A fifth of female climate scientists who responded to Guardian survey said they had opted to have no or fewer children
Ihad the hormonal urges,” said Prof Camille Parmesan, a leading climate scientist based in France. “Oh my gosh, it was very strong. But it was: ‘Do I really want to bring a child into this world that we’re creating?’ Even 30 years ago, it was very clear the world was going to hell in a handbasket. I’m 62 now and I’m actually really glad I did not have children.”
Parmesan is not alone. An exclusive Guardian survey has found that almost a fifth of the female climate experts who responded have chosen to have no children, or fewer children, due to the environmental crises afflicting the world.
…
An Indian scientist who chose to be anonymous decided to adopt rather than have children of her own. “There are too many children in India who do not get a fair chance and we can offer that to someone who is already born,” she said. “We are not so special that our genes need to be transmitted: values matter more.”
I decided that I personally felt unethical bringing people into this world nearly a decade ago
What if your kid was going to be the one to fix everything though? Lol now we are doomed
We’re not in a movie. Climate change isn’t going be solved by one brilliant scientist. It’s not even a scientific/technology problem at this point, it’s a political one.
You nailed it with this comment, I agree completely. We have the technology, we’ve HAD the technology to solve the problem, and we’ve KNOWN what the problem is for a long time now. We have GREEDY fucks in high positions of power who wouldn’t make any money solving it though, that’s the problem.
Cool, now you, an educated, well intent person with good morals won’t have any offspring to pass those values to, and thus won’t have any representation in the next generations. Meanwhile redneck Terry will make 7 children with 3 different women and teach them to hate the libruls and that the earth is flat.
It is your decision not to have kids, I chose so myself too. But your line of thinking is in discord with the argument.
Maybe his kid was going to assassinate a bunch of billionaires.
If it is solved it will definitely be through technology of some sort. While I agree it will not be one brilliant scientist, technology will be the solution.
That technology may come in the form of a way to produce more energy without fucking up the climate, and the engineering and logistical capacity to roll out the change at a breakneck pace.
It may come in the form of simply developing a way to control the global climate directly.
It might come in the form of some technology to control the behavior of humans so that we can actually respond appropriately.
Or it might come in the form of the singularity, when self improving machines grow so far beyond us so fast that they can just do what is needed whether we like it or not.
But one way or another I guarantee that if it’s solved, it’ll largely be a technological solution, because getting humanity to just…stop using energy at our current rate…is just not going to happen.
The issue with technosolutionism is that it can’t fit the necessary parameters to address climate change. We already know we can’t go further with infinite growth. It’s not possible to tackle climate change. We need degrowth. Without it, it’s impossible.
The problem is that our economy is based on growth, and this growth will generate the new tech. If you’re for state developed and owned technologies, you have to change the political dogma et system first.
Addressing the climate crisis is a change in the politic and in the economic system. Without both of them, it will continue.
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…. And all we needed was that brilliant orator, the Great Persuader on the side of good, someone to rally around to save the world!
They just get called woke gay snowflakes then the accusers go eat 10 steaks and jack off.
Theres no way to fix this with kind words, only through force
I would have done it, but when i looked around, looked to the future, and realized people had been horrible to me overall, i declined.
Political problems can be addressed through science and technology. Like the firearm, or the bicycle, or bittorrent. We need a way to coordinate a defense that won’t simply be shut down.
Maybe it is going to be solved by a brilliant political activist or leader. Jokes aside, of course it won’t be a couple of people who will magically solve something. Strong leaders will however ease the cause by promoting issues best.
Everything is a science problem. Big refrigerators. Really big. Cool the whole world. Store heat in barrels and shoot them into the sun. Time machines. A whole host of solutions!
Oh ok I guess we should stop trying and lose all hope then
Yes if your solution is to throw literal children at the problem you should quit while you’re ahead.
If the problem remains, you still haven’t thrown enough children at it.*
*) As a parent of wonderful kids /s of course.
Lmao…
Your two ideas are…
- “Someone’s child will solve the problem”
- Well there’s nothing we can do
?
No my ideas are that I’ll live my life and be the best person I can.
It was a joke when I said his kid could fix it. That guy’s obviously an idiot and his kids would be too
How do you people not know sarcasm? So I need to dumb it down for you with the /s like back in the day on Reddit? I thought we moved past that
Yes, it’s obvious that you were joking about the other commenter’s kid fixing the problem.
The issue is that it embodies the sentiment that it’s “not our problem” and it’s for the future generation to figure out…and then when that was called out, the first alternative you brought up was defeatism, as if that’s the only alternative to someone in the future fixing the problem, lol
The defeatism was obviously sarcasm too though. So stop making all these assumptions about me.
I obviously want the issues fixed and have hope that they will be since I said that I have my own children. I do my fair share as well.
Also you talk about “defeatism” and that’s all I see in this thread. People give up on the chance to have kids not because they don’t want them but because some rich assholes have started to destroy the environment, things cost too much, the pay isn’t right, etc… that’s defeatism. The rich assholes are still having plenty of kids and they will be the ones to inherit the world.
Wow, bunch of twats not understanding a joke
Edit: about; it was not a joke, I repeat it was not a joke. Torpedo it
People are just so down on the world they want to crush all hope and joy for others too. In the long run I think people will be fine. The other planet’s residents probably not so much. But people will adapt. I’d rather experience life than worry too much about what I can’t solve.
I have kids too and seeing them experience joy and happiness is super rewarding. All you worry warts are just going to miss out.
People in developed countries will be fine. As long as you’re narcissistic enough to only look close by, we’re good to go!
Seriously though, definitely not my line of thinking and I’m very happy I had kids. There are many problems in the world and climate is just one of them. De-population of developed countries is another: we’ve started a population bomb that on 50 years will destabilize society as developed countries suddenly shrink. People are not only the cause of most of the worlds problems, they’re also the solution
Anyway, having kids is a personal choice, regardless of the world careening from one potential catastrophe to the next.
The other planet’s residents probably not so much.
Which other planet? Lol
Is there some plan to invade an alien world? Maybe that’ll be our solution, huh?
Other residents of this planet
Something something literally Idiocracy (2006)
At least the president in Idocracy had the humility and self awareness let the smartest guy in the room advise him on policy.
Yeah, you quote that meme! Don’t go having any original thoughts there champ!
Hmmm, what would Krishnamurti do?
I knew when I was 12 I never wanted children. I got married at 20. I got fixed at 24. I am almost 40 and have no regrets other than not getting fixed sooner, but finding a doc to fix a lady at 18 is damn near impossible.
fixed
Sorry but does it mean that you cut your tubes?
In my case I had a procedure called Essure done. But yeah I’m sterilized.
Recently cut, myself! Happy to have done so.
Nice. I’m getting snipped this week at 37. I felt comfort in keeping that door slightly ajar, but recently a lot of my friends having kids really pushed me over the line.
1/5th is low, and doesn’t appear very different to the general female population.
This really just highlights the underlying problem and why our “efforts” are destined to amount to little more than shuffling deck chairs on the titanic — humans are selfish, and most of us are not willing to make major sacrifices to avert disaster; hell, most struggle to accept minor inconveniences.
most struggle to accept minor inconveniences.
This is the really jaw dropping thing whenever I see it. I just have no idea what to say and don’t get how people don’t have an instinct for when there might be a bigger picture.
Some are really cruising through life just trying to maximise convenience and comfort.
COVID lockdowns demonstrated that we could kick climate change with enough will power. Id start by mandating work from home where possible.
Exactly so.
COVID lockdowns weren’t sustainable and while they reduced pollution to some extent they didn’t come close to eliminating it. Like in my country we turned off coal, but only because we don’t have much coal to begin with. We were still using plenty of gas power, as that’s our second largest energy source. Here in the UK our largest energy source is Wind, and we aren’t even doing that well compared to France or Spain on the energy front.
Things also still got manufactured and sold, and that’s where a lot of pollution comes from. Food and goods production. Eliminating transport pollution would help for sure, but it’s like 14% of the problem. Electricity generation, heating, and agriculture are the things we need to fix the most. Fixing electricity generation would also help with transport emissions as we could use more electric vehicles and trains.
Is that really surprising to you?
humans are selfish, and most of us are not willing to make major sacrifices to avert disaster
I am sick and tired of this cynical bullshit argument. It’s wrong in two ways (and neither are the way you think):
- It assumes that we have to reduce our standard of living in order to reduce our fossil fuels consumption, instead of innovating
- It presumes that the lifestyle changes that we do have to make (e.g. higher density zoning and walkablity) represent some kind of deprivation, rather than the improvement they would actually be.
Starting
Lol
How do you have fewer than no children? (=P tongue in cheek purposeful misunderstanding, not true pedantry)
Edit: (Damn, even being clear I was being cheeky I still managed to piss someone off xD)
Someone’s gotta have that half child from the 2.5 average!
-0.5 children
Getting snipped this week!
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Have them. Just raise them to be resilient little cockroaches.
Or better yet, adopt!
Even 30 years ago, it was very clear the world was going to hell in a handbasket.
And 30 years before that. And 30 years before that.
I mean, if you don’t want to have kids more power to you. I get it.
But what I’m reading is far more a consequence of a social stigma against having kids without sufficient economic independence. And extraordinary rates of inflation in housing, food, health care, and education make kids utterly unaffordable even if the climate situation looks great.
“We are not so special that our genes need to be transmitted: values matter more.”
I think that’s true up until a point. When I see the genocide in Gaza or forced sterilization policies aimed at black and Hispanic women in police custody in the US or caste violence in India or Myanmar or the Bill Gates Foundation’s effort to quash population size in West Africa…
What values are we transmitting when we’ve got a policy of eugenics? What does it say about the western impulse to homogenize and euthanize everything it comes into contact with?
I can very easily see a world in which the impulse towards mass extermination gets us before the heat pushes us all into the upper reaches of Canada and Russia. And I’m loathe to see anti-natalism harnessed as one more tool in the bigot’s bag of tricks, to justify why a population with high birth rates is an efficient target for population rightsizing.
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Oh no! Think of the hypothetical children!
lol… so wait, what you’re saying is, believers of the climate change doomsday scenario are less likely to have kids?
Climate change is real! And we only have 20 years left… again. And again. And again… Annnnd again.
Bruh, we practically only have 2 seasons where I live now.
