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Curiosity: Risk Perception
A poll! (Forgive the somewhat awkward phrasing of some of the options; it's pretty much off the cuff - I don't have a lot of time today; but I've been curious about this for a while, so today I've decided to finally ask.)
Feel free to reply anonymously.
Question: Which of these statements best describes your perception of the risks of climate change?
A. "I think nothing serious will happen at all."
B. "I don't think anything particularly serious will happen within the next seventy or so years; the processes of climate change are much slower than that."
C. "I think there will be slow but noticeable, yet overall moderate changes for the worse in many areas, over the next several decades, but society will adapt."
D. "I think there will be severe changes for the worse in many areas, but the changes will still be slow enough for society to adapt."
E. "I think there will be huge disasters (famines, natural catastrophes etc.) in the developing world, but the 'developed' world will probably be more or less all right, unfair though that may be."
F. "I think there will be huge impacts in *all* countries around the world, and societies - including ours - will have to change radically."
G. "I think there is an actual, real possibility that 'civilisation as we know it' will collapse within the next 150 years. (But humans will survive.)"
H. "I think there is an actual, real possibility that 'civilisation as we know it' will collapse within the next 70 years. (But humans will survive.)"
I. "I think there is an actual, real possibility that all complex life on Earth may go extinct within the next 200 years."
Feel free to reply anonymously.
Question: Which of these statements best describes your perception of the risks of climate change?
A. "I think nothing serious will happen at all."
B. "I don't think anything particularly serious will happen within the next seventy or so years; the processes of climate change are much slower than that."
C. "I think there will be slow but noticeable, yet overall moderate changes for the worse in many areas, over the next several decades, but society will adapt."
D. "I think there will be severe changes for the worse in many areas, but the changes will still be slow enough for society to adapt."
E. "I think there will be huge disasters (famines, natural catastrophes etc.) in the developing world, but the 'developed' world will probably be more or less all right, unfair though that may be."
F. "I think there will be huge impacts in *all* countries around the world, and societies - including ours - will have to change radically."
G. "I think there is an actual, real possibility that 'civilisation as we know it' will collapse within the next 150 years. (But humans will survive.)"
H. "I think there is an actual, real possibility that 'civilisation as we know it' will collapse within the next 70 years. (But humans will survive.)"
I. "I think there is an actual, real possibility that all complex life on Earth may go extinct within the next 200 years."
no subject
Given what I've seen of the lack of ecological accountability (at least in the U.S.) at the micro and macrocosmic level, I think there is a real possibility that certain atmospheric conditions will spiral out of control and make the earth unlivable. For instance, unchecked global warming, the hole in the ozone layer that I've seen increase in size notably in the last 15 years (the first pictures I saw of it in school covered only Antarctica, the more recent ones cover the ocean down to parts of Chile and Argentina), and mining practices like the ones practiced in parts of the U.S. (KY and WI for certain where they do this or are talking about doing this) where they take 6 guys and blow the entire top off a mountain - it's worse than strip mining, and they do it despite the known ecological ramifications. It's been awhile since I heard them explicitly (and meteorology/geology has never been my strongest science), but it involved run off streams being severely impacted/destroyed and leaving the mountains no longer capable of serving their purpose in the evaporation/rainfall chain... means forests dying and drought.
Alarmist? Maybe. I hope I'm wrong. However, it's hard to be optimistic when we have a VP candidate who doesn't even believe in global warming. But don't worry, she'll keep the fags from getting married, and that's what matters, amiright? I worry very much that our ecological situation will become a matter of the proverbial, "too little, too late."