she had because I have no idea how I would stand up for that stuff and shes just a teenage kid doing it, I hate people saying she's a puppet and this and that. Like I cared about some of that stuff when I was a kid to, and I always got shut down by the adults..seems like in her case her parents and other adult people around her didn't discourage her and if anything encouraged her. She's not a freaking puppet she's a smart kid who knows what is going on with the planet and she is trying to help people.
I tried for a while as a younger kid but no one wanted to hear it, seems Greta was able to get some people listening....and she is just 16 I am 30 but I find her amazing. Like I sure as hell never sailed across the ocean to speak about global warming and pollution without using air travel due to the potential environmental cost. I mean yeah for this young girl to do all of that she probably does have some help from her parents who from what i understand support her cause. But so what who else is sailing across the ocean on an economic yahcht without all the fancy housings of what people usually picture about a yahcht at the age 16. I mean to me seems she must care about the issues because that is her focus and she's not going out and committing mischief she's actually doing things to help the world, IDk if people realize how much she is probably giving up to do this. You think she can just have a normal social life with friends after all this world-wide recognition? I mean she's just a teenager, she is sacrificing so much to do her thing...she will never have a normal teenage life after this there is no way she can and yet she still stands strong.
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Dear_one
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01 Jan 2020, 1:18 am
<snip> IDk if people realize how much she is probably giving up to do this. You think she can just have a normal social life with friends after all this world-wide recognition? I mean she's just a teenager, she is sacrificing so much to do her thing...she will never have a normal teenage life after this there is no way she can and yet she still stands strong.
Well, she's reacting to the prospects of having a normal adult life. "Normal" is toast for us anyway, and now it is for everyone, for different reasons. Perhaps humanity will learn to ignore psychopathic leaders.
01 Jan 2020, 7:02 pm
I get the impression that most of the people who go on about climate change only have a rudimentary understanding of it, that doesn't really extend beyond what they read in The Guardian and similar sources. I think they let themselves be conditioned to not challenge it, to not have any doubts. And to denounce anyone who does.
I think lack of detailed knowledge applies to both many climate change believers and many climate change cynics . Sensationalism from both camps , when it comes to media input , stifles intelligent debate amongst the general population about the subject .
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