Greta Thunberg named 2019 Time Person of the Year

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Reply 80

What's the best way to boil gammon?

Mention Greta Thunberg.

Reply 83

SnowMiku

TBH, i'm happy Greta got the award. She's started international protests over an issue that has the potential to kill the entirety of humanity, which has helped us for the better (minus the whole locking yourself to public transport thing, which I don't quite understand seeing as public transport is better than cars?).

Reply 84

z-hog

Original post by QE2

What's the best way to boil gammon?

Mention Greta Thunberg.

In other words, nobody can say anything that fails to conform with what we are supposed to say. That religious and dictatorial zeal on display is precisely one of the things that gammon looks down upon with nothing but intellectual contempt. Nah, we'll never surrender.

Reply 85

deathbySTEP

Original post by SnowMiku

I would argue that Greta Thunberg did not start international protests at all - there were plenty of climate change activists before she came along. What she did was (in a most cringeworthy farce) rant at world leaders in a 'shocking' way. And now everybody is talking about her because she's not even an adult yet and environmentalists now have a face that people might listen to, irrespective of whether or not she's factually correct. Though, to her credit, she did manage to lead the largest protest against climate change in history

Reply 86

QE2

Original post by z-hog

Right on cue.

Reply 87

BlueIndigoViolet

Original post by deathbyfm

" And now everybody is talking"
"lead the largest protest against climate change in history"

Many thousands did unite behind her message and raised awareness for such an important issue, 2019 was when people started giving a f...

Reply 88

deathbySTEP

Original post by BlueIndigoViolet

Which is why the Kyoto Protocol came into force in 2005? It's clear that people knew about the effects of climate change before Greta Thunberg even came into the picture, and now that she's here she can be used as the face of the movement. Of course, I'm not saying that the Kyoto Protocol was appropriate, I'm merely arguing that there was sufficient awareness, at least in the West, that climate change is serious. Greta coming and misrepresenting the scale of the problem does nothing in that regard

Reply 89

DSilva

It's quite unnerving just how angry middle aged blokes seem to get over this.

I guess they know better than scientists and experts though about climate change...

Reply 90

deathbySTEP

Original post by DSilva

I guess they know better than scientists and experts though about climate change...

Greta certainly seems to think so though ...

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 91

DSilva

Original post by deathbyfm

Greta certainly seems to think so though ...

Except the scientific evidence strongly backs up what she is saying. It doesn't back up what her critics are saying.

Do you know better than the experts?

Reply 92

Fullofsurprises

Original post by DSilva

It's quite unnerving just how angry middle aged blokes seem to get over this.

I guess they know better than scientists and experts though about climate change...

If the people who care about the climate had to invent a deliberate provocation to the right wing older American/British male, they could not have done better than Greta.

Reply 93

deathbySTEP

Original post by DSilva

Except the scientific evidence strongly backs up what she is saying. It doesn't back up what her critics are saying.

Do you know better than the experts?

So it's because of this scientific evidence that 500 experts wrote a letter to the UN Secretary General, claiming that Greta Thunberg was blowing the situation vastly out of proportion? I'm not saying that climate change doesn't exist - I'm saying there isn't any kind of mass extinction as Greta Thunberg says that warrants immediate emergency action. Of course, we should take action against climate change but not in a wasteful way

Reply 94

DSilva

Original post by deathbyfm

Many more experts, think the opposite. Man made Climate change clearly does pose significant risks and is already causing rises in sea levels, extreme weather patterns and the destruction of habitats.

Our approach seems to be to wait until its too late to actually do anything about it. How exactly would taking action against climate change be wasteful? It would be like saying a person stopping smoking is wasteful because they may not 'immediately' die if they don't stop.

But as for Greta herself. Whatever you think of her, she's standing up for a massively important cause, despite the quite unnerving and bullying backlash from a huge amount of angry middle aged blokes.

Reply 95

deathbySTEP

Original post by DSilva

I agree with you that climate change poses risks - however, there are an extremely limited number of experts who believe, for example, that we are on the verge of a mass extinction - although the risk for extinction does increase, it is nowhere near the extinction of civilisation that she proposes. Do you have any 'experts' to support this claim?

We are not waiting until it is too late - the main driver of global warming seems to be the industrialisation of China and India which emits large amounts of CO2, not the fact that we are using cars instead of boats. Do you have any idea how polluted Dehli is, for example? Greta is targeting the wrong people her

It is wasteful from an economic perspective to invest in climate change while significantly more pertinent issues such as poverty exist. Your smoking analogy is incorrect, because it assumes that we are immediately screwed which is not the case. Climate change is a problem but not an alarming emergency

Greta is not standing up for a 'massively important cause' because 1) her solution, which is to divert significant investment into climate change and avoid using aeroplanes, is impractically foolish 2) she is targeting the wrong people

If Greta Thunberg could stand up against China and India and get them to reduce their emissions, then yes, I think she's doing a great job in combatting climate change. Impractical ideas and short-lived fame get her nowhere though

Reply 96

Fullofsurprises

Original post by deathbyfm

z

I agree with you that climate change poses risks - however, there are an extremely limited number of experts who believe, for example, that we are on the verge of a mass extinction - although the risk for extinction does increase, it is nowhere near the extinction of civilisation that she proposes. Do you have any 'experts' to support this claim?

Very serious scientists published in global peer-reviewed papers do indeed think that a mass extinction is currently underway.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn

Reply 97

Fullofsurprises

Greta's father worries about her and wants her to return to schooling.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50901789

Not quite the conspiratorial view that she is a helpless tool manipulated by cunning super-brainy parents and evil green tyrants.