Are there any lessons to be drawn from the ongoing pandemic vis a vis global warming /climate change/ extinction event crises.

[geordief]

Is there a silver lining to be drawn from the current situation?

Are the opponents to concerted action based on scientific understanding  who have shown their hands  on this occasion broadly the same group we can expect to be digging in their heels when it comes to any action at all  when the time comes (of course it has come  but seems to be being deliberately ignored-eg the windmills in Texas ploy)

 

Are we getting any closer to a very widespread acceptance that we are all in this together in a very shallow pool or has the populace shown themselves to be ready for more  snake oil merchants who will offer them short term satisfactions and attempt to turn us one against another for their own gain?

 

On a practical level are their any parallels between the measures required to fight this pandemic and the mobilization  required to address climate change?

Edited February 21, 2021 by geordief

[swansont]

Quote

Are there any lessons to be drawn from the ongoing pandemic vis a vis global warming /climate change/ extinction event crises.

Yes, but unfortunately the people that need to learn them are unwilling or unable to learn them. The denial overlap is extensive.

[CharonY]

On 2/21/2021 at 7:33 AM, geordief said:

Is there a silver lining to be drawn from the current situation?

Are the opponents to concerted action based on scientific understanding  who have shown their hands  on this occasion broadly the same group we can expect to be digging in their heels when it comes to any action at all  when the time comes (of course it has come  but seems to be being deliberately ignored-eg the windmills in Texas ploy)

 

Are we getting any closer to a very widespread acceptance that we are all in this together in a very shallow pool or has the populace shown themselves to be ready for more  snake oil merchants who will offer them short term satisfactions and attempt to turn us one against another for their own gain?

 

On a practical level are their any parallels between the measures required to fight this pandemic and the mobilization  required to address climate change?

I think despite the dramatic ongoing situation, folks are still unaware of how the issues are interconnected. There is even a name for this interaction called the one-health framework. Moreover, even as we go through the pandemic, folks are already actively ignoring or trying to (knowingly or not) misdirect and obfuscate the issue.

Folks have been saying for a long time now that pandemics are driven by our intrusion into wildlife, that many of our practices (e.g. state fairs, industrial meat production and so on) are risk factors. Yet they get soundly ignored and the only thing that occasionally gets traction is if one highlights the failures elsewhere. But that obviously only distracts from the need to actually do something locally (just take a look at some of the comments and discussions on this forum). Thus, folks assume that the risk of pandemic is something foreign, which also nicely feeds into the beliefs of xenophobic crowds ("they" bring diseases). The depressing result is then the utter lack of preparedness.

If even in the middle of the crisis folks refuse to learn the situation, I have little hope for it to have any long-term effects. My assumption is that there will be some investment now with the pandemic still being fresh but within a few years we will basically be at a level of preparedness as before. If the next pandemic or major outbreak happens somewhat in the future, folks will be caught complete unaware, and we will basically revisit all discussions we already had, probably with few if any lessons learned. 

 

 

[geordief]

2 hours ago, CharonY said:

Yet they get soundly ignored and the only thing that occasionally gets traction if one highlights the failures elsewhere

I don't follow this part .A typo or two? An autocomplete malfunction ?🤔

 

[iNow]

Put the word “is” before the word “if”

[geordief]

Thanks. I  did try replacing "if"with "is"....I need to try harder

[CharonY]

1 hour ago, geordief said:

Thanks. I  did try replacing "if"with "is"....I need to try harder

Yes, my apologies, I tend to post without re-reading especially when I am supposed to do something else. I have added a sentence to also make it slightly clearer what I mean.

[iNow]

1 hour ago, geordief said:

did try replacing "if"with "is"..

Add, not replace. Either way, fixed now