37° heat is depressing.
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@CiaraNi The press is still pretending these are once-in-a-lifetime events and not the beginning of a very bad trend.
Climate disasters are reported without any institutional memory. At this point, this has to be intentional. And criminal.
@tsturm The press coverage is driving me bananas. The lack of context. The lack of emergency. The photo choices and language choices that treat fatal heat as entertainingly remarkable - as you say, it seems intentional at this point.
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@CiaraNi I wish I didn't have to fly again. To do that, trains across continental Europe need to be better
The lack of a reliable, integrated train system through Europe is a big problem for people who must travel for work or family matters. Sometimes it is not possible in the time and budget available to avoid a flight for at least one leg of the trip. That does not stop a mass boycott of holiday flights, though. A holiday does not require us to have an alternative means of transport to the same destination. We can choose holidays in places that do not require a flight.
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"People are not going to change behaviour at a scale that really matters"
They certainly won't as long as frivolous flying is something we congratulate people on instead of it being frowned-upon. If that flight to London is for a holiday, not work or family, then an Aarhus-KBH train price comparison is irrelevant. We were proud to be part of the mass South African apartheid boycott in the '80s. Now we tell each other it's no real use boycotting holiday flights.
@CiaraNi Yes! Plus we have to stop subsidising air-transport fuel. I got the train from London to Malmö last year, and it was way more expensive than flying. But I haven’t flown for 12 years, and can’t see myself doing it again, certainly not short-haul.
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37° heat is depressing. So is the way we’re dealing with climate collapse. The language we’re using, the excuses we’re making. Making heat records a game, excitedly watching to see if Number Goes Up. The news said the latest temperature had ‘ruined the chance of another new record’. And we all seem to agree that, conveniently, there’s no use in inconveniencing ourselves personally by consuming less or not flying until the day after every billionaire has given up their private jet.
What you are describing is " #PathDependency ".
And billionaires are just part of the path. As are people cheering for combustion engines or the newest electric car.
This is the way inequal human societies just function - Persistence & Tradition is valued over everything else.
And when the powerful AND a great part of the powerless want the same thing - #stability - then survival becomes an afterthought.
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@seabass The lack of a functional, reliable, integrated train system in and around through Europe is a huge issue. It's also a different issue. A mass boycott of holiday flights does not require us to have an alternative means of transport to the same destination first. We just choose not to go on holidays to a destination that requires a flight. We have our holiday somewhere else that we can get to by train or bus or bike, or we have a holiday at home.
my extended family is from Malaysia, my older relatives who migrated to UK in late 1960s are now accepting they may not be able to go "back home" in their remaining lifetimes (two crashed aircrafts of the national airline with multiple casualties are also a factor, but the environment is also one (as well as flying and airports increasingly becoming hostile environments, and security risks with crossing the Middle East)
My older aunts now only go on holiday in mainland Europe or within Britain.
I have not been on an aircraft myself since 2001 and that was for a work trip, and have no intention of doing so..
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@tsturm The press coverage is driving me bananas. The lack of context. The lack of emergency. The photo choices and language choices that treat fatal heat as entertainingly remarkable - as you say, it seems intentional at this point.
I dunno. Some of it is conscious, by the most lost people. But I think it’s mostly the aggregated property of what most of us do at the individual scale.
A billion “yeah I could do the low carbon thing but there are ‘reasons’ why this journey, this meeting, this purchase can’t do that”.
What we most critically lack are contexts in which to talk about why our ‘reasons’ are dust and what to do about it
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@CiaraNi Yes. I've been thinking it really is time to stop that.
Sometimes, when people are discussing holiday plans, I'll mutter "I don't fly anymore, except for family visits, because my conscience won't let me. But you do you". But I'll be the only one at the lunch table.
During this June heatwave (11-12 days here, with a maximum of 37 degrees), I've been thinking I should really start speaking up more. Someone should start changing the social expectation, right?
Young people flying to holiday destinations multiple times a year. I don't get it. It's not like they haven't been aware of climate change since middle school. And they'll be suffering the consequences for their whole - hopefully long - lives.
My generation and the one before it have made prospects for young people relentlessly shit. They know it. And we’ve trained them to think that voting is the only real agency they have. Which is bullshit.
For the most part, I don’t begrudge them making their lives momentarily less shit
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@seabass The lack of a functional, reliable, integrated train system in and around through Europe is a huge issue. It's also a different issue. A mass boycott of holiday flights does not require us to have an alternative means of transport to the same destination first. We just choose not to go on holidays to a destination that requires a flight. We have our holiday somewhere else that we can get to by train or bus or bike, or we have a holiday at home.
@CiaraNi I agree with you entirely!
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37° heat is depressing. So is the way we’re dealing with climate collapse. The language we’re using, the excuses we’re making. Making heat records a game, excitedly watching to see if Number Goes Up. The news said the latest temperature had ‘ruined the chance of another new record’. And we all seem to agree that, conveniently, there’s no use in inconveniencing ourselves personally by consuming less or not flying until the day after every billionaire has given up their private jet.
@CiaraNi You're speaking what's on my mind, thank you!
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37° heat is depressing. So is the way we’re dealing with climate collapse. The language we’re using, the excuses we’re making. Making heat records a game, excitedly watching to see if Number Goes Up. The news said the latest temperature had ‘ruined the chance of another new record’. And we all seem to agree that, conveniently, there’s no use in inconveniencing ourselves personally by consuming less or not flying until the day after every billionaire has given up their private jet.
@CiaraNi Planetary destruction as a competitive team sport
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"People are not going to change behaviour at a scale that really matters"
They certainly won't as long as frivolous flying is something we congratulate people on instead of it being frowned-upon. If that flight to London is for a holiday, not work or family, then an Aarhus-KBH train price comparison is irrelevant. We were proud to be part of the mass South African apartheid boycott in the '80s. Now we tell each other it's no real use boycotting holiday flights.
@CiaraNi @TCatInReality
I did not say that it doesn't matter what we do as individuals
What I meant is that the economic incentives are way more effective and they require political action. -
"People are not going to change behaviour at a scale that really matters"
They certainly won't as long as frivolous flying is something we congratulate people on instead of it being frowned-upon. If that flight to London is for a holiday, not work or family, then an Aarhus-KBH train price comparison is irrelevant. We were proud to be part of the mass South African apartheid boycott in the '80s. Now we tell each other it's no real use boycotting holiday flights.
@CiaraNi @jakobtougaard @TCatInReality
I really thought after COVID, and grounded planes and quiet skies we had learned something, how wrong was I
Our family stopped using plastic carriers in the '80's and were recycling before we had roadside collections in the UK, we have 11 waterbutts and an extra large tank plumbed to the loo so we don't flush drinking water every time we flush!!
I personally have never flown, I'm not saying any of this to seem like some hero cos I'm not we're a two car household, and both are diesel, I'm just saying there are things that we can do on an individual level.
And we have to keep pushing governments to put in the changes needed, we will get over it!
I can get anywhere I want on TV or online!!
Without passport queues, to moan about!! -
@TCatInReality I don't think it is either/or. Yes, private jets should be banned. Yes, governments need to take radical action and impose inconvenient policies. But also yes, we have collective power. The 1% is a problem. So are those of us in the 10% or whatever the figure is, the minority who over-consume and frivolously fly. Imagine the signal and the impact if there was a mass boycott of holiday flights. Instead of just pointing at politicians and billionaires, we can show them we mean it.
@CiaraNi @TCatInReality I think there's 2 factors. One is that people who want to do the right thing feel overwhelmed and simply surviving with wars, cost of living, AI Trump etc. That it won't make a difference and making small changes might make you feel better doesn't move the needle so it's hard to keep going when doing the right thing is harder (eg public transport is worse, holidaying locally with poorer weather and more expensive).
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@TCatInReality I don't think it is either/or. Yes, private jets should be banned. Yes, governments need to take radical action and impose inconvenient policies. But also yes, we have collective power. The 1% is a problem. So are those of us in the 10% or whatever the figure is, the minority who over-consume and frivolously fly. Imagine the signal and the impact if there was a mass boycott of holiday flights. Instead of just pointing at politicians and billionaires, we can show them we mean it.
@CiaraNi @TCatInReality The second is the role of gov is both making rules but also creating the right incentives. Eg making users pay 15c plastic bags changed behavior. They should do the same for things which make the highest impact. Eg a fixed cost per plane to land in Dublin airport of €10000 wouldn't mean a lot to a large plane but somewhat effective for small private planes.
Greater subsidizes on public transport, solar EV conversion paid via monthly change rather than upfront,etc -
37° heat is depressing. So is the way we’re dealing with climate collapse. The language we’re using, the excuses we’re making. Making heat records a game, excitedly watching to see if Number Goes Up. The news said the latest temperature had ‘ruined the chance of another new record’. And we all seem to agree that, conveniently, there’s no use in inconveniencing ourselves personally by consuming less or not flying until the day after every billionaire has given up their private jet.
@CiaraNi I would like that every report about the heat wave end with: " but sure, continue to buy and drive SUV, these Stupid Unnecessary Vehicles! "
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37° heat is depressing. So is the way we’re dealing with climate collapse. The language we’re using, the excuses we’re making. Making heat records a game, excitedly watching to see if Number Goes Up. The news said the latest temperature had ‘ruined the chance of another new record’. And we all seem to agree that, conveniently, there’s no use in inconveniencing ourselves personally by consuming less or not flying until the day after every billionaire has given up their private jet.
@CiaraNi It's frustrating how little attention seems to be directed at a reliable railway system across Europe. I really wish I could just take trains from Denmark to visit my family in Greece, but so many things get in the way (including Hellenic Train being considered pretty much a death trap right now).
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I dunno. Some of it is conscious, by the most lost people. But I think it’s mostly the aggregated property of what most of us do at the individual scale.
A billion “yeah I could do the low carbon thing but there are ‘reasons’ why this journey, this meeting, this purchase can’t do that”.
What we most critically lack are contexts in which to talk about why our ‘reasons’ are dust and what to do about it
I don't think there's anything more overwhelming to think about than Climate Change and I think it's one of those things that feels so overwhelming to most people that it just causes them to short circuit their brains to the extent of, "there's nothing I can do bc I'm only one person so screw it I'm just going to carry on even though I'm terrified."
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I don't think there's anything more overwhelming to think about than Climate Change and I think it's one of those things that feels so overwhelming to most people that it just causes them to short circuit their brains to the extent of, "there's nothing I can do bc I'm only one person so screw it I'm just going to carry on even though I'm terrified."
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@CiaraNi It's frustrating how little attention seems to be directed at a reliable railway system across Europe. I really wish I could just take trains from Denmark to visit my family in Greece, but so many things get in the way (including Hellenic Train being considered pretty much a death trap right now).
@CiaraNi Also you're really on point on the language we've been using. It's been shocking to me how many people here in Denmark seem to downplay the situation, not saying much beyond "wow it's pretty hot today isn't it". And when I say how abnormal this all is, my emotional reaction gets attributed to my cultural background
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But not in the sense that they don't care. In the sense that it feels like such a large problem they feel helpless to contribute.
