Quote from: fadzinator on January 13, 2020, 07:12:53 AM

With the recent happening in the world what are your thoughts? Some people says that the end of the world is near.

1. Australian wildfire https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/01/australia/australia-fires-explainer-intl-hnk-scli/index.html
2. US vs Iran https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/11/middleeast/iran-us-analysis-amanpour-intl/index.html
3. Amazon Wildfire https://www.sciencenews.org/article/wildfires-could-flip-parts-amazon-carbon-sponge-source-2050
4. Ukranian Airline shootdown by Iran https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/11/world/middleeast/plane-crash.html
5. Philippines Taal volcano eruption https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/12/asia/taal-volcano-eruption-philippines-trnd/index.html
6. Philippines Typhoon Phanfone on Christmass day https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/26/typhoon-phanfone-killed-in-christmas-day-storm

There are relationships here.

#4 is a consequence of #2. Iran shot down that plane because they were (are) on high alert following the US assassination of Soleimani. Iranian Foreign Minister: Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster [...] Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations."

#1, #3 and #6 are caused by (or at least exacerbated by) human-caused climate change. Indeed the increase in Amazon wildfires has been linked directly to deforestation.

#5 is perhaps the only one that is a 'natural' event.

Quote from: big_zeppelin on January 14, 2020, 09:42:37 AM

I study climate change both on Earth and in individual regions of the world. If you look at the statistics for the last 30 years, you can see how the climate is becoming more and more unpredictable, frequent fires, floods, abnormal temperatures. And every year the situation is only getting worse.
Also, if you look at what is happening in society. When everyone is trying to rob another for their own benefit. When fashion is not honesty, but a deliberate lie and personal popularity and so on.
And now tell me, does such a society have the right to further existence?
It seems to me that until we begin to become better ourselves, the situation in the world will only worsen. Now ask yourself, only honestly, what are your thoughts in your head, what emotions? Are you trying to sincerely help people around you, or just trying to make money, etc.?
I think that absolutely all of us are not perfect. Therefore, before changing the world for the better, I suggest changing ourselves. And then we have a chance that we will overcome all this.

I absolutely agree with all of this. Our pursuit of money (actually our pursuit of power, money is just the medium) is leading to all sorts of problems. We have rampant and increasing wealth inequality, which is stoking social tensions, which is having an effect across the globe with the rise to power of nationalist, populist strongman politicians, Trump, Bolsonaro, Modi, Duterte, Xi Jinping and of course Putin just to name a few. These rulers create severely oppositional, angry and violent societies. We are seeing old international alliances torn down, the EU is on the brink of collapse, and there are secessionist movements everywhere. Human solidarity between and even within countries is at breaking point.

Human caused climate change is the other big factor. Again it comes back to grasping for money (power) as well as the fatal short-termism that plagues our politics. Make money today, the problems of tomorrow will be someone else's problem.

Can we see this getting worse or getting better?

Well, if we don't fix climate change we will soon be faced with huge numbers of climate refugees, there have been various estimates of numbers, but universally huge - global thinktank UNU suggests 1 billion people by 2050.

Climate change also obviously causes death and destruction as evidenced by the links that started this thread, and the incidence and severity of these are increasing rapidly.

What else? Well, I would argue that the febrile political environment coupled with the climate crisis could well lead to scenarios such as international wars over water sources. Take Egypt for example, the whole country relies on the Nile, and tensions are already high over an Ethiopian dam upstream, which will be Africa's biggest hydroelectric plant, and could severely impact flow to Egypt as well as bringing Sudan into the conflict.

So what will happen? Will we take action in time, or will it be too little too late?