I really have no one else to turn to, poor Michelle gets my rants all the time & I don't really have anyone else so I guess it's you, old friend.

I just worry what's wrong with people. We had a lecture on climate change today, as part of my biology degree & I just find it all incredible. How are we so blind? How can we all not see what is really happening before our very own eyes? How can we not see how badly all these 'scientists' are fucking us over with all this bollocks research & getting paid millions upon millions by our governments to release another bollocks paper prophesying our impending doom & our own demise. It's just such a big business now, a new government-funded paper comes out every 6 months, with privately funded ones in the interim and they all say the exact same thing. It's amazing what these people are getting away with.

My point is this, and read me clearly; I believe the climate is changing. The climate changes all the time, it always has done, long before we were here, and it will long after we have gone. I concede we have not helped at all, but my point is that it doesn't matter what the causes are. We know exactly, in the greatest detail what the causes are. We know what we have to do to reverse it's onset, we know exactly what we need to do. But we all know it's irrelevant because other countries like China, Brazil, India, are refusing to play ball & their reasons are greatly justified. They are merely playing catch up & we owe them that much as fellow humans. Sure their attitude is naive and unnecessarily stubborn, but guaranteed if it were reversed we'd only feel exactly the same and rightly so.

This begs only the question of: Why the fuck aren't we doing anything about it then? This is really happening. It is going to happen. It is happening right now. So instead of dicking around in Copenhagen or at UEA, let's be rational about it.
There are three scenarios, the good, the bad, and the ugly. No more, it is as simple as this.

The good is that the temperature only rises by a couple of degrees due to the combined efforts to curb CO2 emissions by every nation on Earth and enough is done so that any real damage is prevented and any effects can be alleviated swiftly. The likelihood of this is slim at best. This is heartbreaking, that our species, as far as it has come, cannot coordinate what would appear to be the most beneficial, altruistic and life-saving solution, but that's for later.

The bad is that we tip the planet into another ice age. This is feasible. The last 6 ice ages have been cyclical, every 12,000 years. They are preceded by an increase in CO2 levels similar to what we are seeing now and the last one was around 12,000 years ago. We've had the coldest winter for 40 odd years & they thought in the 70s & 80s we were heading for another ice age. This is bad because it will greatly affect our planet and the biodiversity of it, but we will be able to grow crops, drink water and create heat with relative ease. It is awkward but doable.

The ugly is that nothing changes, no one prepares and the temperature rises by a good 5-6 degrees by the end of the century. Let's be frank, this is the apparent most likeliest scenario of the three. If this does happen, 90 years is not enough time to prepare the entire planet for the consequences that will ensue. Fresh water is scarce enough as it is; the Israelites and the Palestine's are already fighting over it, the great African lakes are drying up too fast. It is the greatest commodity known to all life on the planet, and we are running out. Crops will been incredibly difficult to grow, sea levels will rise & force millions inland, where there are no houses etc., diversity will diminish & it will be difficult to salvage much from the planet, anything sustainable that is. People my age, 20, will see the unfurling of this ugly scene, doubt not that.

I am being purposefully woeful because that seems to appeal to most people. We have always been strangely obsessed with our collapse and end. Ultimately, we don't know what will happen because it hasn't happened yet. That uncertainty freezes us, the unknown petrifies us; hence the entirety of religion but that one's for another day.

My biggest problem here though is the sheer stupidity of everyone. Why aren't we doing something about it? Doesn't that just strike you as fucking obvious though, doing something about it? Build fucking wind farms everywhere we can, build hydroelectric power stations by every dam, fuck, build more dams if we can, hell throw in a nuclear power station or two if you like. Pursue renewable energy as much as we can. Recycle, be more efficient. Get out of your cars and onto the buses, or bicycles if the weather's okay. Let us all, as an entire species facing a big problem, do all we can to help each other. The greater good. Instead of just complaining about green taxes and passively watching it unfold on the news like we do with everything else in our lives.

But scepticism of climate change is on the rise. And it's the scientists' own fault. They were given every possible chance to scare us into doing everything and they blew it. Dr Jones at UEA blew it. Government funded research, and he had to go tell people via email how to omit, disguise and hide results that disproved climate change. And now scientists credibility as been defamed, and the plight to help our people face climate change, however it changes, has been put back two steps. Ultimately, the planet and geological time is something that far exceeds us and it is difficult to attribute the changes we've seen in things like ice caps and CO2 atmosphere levels to any one thing or cause, but the fact is we're watching it happen, but we're going about it all wrong. The scientists and scare-mongers are. We got too bored of trying to be scared into doing something, into believing something that was never convincingly displayed. There will always be sceptics by the fucked it up big time. They should have told us a couple of times, and then pushed no one but the government. People will make up their own minds, tell them something too much & they'll just stop believing you. This is true in way too many cases for me to care to mention.

But people won't do anything for the greater good anymore. There has to be some sort of incentive, some reward for their money and effort. The simple satisfaction of doing your bit to help the whole race isn't enough oh no. Which makes me think, fuck it, we deserve all we're gonna get & by God we do, but why doesn't anybody want to try? I'm generalising, but the growing level of scepticism is heart breaking from an altruists point of view.

I know I can't do anything myself. I recycle, I use public transport, I waste as little as possible, you know, taps off, low heating, locally sourced products, stuff like that. I try to be as efficient as an organism as possible. Saves a bit of money too. But people won't be told, and people are too stupid and ignorant to the truth, so it puts us where we are now. Nowhere. We need to grab the situation by the balls and see how we can deal with the consequences, prepare ourselves while we still can before it truly is too late. I know there are people trying but it's just not enough. I don't wanna sound like Thom Yorke. I don't care what the causes are, I just want to deal with the situation to make sure everyone will be okay in the long run.

But soon, geological time speaking at least, it won't matter. We're here now, and we won't be at some point, but the planet will go on without us. Each & every day we grow more & more self obsessed and egocentric. We're a disgusting species, and like all things that are true in the world, are doomed to fail.

So fuck it, I'm gonna go get a beer and play Mass Effect.