Climate Crisis: Are we doing enough?

[Psamathe]

They are filling seats that would likely otherwise be empty and which are being sold off cheap. The plane would be flying anyway. If a half empty plane was flying we wouldn't even have heard about it.

How full a plane is is used to determine demand on a route and thus how frequenve flights are scheduled by the airline. eg If every flight is 95% full then airline might schedule an additional flight next time the organise schedules. If flights struggle to get 50% full they'll cut back of scheduled flights.

Basically airlines respond to demand. Higher demand means they'll increase provision means more flights means more CO2 and pollutants.

 

[BoldonLad]

I'm often shocked by the number of younger generations that completely ignore climate damage and waste energy and resources. One of my neighbours outside lights (still tungsten) on often all night flood lighting their back garden whilst they sit indoors watching TV. There seems no awareness of the damage let alone the cost on their bills.

Local primary school in tiny rural village on edge of countryside sets no example to parents/children as their entire building floodlights on 15:00 until who knows how late at night, weekends, school holidays, summer and winter. Clearly their budgets have money to burn.

To me it beggars belief.

Do you have teenage children?

 

[Psamathe]

Do you have teenage children?

No.

My local experience is of early 30's eg floodlighting rural garden all night (with 6 yr old kids).

But also school run where parent has to arrive very early to get prime waiting place on road outside (sort of "status" thing?) and in cloder weather they sit there for 30 mins window open to allow vape fumes to escape and engine running so they keep warm.

 

[BoldonLad]

No.

My local experience is of early 30's eg floodlighting rural garden all night (with 6 yr old kids).

But also school run where parent has to arrive very early to get prime waiting place on road outside (sort of "status" thing?) and in cloder weather they sit there for 30 mins window open to allow vape fumes to escape and engine running so they keep warm.

Say no more. I suspect those with teenagers understand perfectly 😊

 

[Psamathe]

Say no more. I suspect those with teenagers understand perfectly 😊

Not sure I understand but my experience don't involve teenagers so uncertain of relevance.

 

[matticus]

It's fewer than 7 flights a year which doesn't seem that remarkable to me.

we know. And that's the problem.

 

[matticus]

Compared to an average of one return flight per year for those in the UK it is a lot. Even more if they are planning to do 12 in total this year. May not be remarkable to you but statistically it is exceptional.

... then look at the average number of flights by humans globally. It's less than 1 a year (mean). The median figure might be even lower.

 

[matticus]

Do you have teenage children?

Are primary schools staffed by teenage children in your borough?

 

[presta]

Britain the worst country in Europe for anti-wind power propaganda:
https://www.euronews.com/2026/05/06...ean-sources-so-why-is-wind-power-under-attack

 

[laurentian]

Britain the worst country in Europe for anti-wind power propaganda:
https://www.euronews.com/2026/05/06...ean-sources-so-why-is-wind-power-under-attack

Which seems odd given that UK is 5th in the world in terms of tW/h for the amount of wind energy produced behind China, USA, Germany and Brazil and 29th in terms of capacity percentage (31%). Wind power seems a strange thing to rally against

 

[First Aspect]

The article doesnt normalise for population. Besides, we are amongst the most densely populated and populous nation in Europe with already one of the highest densities of windfarms, in Scotland. It's not really a surprise that there is more opposition than somewhere like Sweden.

 

[laurentian]

The article doesnt normalise for population. Besides, we are amongst the most densely populated and populous nation in Europe with already one of the highest densities of windfarms, in Scotland. It's not really a surprise that there is more opposition than somewhere like Sweden.

Is it about opposition or propaganda though? It doesn't say there's more people against wind power, just that there's more anti-wind propaganda and "engagement" with that propaganda (whatever that engagement is)

 

[First Aspect]

Is it about opposition or propaganda though? It doesn't say there's more people against wind power, just that there's more anti-wind propaganda and "engagement" with that propaganda (whatever that engagement is)

Who knows. Most opposition is from local people affected by power stations being put in beauty spots in my experience up in Scotland, so it could be the same group of people for both.

I have a fair amount of sympathy for the local opposition. It might be different if locals benefited, but the funds set up are laughably small and too many proposed projects benefit only wealthy landowners.

What would change minds is cheap electricity for local people who lose amenity and often house value, essentially. But that doesn't happen.

 

[dutchguylivingintheuk]

Is it about opposition or propaganda though? It doesn't say there's more people against wind power, just that there's more anti-wind propaganda and "engagement" with that propaganda (whatever that engagement is)

The article is largely a cherry picked write up from a report made by "Ember" a "energy think tank" So my guess it's indeed just opposition called propaganda because the makers of said report don't like threads to their revenue streams.

 

[Ian H]

In 1962, years after oil executives had been warned about the catastrophic effects of global warming, Humble Oil ran an advertisement boasting that each day the company ‘supplies enough energy to melt seven tons of glacier’. Most of the carbon in the atmosphere because of human activity has been emitted since 1990. In the last decade... nearly two thousand environmental activists around the world have been murdered.
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n08/oliver-cussen/no-one-can-live-on-iron