Climate change - all gone strangely quiet in UK

[Hallucigenia]

Has anyone noticed how quiet the meja has gone on climate change.

Surely if we were following the science, Attenborough, Thunberg and the like should be even more hysterical than usual, with all this talk of North Sea rejuvenation, mini reactors, even clean coal.

I got the impression that science had proven that climate change was binary and the biggest threat to mankind. Serious question and sorry if this comes across as negative, it's not meant to be.

Your question is more about the attention span of the mainstream media, rather than what's happening in the specialist media or on the ground. On the ground, work on countering climate change continues, for instance last week Mumbai announced a roadmap towards net-zero which is a bit of a landmark as the first Asian city to do so, but I suspect that the news sources you read won't have mentioned it :
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ro-roadmap

More generally, the mood among climate change types is remarkably hopeful - there's a lot of talk of more carbon emissions in the short-term from coal etc but they know in the longterm it's all about hard cash, and current prices of gas etc means that a whole load of renewable projects are becoming economic that weren't previously, in fact some people are now arguing that net-zero is now the lower cost option than business-as-usual.

But not many people are going to be shouting out an argument of "civilians dying in Ukraine means more sanctions on Russia means higher gas/oil prices means my project becomes economic" because it's in incredibly bad taste. But it does give them a reason to work on that project with renewed vigour, so that the market can pass judgment on it sooner rather than later.

But if your view is "it's all gone quiet", and you're expecting "hysteria", then you're probably consuming the wrong media.

[Dod101]

Whilst many are concerned about it, it is not the number one priority for most people, who see it as a distant threat rather than an immediate one.

Until the next storm arrives and blows over a load of fences and trees.

Edit to add:
Oh, and a load of power lines. My power was off for six days here in the hovel, and I just got a cheque for £350 compensation! Not entirely sure why, as power cuts were a fact of life when I was a child.

I could be wrong but I am fairly sure that we had storms decades and centuries ago. And yes, there have always been power cuts. I am old enough to remember the 3-day week in the 1970s. We told ghost stories by candlelight.

In the 1970s I was earning my living in Hong Kong and so stories of the 3 day week have taken on a mythological aura about which I know nothing but surely the power cuts then were nothing to do with the meteorological climate and thus nothing to do with the ability of the power companies to reconnect homes?

Sure. I was addressing only the claim that power cuts are somehow a new and recent thing.

Of course go back to the 19th century and there was no power to be cut anyway.

OK I misread that. Power cuts must surely be quite recent because up until around 1950 or so, not all homes even in relatively accessible areas were connected to the grid anyway. In my previous house we were regularly cut off for sometimes half a day or so (not in the 1950s!), sometimes longer and we got no compensation, nor did we expect any. Eventually the power company cut down a few more trees and built in a bit more resilience but if you live in the countryside you expect that.

Obviously though, being cut off for some days is quite different.

Dod

[Lootman]

But if your view is "it's all gone quiet", and you're expecting "hysteria", then you're probably consuming the wrong media.

Except that it is the media that influences how people vote. The voters may be less likely to vote in a "green" way if the media doesn't focus on it.

So whilst some things may be happening in the background, as you suggest, there won't be the widespread election of green politicians unless the voters are scared into doing that. There isn't a lot of pressure to consume less right now, other than on price. And the greens still struggle to get past the point where people see green policies as being bad for the economy. Most people want OTHER people to consume and burn less.

[mc2fool]

Has anyone noticed how quiet the meja has gone on climate change.

Surely if we were following the science, Attenborough, Thunberg and the like should be even more hysterical than usual, with all this talk of North Sea rejuvenation, mini reactors, even clean coal.

No, not at all. In fact I've noticed a great increase in discussion of energy security and how to accelerate the move away from hydrocarbons to green, and local (read, national), energy sources. (And I'm a Ch4 News & Newsnight kinda guy.)

Of course, there is the immediate problem of how to replace Russian gas/oil in the short term, and yes, I've seen the likes of Caroline Lucas and other greens worry that doing so from the North Sea or fracking will become permanent and pushing for a faster move to renewables.

Inevitably what fills the headlines moves with events, but far from having gone quiet on climate change, the focus has shifted to both the immediacy of the situation and to getting away from hydrocarbons even quicker.

[Lootman]

Has anyone noticed how quiet the meja has gone on climate change.

Surely if we were following the science, Attenborough, Thunberg and the like should be even more hysterical than usual, with all this talk of North Sea rejuvenation, mini reactors, even clean coal.

No, not at all. In fact I've noticed a great increase in discussion of energy security and how to accelerate the move away from hydrocarbons to green, and local (read, national), energy sources. (And I'm a Ch4 News & Newsnight kinda guy.)

Of course, there is the immediate problem of how to replace Russian gas/oil in the short term, and yes, I've seen the likes of Caroline Lucas and other greens worry that doing so from the North Sea or fracking will become permanent and pushing for a faster move to renewables.

Inevitably what fills the headlines moves with events, but far from having gone quiet on climate change, the focus has shifted to both the immediacy of the situation and to getting away from hydrocarbons even quicker.

Yes but the global warming fans do not get any credit for us identifying the need for new sources of energy due to Russia going batshit crazy.

The OP was lamenting the drop in focus, attention and publicity, which I have noticed as well in recent months. It seems that the movement either gets ignored or, if it seeks attention by stunts like blocking roads, then they get hated for it.

That is their essential dilemma.

[XFool]

Heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles alarm climate scientists

The Guardian

Antarctic areas reach 40C above normal at same time as north pole regions hit 30C above usual levels

“They are opposite seasons. You don’t see the north and the south (poles) both melting at the same time,” said Walt Meier, a scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. “It’s definitely an unusual occurrence,” he told AP. “It’s pretty stunning.”

[swill453]

Heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles alarm climate scientists

The Guardian

Yes I posted that earlier.

Scott.

[XFool]

Heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles alarm climate scientists

The Guardian

Yes I posted that earlier.

Scott.

Yes, I know! I read it after I had posted.

I think the answer to the OP's question is: Seek and ye shall find.

That and, of course, a previous comment about "probably consuming the wrong media"...

[scotview]

I think the answer to the OP's question is: Seek and ye shall find.

That's exactly what I mean. Not long ago Climate Change/Global Warming, was right in the public's face, every day, day after day. With the same urgency as if a meteor was going to obliterate the Earth. My OP wasn't directed at intellectuals like yourselves.

By the way, I do enjoy Bloomberg, it comes with my Sky subscription, that's one of the main reasons I have Sky.

[Lootman]

Heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles alarm climate scientists

The Guardian

Yes I posted that earlier.

Yes, I know! I read it after I had posted.

I think the answer to the OP's question is: Seek and ye shall find.

That and, of course, a previous comment about "probably consuming the wrong media"...

Again you miss the OP's point. He wasn't saying that there is no media coverage even if you go looking for it. He was saying that the mainstream media have greatly diluted their coverage of the issue in the last few months. Which in turn has led to the general public becoming significantly switched off from caring about the issue.

[BullDog]

I think the answer to the OP's question is: Seek and ye shall find.

That's exactly what I mean. Not long ago Climate Change/Global Warming, was right in the public's face, every day, day after day. With the same urgency as if a meteor was going to obliterate the Earth. My OP wasn't directed at intellectuals like yourselves.

By the way, I do enjoy Bloomberg, it comes with my Sky subscription, that's one of the main reasons I have Sky.

Indeed, to the point almost everything that happened somewhere in the world was attributed to climate change. That's probably the most likely way the general public are going to stop caring about it. Climate change fatigue is a very real risk and is likely to hinder rather than help the massive changes to people's lives that are already in the pipeline.

[scotview]

Again you miss the OP's point. He wasn't saying that there is no media coverage even if you go looking for it. He was saying that the mainstream media have greatly diluted their coverage of the issue in the last few months. Which in turn has led to the general public becoming significantly switched off from caring about the issue.

Yes, thanks for that. Much better than I could have put it.

When this latest news event, hopefully, goes away, I think that the public might be very sceptical of future climate reporting by the media. This will be a great shame and the media will have done the public a huge disservice.

[XFool]

I think the answer to the OP's question is: Seek and ye shall find.

That's exactly what I mean. Not long ago Climate Change/Global Warming, was right in the public's face, every day, day after day. With the same urgency as if a meteor was going to obliterate the Earth.

But isn't that just the way the mass media (and life) works? The exact same thing could be said about pretty well any subject and, surely, a war breaking out in Europe is without doubt a trump card when it comes to media coverage? Apart from "a meteor going to obliterate the Earth" I can't really think of anything much that would top that.

And, as has been shown above, the media is still covering the subject along with COVID and indeed everything else. Indeed, as also pointed out above, the war is itself closely linked with matters of energy policy and hence to climate change. So the subject really hasn't gone away. However, at present every front page news story and leading news bulletin is covering Ukraine. Why would they not be? I am surprised you appear surprised by this.

[Lootman]

I think the answer to the OP's question is: Seek and ye shall find.

That's exactly what I mean. Not long ago Climate Change/Global Warming, was right in the public's face, every day, day after day. With the same urgency as if a meteor was going to obliterate the Earth.

But isn't that just the way the mass media (and life) works? The exact same thing could be said about pretty well any subject and, surely, a war breaking out in Europe is without doubt a trump card when it comes to media coverage? Apart from "a meteor going to obliterate the Earth" I can't really think of anything much that would top that.

And, as has been shown above, the media is still covering the subject along with COVID and indeed everything else. However, at present every front page story and leading news bulletin is covering Ukraine. Why would they not be? I am surprised you appear surprised by this.

The coverage of climate change was declining well before Ukraine came along. It has been in a straight line decline since the end of the conflab in Glasgow.

Perhaps the advocates are in a bind. If they make too much noise we all get climate change fatigue. But if they shut up about it then we ignore it. If they block roads or try and interfere with airport operations, the public hates them. How can they win?

[Midsmartin]

I think you're right. Scientists have been downplaying the science generally for years, for fear of making people think there's no point trying. Now they are cranking up the warnings (ignored by most media) and when it is covered they are accused of exaggerating.

It's a bit late now, but terrible science education is partly to blame. Most don't understand the full impact of seeking exponential growth on a finite world, and don't understand how climate change works. Climate change is only one symptom of the damage caused by our never ending growth.
We should all be terrified witless by the collapse in insect and other invertebrate populations in recent decades, but we don't do very much about it.

[Mike4]

I think you're right. Scientists have been downplaying the science generally for years, for fear of making people think there's no point trying. Now they are cranking up the warnings (ignored by most media) and when it is covered they are accused of exaggerating.

It's a bit late now, but terrible science education is partly to blame. Most don't understand the full impact of seeking exponential growth on a finite world, and don't understand how climate change works. Climate change is only one symptom of the damage caused by our never ending growth.
We should all be terrified witless by the collapse in insect and other invertebrate populations in recent decades, but we don't do very much about it.

Indeed, and I find myself wincing every time some economics editor/reporter comes on the radio commenting about inflation and the risk of recession, as though recession is a Bad Thing. A good solid worldwide recession is exactly what the world needs right now to put the brakes on CO2 emissions, or at least stop them continuing to rise.

Agree with your point about plummeting insect populations too, deeply worrying as a leading indicator of trouble to come but most people only see it as a good thing not to need to clean their car windscreens so often.

[88V8]

...terrible science education is partly to blame. Most don't understand the full impact of seeking exponential growth on a finite world, and don't understand how climate change works. Climate change is only one symptom of the damage caused by our never ending growth.
We should all be terrified witless by the collapse in insect and other invertebrate populations in recent decades, but we don't do very much about it.

Agree with your point about plummeting insect populations too, deeply worrying as a leading indicator of trouble to come but most people only see it as a good thing not to need to clean their car windscreens so often.

The mainstream media are Arts types.
No science, and they have that irritating affectation of giggling when their ignorance is exposed as if it were somehow laudable.
The breakfast presenters on Times Radio which I would have put towards the intelligent end of the spectrum were laughing at the idea that we should turn our thermostats down and our car aircon off, so as to use less oil.
Then they go on to talking about their overseas holiday plans as if Cop 26 had never happened.

Looty has it dead right when he says that most people want someone else to do the Climate Change heavy lifting.

And as to the insects, what is they call it... generational shift... the current generation has no idea what a healthy insect population looks like. One can sit outside in the evening with a light on, even out here in the sticks and never see a moth. Car windscreen clean headlamps clean, when I was young in the summer they would have been coated in bugs, in fact car accessory shops - remember them - used to sell bug deflectors to put on the bonnet.
So the current generation doesn't see a problem. And if it did, they would still want the cheap food and all the insecticide that goes with it.
Never underestimate the stupidity of the public, the politicians they elect, and the meeja that serves them.

V8

[absolutezero]

Climate Change and Net Zero have had a collision with reality and reality (as always) has won.
Pretty simple.

No, not really.

The trouble is climate change IS reality. So it's more a case of human folly in a collision with reality.

But you are right in one way: In the long run reality will win. As always.

"Reality" being in this case energy security and the pound in your pocket.
When it comes to it, nobody will care about greenery if it's going to cost a fortune in the here and now.
Next month's pay packet is more important than some abstract thing that may or may not happen in 50 years time.

[absolutezero]

Heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles alarm climate scientists

The Guardian

Antarctic areas reach 40C above normal at same time as north pole regions hit 30C above usual levels

The fact that tomorrow is Monday would alarm climate scientists.

And... The Guardian. LOL

[Mike4]

Climate Change and Net Zero have had a collision with reality and reality (as always) has won.
Pretty simple.

No, not really.

The trouble is climate change IS reality. So it's more a case of human folly in a collision with reality.

But you are right in one way: In the long run reality will win. As always.

"Reality" being in this case energy security and the pound in your pocket.
When it comes to it, nobody will care about greenery if it's going to cost a fortune in the here and now.
Next month's pay packet is more important than some abstract thing that may or may not happen in 50 years time.

Will happen in 50 years time, surely. Or probably less.