Submitted by seeyoubythesea t3_1065gbh in Maine
I’ve see so many posts about lack of winters, snow, etc.
Moose are dying. Lobsters are moving north. Ticks. Someone even said that maple syrup will be a thing of the past soon.
I feel sick to my stomach about it and want to do something. But what?
I don’t know what I expect from this sub but I am so, so sad and so, so terrified. What are we gonna do? How can we fix things?
❤️
We tried, unless you've got a plan to hold oil companies and billionaires accountable then pour trillions into 100% renewable electricity for the entire world the situation is not going to improve any time soon.
All we can do now as individuals is improve our local community as much as possible, help your neighbors, plant yourself a vegetable garden if you have the land, learn to produce your own food.
Being on good terms with your neighbors, having valuable skills and being able to rely on yourself to feed the people you care about is the best thing I can think to do.
That’s a pretty good idea.
This is probably the best answer for now. Unfortunately. The war in Russia has taught us two important lessons. The first is that food scarcity can happen in the blink of an eye and the second is how oil dependant developing nations are.
The reality is if we support a totally green initiative the cost would be the greatest from the poorest globally and those who cannot afford to transition. The costs would be in human lives and would come exclusively from the unwilling and unable as conflicts worsen.
There won't be a genius billionaire like Iron man coming to invent a magic solution. Unfortunately it'll he about learning to mitigate the consequences and preparing for worse and worse until we find a point climate change becomes unacceptable.
But it's one of those things where if we don't change now everyone will suffer in ways we cannot even imagine right now, especially the poorest countries, and when they send refugees to ours because we refused to hold out powerful people accountable we'll start gunning them down at the border, and then, eventually, when enough people die and enough environmental damage occurs that civilization as we know it collapses and I'm guessing at least 2-300 years of techno feudalism before either extinction or something, maybe nuclear Holocaust if we're lucky.
There's a book I read that's really reframed my thinking on this called "the climate Leviathan".
It frames the argument that we will see more and more climate refugees and the world will be pressed to a breaking point. Once that happenes it argues for 4 outcomes.
Really we need to get comfortable with the reality of more refugees, more climate crisis, more places becoming inhospitable and giving up more luxury to make life for the future possible.
What I'm saying is yes we do but people won't, it will cause war, wars and refugee massacres and genocides world wide, my hope is it goes well but at this point I have little faith that the people in charge could be toppled without triggering a nuclear incident and I'm guessing more walls, more guns, more bombs and violence like we have not seen since the world wars just to try and keep everyone distracted until the global environment is so damaged there's no going back, we may already be at that point, we should be working together and doing things to mitigate and we are in some degrees but drops in buckets compared to the actual work that needs to be done, we would literally need to change the entire economic system the world currently runs on and that means a lot of very rich people would loose a lot of money, humanity would be saved but people would loose money, and we can't have that, money is more important than life, or freedom, or love, money is everything, embrace it or die, because to destroy would give you a freedom only dreamed of.
Just want to point out there isn’t one ‘developing nation’ in Western Europe and that they’re being broken by a need for natural gas. Would we call India a developing nation: I think they’re the ones slopping up most Russian oil.
The efficiency of the oil market is amazing. If a third of the world doesn’t buy it, the other two thirds does and it is all part of the same pie. I feel like this ‘special military operation to get rid of nazis’ has taught us a lot about the interconnected nature of certain economies and how globalization has created certain third rails when it comes to war and diplomacy
That's actually true. I was mostly thinking about Ghana and the untold harm that's been caust there but you're not wrong.
Hell even with food. With Russia and Ukraine not shipping resources around its art harder for a lot more people to eat. Globalization by far is a good thing but also exposes huge weaknesses in economies and I think barring massive upheaval we won't see change.
I took a job on a local veggie farm when the pandemic first started causing supply chain problems in grocery stores. The local food community in many parts of the state is robust! Anything you can do to get involved with and invest in local producers is great. You don't have to do everything yourself, but doing things like planning gardens with your neighbors so you can trade and care for each other is good materially and for your collective mental health, and everything we do to keep things as local as possible breeds resilience.
Conserve land. Plant native species. Remove invasive plants. Mow less or none. Eat local food. Insulate your house. Slap some solar up. Walk or bike to work or work from home. Unionize. Vote.
Expand RCV. Open primaries.
Besides voting and shopping consciously (and preferably locally), all we can do is be LOUD about the problem. Call your representatives. Vote with your dollars and take to social media loudly to tell companies why you’re not buying what they’re selling if they’re not operating with our collective future in mind. We have to make ourselves somewhat obnoxious if we want to be heard; big companies will ignore you until they can’t ignore you any more.
Also, plant plants. I live on almost an acre that had been cleared a century ago for farm land: now we’re reforesting about half of it with native, non-invasive trees. The rest contains my weird old house, a bunch of perennial flowers, some berry bushes and the biggest vegetable garden I can manage. It’s the best I can do with what I have, and that’s all anyone can really ask.
Amplifying the PLANT PLANTS: There was just a post on Reddit this afternoon saying that native bird populations exploded on just 10% of former farmland that was converted to native grasses
https://www.birdguides.com/news/birds-bounce-back-when-10-of-farmland-is-given-to-nature/
Check out Wild Seed Project for sowing native plants: https://wildseedproject.net/
We have 2 acres and I thought the best thing was to just leave it alone, but sounds like we could be doing more, good tip.
The Way It Grows does landscape design focused on native plants and sustainable agriculture; if you're looking for help with the design portion.
If you've never visited r/nolawns yall should! Not that all your land is lawn/yard, but you get the idea. Love this subreddit and wish a lot of our Maine neighbors would do this!
That is probably the best thing you can do. Just let natural plants take hold.
Do be sure to weed out invasive species. Upstate New Yorker at Uni in Maine and buckthorns have devastated my yard. Outcompetes all the other plants and sprouts back as soon as you cut it down. After 2 years of cutting and removing roots, it's finally gone. Don't let that happen to you; be vigilant for invasive plants.
It depends on the land. If it is a forest or wetland , leaving it alone might be best. If there is a stream, planting things to shade the water helps keep the water cold. Knowing what is growing there, what should be growing there, and what should not be there helps.
As for tics, encouraging animals that eat them helps. Opossum and skunks come to mind. Two animals that people do not want near their homes eat a ton of tics. Chickens and other birds eat tics too.
Sadly for the lowly Opossum, https://www.fieldandstream.com/conservation/possums-dont-eat-ticks/
Interesting. I have read, and been told that they do eat tics for so many years.
It's worth noting that you don't always need to plant trees. Native grasslands are also vital ecosystems to maintain and replace
Just remember "native plants" are not going to be suitable to grow here in 30-50 years. We will have a much warmer and wetter climate, and the growing season will be longer.
Ehh. No. Most native plants have large ranges. Maine is at the northern end of some species, but not really at the southern end of many. Most of our species run commonly down to the Mid-Atlantic states anyway.
>all we can do is be LOUD about the problem. Call your representatives.
People have been trying that longer than the 40 years I've been alive.... apparently the thinking is that within another 100 years it might suddenly start working I guess? Apparently the problem isn't corruption, it's just that politicians don't know what we want!! (LOL!!!)
Haha, it's crazy that most people suggesting to "keep up the status quo harder" have accepted they will be dead before anything "might start working". It's a very strange type of denial.
Sadly a lot if folks aren't even able to imagine another way. It makes sense though since capitalism isn't going to teach people how to replace capitalism.
Capitalism and the world it built is what created this problem and you are right; more of it won't change things. Our oligarchy was created to protect the system and those at the top of it and acting outside that system is the only thing that will bring meaningful change.
>Sadly a lot if folks aren't even able to imagine another way.
Yup... it's a complete surrender to nihilism. A full acceptance that widespread corruption and a dysfunctional political system are "just how things are".
Americans have no hope for the future. They just cling to status quo and pray as things continue to slide downward....
Scared to rock a sinking ship because "what if we get wet", even though they know they are half way in the water already and it will only end in drowning if they refuse to do anything.
Pure delusion.... pure nihilism... and pure surrender to the most corrupt and evil people in the world.
I guess that's why superheroes are so popular, because at least then the citizens can get lost in the fantasy that the bad guys don't win.
If farming good or evil? Is chemistry good or evil? These thing have potential to do great harm or great good. I submit that capitalism also has the potential to do great good and great harm. Replacing capitalism with anarchy pure socialism or communism or a totalitarian system will not solve the problem. Some like to point to some Scandinavian countries as a model. However you find that under the facade capitalism is the engine that drives their success.
All the Scandinavians did was export the worst exploitation to the global south.
The evidence is pretty clear. Capitalism is poisoning the world and killing the human species. The evidence also shows that Socialism does the opposite.
Has Capitalism created amazing technological advancement? Yes. And it did it on a mountain of suffering and corpses. A system build on perpetual growth isn't a neutral thing, its a death cult.
Given that the past cannot be changed. I see no reason not to take the tech advancements andnuse them under Socialism to create a vastly more sustainable and humane world.
Do you object to the concept of personal property? Should people be allowed to own land, or a home? Or do you think that everyone should live in government owned and managed housing? Show me a place with a successful 100% socialist society that is not run by a totalitarian oligarchy.
In the same vein I pose another question. Im not going to argue what you say wouldnt work because it doesnt. Fuck not being able to own land. Should people be allowed to have personal property or should it all be owned by corporations and capitalist institutions that charge you rent or a subscription fee so you can use their property? That is the end result of unfettered capitalism. Its already happening. Corporatism is effectively capitalist communism. You will own nothing and be happy.
Corporations have to much influence with elected officials in this country. Many members of congress arrive in Washington with modest net worth and leave office very wealthy. The problem is not limited to members of any particular party. I don't understand your " You will own nothing and be happy. " comment.
Agreed it most certainly isnt limited to one party or another. That comment shouldve had quotations around it when I said it. Its essentially the mentality of the ruling class towards.. well the rest of us.
I've no issue with personal property, which consists of the things you make and use to life your life. Your house, you toothbrush, etc.
I oppose private property which is the ownership of factories, data centers, infrastructure, agricultural land, etc. I think that the capital that we use to make our society work should either be held in common between all people or shoudl be owned by the people who use it (the factory owned by the factory workers who make all the decisions regarding the factory using a democratic process that they themselves decide upon.)
I think that government is the result of a society where people are separated into classes (Capitalist/Worker, Noble/Commoner, Master/Slave) and it's fundamental purpose is to oppress one class in favor of another. Right now the govt. oppresses the 99% in favor of the 1%. I think that in order to get a a good and just society we will have to go through a transitional period called Socialism where the govt. will oppress the 1% in favor of the 99%. This is necessary because were talking about society reorganizing itself into a system where nobody has the sort of power that a billionaire capitalist has today. But to do that you have to be able to wield more power than the billionaire capitalist. So the solution to that is to gain control of govt. and use it's power to strip capitalists of theirs. Govt' housing and other govt. programs will be used initially to plug the gaping holes that Capitalism just ignores in society (hunger, homelessness, etc.)
Once people have a meaningful form of democracy and all their material needs are met we can start developing new ways of organizing society without the interference of people like Bill Gates and Elon Musk. Once we have a society where people are free to organize their lives the way the want then there will no longer be distinct classes in society and thus govt. will cease to serve any purpose. Society will still have to be organized and resources will need to be managed but it will not be necessary to have a state to do so. We will find a way forward together without the need for the coercive violence of states.
> Show me a place with a successful 100% socialist society that is not run by a totalitarian oligarchy.
Every attempt at socialism has been successful. That is why every socialist country has been attacked and punished in every way possible. Capitalists know that socialism works and therefore the govts. that serve them have to do all they can to interfere and ruin socialist countries so that people like you won't know how successful they have been.
Even your question is the result of those propaganda efforts. The very idea of a "100% socialist society" and "blended economies" are rhetorical tricks that are spread to prevent you from being able to conceive of how a socialist society would actually function.
I'll link some videos below for you to give you the chance to hear some ideas on the topic that are probably new to you:
Socialism for Absolute Beginners
Why Liberalism Won's Solve Anything
Is Capitalism Actually Efficient?
Why You Don't Actually Own Anything Under Capitalism
Why It's So Hard to Imagine Life After Capitalism
Frankly the whole Second Though Channel is really excellent. He has tons of great stuff there.
This last video is meant to be educational but in a very entertaining and funny way so don't let the jokes and internet meme formatting distract you from the excellent points it makes: Debunking Every Anti-Communist Argument Ever
Communism will solve the problem.
With their horrific record of mass murder I guess it would reduce carbon output.
You can do better than that. Capitalist countries such as the United States were founded on genocide and slavery. "Countries run by political parties calling themselves Communist committed mass murder therefore Communism as a system doesn't work" is a specious argument. Capitalism works neither in theory nor practice.
That's why the USSR is still thriving and China is still full on communist. The system just works so well. Meanwhile all the capitalist countries have collapsed and no longer exist.
I get it, I had a communist phase as a younger man too. But it's something you need to grow out of. It's a failed system.
Your argument is that Capitalism is better because Capitalism is winning. If a colonial ship decimates an undeveloped Island of indigenous people, does that mean colonialism is better? No, it just means one group had more power than the other.
The USSR after WWII was a super power. This isn't a case of a more advanced powerful society wiping out a small indigenous one. This is a case of a political, and economic system being a complete failure.
Communism doesn't work, all it does is bring suffering to the millions who have been unfortunate enough to be its victims.
Good luck, not gonna waste anymore good time after bad. I imagine you'll grow out of your edgy communist phase one day, most of us do.
> I imagine you'll grow out of your edgy communist phase one day, most of us do.
Cute
Here, this argument is a cartoon so I can understand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjwL1mSrPLA&t=1487s
>What are we gonna do? How can we fix things?
Vote for politicians that will take climate change seriously.
We are about to be set back 2 years federally.
Get involved with local politics as much as possible. Too many whack jobs are showing up to city and school board meetings focusing on the wrong things.
It will be more than two years if the traitors succeed in derailing support for Ukraine.
If you think politicians are going to help you’re too naive to be taken seriously.
If you don't believe it's possible then you've already decided that climate change will continue until a substantial amount of the population is dead. Slowing climate change will take large scale changes, not the actions of a relatively small amount of individuals.
Nope. That’s not true.
I mean, you can keep burying your head in the sand if you like. Just saying "NOPE. NOPE. NOOOOOPE" doesn't make it not true.
What you just said isn’t true.
That doesn’t mean climate change isn’t happening though. Your ramblings are unrelated.
they will if there are votes on the line. Be loud so they know that there are.
No they won’t. They literally don’t care about you at all.
It's such a fucking catch all to say vote! Contact your local politicians to change things! Lol they don't give a fuck. They are all rich capitalists who get elected because they've fucked us over, but sure keep voting them in. You're 100% spot on with the naivety. The system needs demolished not embraced.
You honestly think politicians in the USA can solve all the problems? Will money fix things? None of them can address even the most basic of problems.
Haha that will never happen the elites and economic world forum control everything. As someone said above protect your local community is only option saving the entire world and making everyone go green won’t happen.
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Vote harder!!!
There is a ton of nuance to this conversation, and rightfully so!
But I come back to this - support local. It really does start there.
Plant some damn trees. Lots of them. Plant flowers and plants that bees pollinate.
This is Maine. Trees will grow on their own anywhere you don’t actively mow.
But people love their gas mowers
Yeah, I like having a lawn that looks nice, where me and my kids can run around and play, and that also isn't infested with snakes and other vermin that can make their way into my house. Horrible.
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We can stop voting for corporate controlled criminals for a start.
Good luck finding one
Bernie Sanders
The dudes 81, I wouldn't put my eggs in that basket.
You wanted one, you were given one. Stop moving the goal posts or nothing will ever change.
Bernie has his dark money too….
what dark money? hes easily among the most transparent politicians alive, all his taxes are public record.
My father in law also loves to say this (Bernie and his dark money) he can never back it up, but it never stops him….
Honestly it's true that what we eat has a huge impact. And going vegan as much as possible is definitely an easy action to take with a big positive impact. Even just one person can save lots of emissions and water usage
Methane can be remediate out of the atmosphere way quicker and is significantly way 'warmer' than CO2.
Reducing methane emissions should be one of the first things we attack. The biggest way that we contribute to that is what we eat 3 times a day.
Eat local, EAT LESS ANIMAL PRODUCTS, eat more veggies. Yes your individual actions can have a meaningful impact. No it's not enough to fix the world but it can give you a clear conscience and actually make a realistic impact.
Also reduce and reuse comes before recycling.
You can still give yourself a clearer conscience, and also prepare for the dramatic changes or let it destroy you.
It sucks but it's the reality we live in
And compost your food and garden waste!
Even just removing beef, if you're not ready to give up other meat, would go a long way.
You are correct. However it's easy to just stop at beef when milk is often worse because the animals are alive longer to keep milking them. They too are still cows and produce a lot of methane. And considering supply chain complexity it's still better to stop eating all animals. Even fish and chicken are still really awful for the environment to catch or raise. Vegetable farming (even the worst kind) is still less impact full on the planet than animal agriculture. And most of the plants we currently grow on land in the world is fed to animals too
I don't think dairy is statistically worse, but that's not my point. Everyone has to start somewhere. Not eating beef is a great place to begin. That's all I'm saying.
Dairy cows live longer than beef cows yes?
What would make a dairy cow somehow produce less methane per day than a beef cow...?
It makes perfect sense and it is true. Dairy cows live longer and therefore each Dairy cow produces more methane in its life than a beef cow.
They both shouldn't be consumed for obvious ethical reasons, but it doesn't have to be worse for my point to stand that cheese is just as bad for the environment as beef
You have to kill a cow to eat it. And then raise a new cow to eat more. It's about energy and GHG emission per gram consumed.
Again, I was just pointing out one place to start. There are hundreds of things each individual could do differently. Picking one of the biggest is a good beginning point.
It literally says "Lamb and beef cause the most greenhouse gas emissions by far."
Most replies here are going to suggest embracing the suck and making the best of something (changing patterns) that you have no immediate control over. I agree. I'd also assert that there's damn little humankind can do to slow the churn over the next few decades; which is going to suck for coming generations, even if they have nothing to compare their world to besides pictures of the past.
That said, think small, make improvements where you can; they add up. Save the bees: encourage town-sponsored apiaries, planting wildflowers on town esplanades to attract/nourish them. Encourage town-sponsored advocacy against lawn pesticides to encourage earthworms, which are also disappearing. Its the little things in the foodchain that need protecting the most.
Protection from ticks? Let chickens and ginuea fowl free-range :)
Also, bear in mind that for every opportunity lost another is gained. Some parts of the State that were zone 5 will become zone 6 and more suited for horticulture; hardly a net-positive for what's lost but better than nothing.
It's not going to be fixed.
It's not because climate change is a "hoax," either. It's because the changes required to fix it are incredibly inconvenient for pretty much the entire First World, and definitely too inconvenient for Americans, whose entire country was built on rejection of the prevailing social contract. It's because "just dump your shit and move on" is ingrained at the deepest levels of our brain; even chimps make garbage piles.
It's because the bulk of the effects are going to fall on the unborn generations, and what have they ever done for me, anyway? Consequences that fall on someone else aren't consequences.
So what do we do? The lyrics of an Eighties song come to mind: "Let's all get drunk and get laid! "
probably true, but so sad.
Moose are likely doomed south of the Canadian border, the deer population is going to explode. The next tick transmitted disease is likely to be pretty nasty. The maple syrup industry is likely doomed but small-batch production will probably be viable and and you can harvest sap year-round from other species of tree. Lobsters are moving out but blue crabs are moving in. We are going to have a lot of opportunities for sustainable farming because the growing season is going to get a lot longer.
The key word in "climate change" is change. The only thing we can do is try to make what it is going to change into not suck.
I keep saying Moose are actually cryptids. Started coming up here a few years ago and moved to a rural area here in august and have never seen one. I know it’s not that long, but people made it sound like they were everywhere haha
If you go looking for them, you will never find them.
Too late. No One listened to climate change warnings for the past 70 years. Chickens now roosting.
Get Nestlé out of Maine
I didn't know they were here...
Talk shit about establishment politicians who got us here (both "sides" of American politics) and enjoy your life as much as possible. The same politicians have had 100,000s of people killed for $ in the other countries so it gets worse. Used to live in rural Northern California in a county with no streetlights, that's literally an ecosystem that's past crisis mode. It's straight dangerous as is. Maine is still safer than a lot of places. It's beyond repair (at least our way of doing it, ecosystems in the long run will be okay we probably aren't though). And yes, it is profoundly sad.
We are past the point of fixing things.
We are at the point of minimizing further damage.
And we will utterly fail because we are enslaved and beholden to a for-maximized-profit economic model and culture that refuses to value anything other than one more cent in the pocket at the end of the day.
Half of the country refuses to believe anything is happening. And the other half thinks their side are heroes despite none of them being able to name a single bit of environmental legislation with teeth.
Until we demand more - and we won't - because we can't come together enough - it will just keep getting worse.
Convince the people in denial - across the board. That's where to start.
Convince the people that "not Republican" isn't enough and denying things sure as hell aint working.
I tried to study and teach about climate and sustainability and resilience for thirty years at the college level. My wife (also a professor) and I started a small farm and have been running that for twenty years, trying to model on a small scale the agricultural and energy and housing systems needed to fight climate change. In my teaching, I met resistance at every turn. I was a poverty stricken grad student for twelve years just in order to get the PhD (climate policy) needed to qualify for my eventual position. I gave up a large portion of potential income, and postponed having a family. I was yelled at at public meetings and insulted by conservative students. Ultimately our brand of radical thinking was too much for our employers and we were forced out. I chose to retire in near mental exhaustion.
But I can tell myself I fought the good fight. And as for my former opponents of all stripes, fuck 'em. They can kiss my sustainable ass.
Now in retirement, getting my exercise running the farm and fixing things, having recovered mentally and physically, I have become not complacent, not fatalistic, but perhaps I am now able now to take the geologic view over the ecological one. Nothing in nature is static. The planet has been here for 4.5 billion years. Home sapiens only for around 150,000 years. Maine only for 203. If everything happens much as the majority of climate scientists expect, the place we now call Maine will have a climate more like Virginia's by 2100. The ecosystem we know in Maine will be replaced by one more like that found in VA. The sea level will rise, perhaps by a lot if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet fails, as it certainly appears to be trying to do. Our costal towns will need to move uphill and inland. It's possible, even likely, that the warming will continue after 2300, unless we find a cheap way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Immigrant pressure from the global south, where farming and urban environments will fail humanity completely, will increase tremendously, perhaps catastrophically at times. Storms will get yet worse, especially hurricanes and rainstorms. But ecosystems currently unattractive in places like Labrador and Greenland will also open up and so some of us will move north in turn, pioneering new civilizations. Even Maine life will go on. It won't necessarily be awful, just different. We'll be better off than Texas and Florida, a notion that carries some shard of natural consequence for the collective guilt of the populations of those states in regard to climate politics. The hard part will be the toxic politics and conflict that these changes will encourage globally. We will be lucky to keep our democracy and freedom. I realize that more and more with recent events and have started to realize my work isn't over, so I've begun to write about the nexus between climate change, societal resilience, democracy and freedom.
I'll let you know how this new venture turns out if I get anywhere with it.
Depressing to think that all the toxic people with their toxic politics I just ran away from in FL will be tucking tail and running back up north and brining their toxicity with them.
Sadly, greed,stupidity and stubbornness won. This is the new normal, adapt or move north.
I moved north, this beats 90 degree winters!
Same, but I really wanted no more 90 degree weather, period. Bummer.
Require global ocean shipping to evolve beyond running shit fuel with no emissions standards.
But that won't be popular here since it means a group beyond just Republicans is culpable in perpetuating the dynamics that contribute to climate change.
It's almost like al gore warned us about this 20+ years ago. Pretty sure it's too late.
In terms of pure environment, Maine is probably one of the best places to be as and individual when it comes to climate change in the US. It’s probably one of the better places in the world. The major concern for the state comes from infringement of the highly developed coastline. Outside that….not much concern. The state is obviously very heavily wooded, so the power grid is very sensitive, but it runs on the same technology of almost all of North America.
Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanic explosions, mudslides, name your natural disaster. Maine does not experience these. And while weather will become more variable, and hurricanes/their after affects will become more common and more severe, overall the major risk of these issues (which will become more variable and severe over time) is still very minimal.
Over the course of decades, there’s possibilities for a lot of things. Droughts, floods, massive and prolonged power outages, extreme storms, food scarcity, and a variety of other issues. These issues will likely occur in Maine. Likely, they will be perilous for many. However, relative to the global impact of this issue, this will be child’s play in comparison. Heat waves will become more common and extreme in summer. But they will pale in comparison to most other areas of the contiguous US. Same with forest fires, literally almost anything you can think of.
So anyway, what do you wanna do about it? I would make as much money as possible and move north. That’s what I’m doing. Maine is one of the best places to be when it comes to climate change, for the individual, if you have the money and know how.
Wish I could expand on this extensively, but I am with people, and I am going to stop. Last thing I will say is this has been happening for e very long time, and the evidence of climate change and it’s potential impact on New England has been extensively documented for multiple decades. New England sits between two major weather systems, one which moves from NW Canada down and east, and one which moves from the Gulf of Mexico up east. We are right in the window. We will catch more gulf air in the future, almost certainly. But whatever, at the end of the day, things will likely be very challenging. They will also be much more manageable than the vast majority of the entire globe.
All we can do is try to be humans, just like we want moose to be moose and eagles to be eagles. We aren't separate and we aren't special and thinking that we are is what made things like this in the first place.
What is a human like? should not be such a hard question but we are so far away from it that it seems impossible.
Work to abolish Capitalism :/
Yes. Normalize communism.
As others have said, start small by supporting local groups and planting native plants. This link is to a non-profit in Maine that sells native plants and seeds https://wildseedproject.net
Keep in mind that the previous administration rolled back over 100 environmental protections. The current administration is trying to repair this damage plus include new green sources of energy.
Smoke some ganja man! 😎
Rise above the existence and enjoy the higher plane! We are here on this planet for a finite time! Teach the next generation to do better.
That’s is everyone’s purpose!
Honestly, there is absolutely no hope of fixing anything.
Instead you will be gaslit every election by paid propagandists who INSIST that fundamental change is impossible and you should be thankful that things aren't worse. A lot of your fellow citizens will accept this line of thinking and begin repeating it at you, "it's the lesser evil, I don't like it but what choice do we have?"
Fixing climate change? The country can't even get reasonable medical care because of massive corruption.... forget the idea that anyone could muster the resistance to fight against large corporate interests in terms of climate abuse.
​
BUT that doesn't mean you are helpless to do anything. You definitely can prepare for the new world we are headed towards. Being in Maine is a great first start.
After that it becomes about preparing financially and with food and other items to try and make yourself as resilient as possible. When the house of cards finally comes down, at least you will have it easier than others (and it WILL come down, we are 31+ TRILLION in debt right now, with a rapidly devaluing currency.....)
We are fucked, really really fucked. And politically there is absolutely no will to actually address any problems. So, prepare .... this is slow moving train wreck that we have seen happening for decades now.
Some people will prefer to live in denial and just ignore it all, those people freeze to death when the power grids go down in Texas because of "freak cold snaps".
>Honestly, there is absolutely no hope of fixing anything.
>Instead you will be gaslit every election by paid propagandists who INSIST that fundamental change is impossible and you should be thankful that things aren't worse. A lot of your fellow citizens will accept this line of thinking and begin repeating it at you, "it's the lesser evil, I don't like it but what choice do we have?"
If it's called gaslighting when paid propagandists insist that fundamental change is impossible, what is it called when you assert that there's absolutely no hope of fixing anything?
An opinion
Where am i going, and why am i in this handbasket?
We're gonna get blue crabs, and a longer growing season. Plant some fruit trees that wouldn't have worked previously.
Eat the rich
Thank you all for the thoughtful, detailed responses. Grateful for my fellow Mainers and although “climate refugees”’piss off a lot of people, we have to keep in mind that unless you’re Wabanaki, you’re people did the same thing. Let’s work together, stick together and look out for one another. ❤️
Not sure if we are considered climate refugees - maybe very early ones, as we moved here from FL in large part to escape the brutal heat. Funny enough, tons of people are moving TO Florida still….I guess they like to suffer? Maybe all the worst of humanity will keep moving there until they go down with the ship….we can hope right?
R/collapsesupport
VOte Susan Collins out is a start...
She dont believe any of it.
I suspect most small producers won't tap at all this spring. Even if it does run, the saps' brix number will be below 2 and probably nearer to 1. That volume of sap just makes no sense for a tiny producer.
If planting a garden use heirloom seeds. And choose varietals that are local if possible.
On a side note: everything you do today may be undone by a corporation if not legally protected.
Consider ensuring that any land you own remains in local year round hands, or in a land trust. Set up legal requirements for sale and land use.
Don't have children, get vasectomy. This is singular most impactful action most of us are capable of.
Really glad there are some folks on this sub who have suggestions and not just throw out the usual "we're domed 🤷" (imo, the most infuriating response) or "if you believe voting is going to do anything than you're an idiot" or "nothing you do will matter since big oil is the culprit and world leaders are controlled by big oil so we're screwed".
Like I hope nobody believes that if we all stop using straws our planet is saved and we can all go back to having the ecosystem of our parents but to throw up your hands and be like "it's dumb to even try to do anything" is just as bad as climate denialism and like much more pretentious.
ALSO this is the first time remember when there has actually been federal money thrown behind climate legislation and the first winter in years where I wasn't filled with dread noticing how different the weather is from when I was kid because I feel like the government (local, state and federal) is begining to recognize climate change as the existential threat (so to pretend that voting doesn't matter denies the reality of the two parties).
Sorry for the rant-the comments on many of these posts are driving me crazy.
Anyways individual actions I am taking to try to help the planet
-not mowing my lawn -composting -instling a heat pump to supplement my oil furnace ( MAD tax credits right now to buy heat pumps thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act bill) -Looking into getting solar panels (again lots of money is available to help offset the price) -being concious of how much meat/red meat I am eating -Trying to buy my foods locally when I can (def easier in the spring and summer) -being concious of how much plastic I am buying -carpooling to work when possible (including taking the bus) -thrifting most of my clothes and housewares to avoid shopping at big box stores that mass produce items/Amazon for most things -voting, voting, voting (every election no matter the office)
I can sleep a little better at night knowing I am trying to do SOMETHING.
The only real solution is to revolt.
You've fallen to the propaganda that it's our faults and it's our responsibility to fix it. If you are being environmentally conscience, you're doing everything you can already. But until regulations are put on oil companies, car companies, food companies, fashion companies, etc to reduce their own carbon footprints by a significant amount, this will keep happening.
We get told not to buy plastic wrapped food from the supermarket. Okay....tell the food producers to stop wrapping them in plastic in the first place.
Buy a hybrid or electric vehicle. Okay, make them affordable and not cost so fucking much. Also work on reducing the carbon footprint to, you know, manufacture the fucking things.
They blame us for the issues. They created the issues. It's their fault, not ours. And until they take responsibility for it, it won't get better regardless what we do.
As for the 'vote' crowd. Look at the last ten years of elections we've had and tell me which one would have been the correct one to vote for to curtail and reverse the issues we're having. In Maine? none. None of them was the correct answer. Nationally? Bernie probably would have been the best choice, but then he'd also have to fight the combined might of congress and SCOTUS and good luck on that.
We're fucked. Pure and simple. The pleebs like us are stalks of grain in the path of the hurricane. Some of us might survive it, if we somehow learn to evolve and adapt to the new climate.
My plan is to enjoy every snow day thoroughly, and adapt to the changes. I don’t buy that our state is going to be filled in climate refugees, I am starting to worry we will be the first ones to be heavily effected. This recent massive rain wind storm is a sign of what is to come.
Wait until the severe drought refugees from Colorado, Nevada, and all of the west coast start to arrive 🎆
That sounds like a good plan. And yeah, that wind storm was brutal. I worry about the animal population here too😢😢😢
Maine has always had brutal weather. Whether or not it was rain or snow just makes a difference for the electric grid since the ground doesn't freeze the trees in place.
The earth will be fine. We will not
I moved my family here, Maine ranked second in 2022 for people moving here. It's already well underway.
The gross numbers of people moving here are quite small.
Exactly, plus I still run into people constantly up here who want to be snowbirds, and how many thousands of people a day are still dumb enough to move to Florida?
Act locally, act globally. That means do what you can in Maine to reduce carbon emissions, then be sure you are voting for those in the state and national governments to also put the environment first.
It depends on where in Maine you are but if you live in the woods clean up around your land dead trees branches ect farmer open fields pick up any stray trash ,plant ( legal and if possible native plants) plants that brings new and good life to the soil that won't over run everything city donate time to shelters or a dollar to charity .pick up a stray piece of paper heck even help an old lady across the street. Okay that last 1 can be a bit of a joke but still it's a verity of little things that you can do as you go about your daily life on walks or just sitting on your bum like I am don't let life get you down
No offense meant here, but I think dead wood is an important habitat for animals and insects, and it's sequestering carbon. But definitely get rid of invasives.
It can be but overabundance of it can also be harmful leading to fires can spread decease for plants (trees mostly) I'm no expert so Mt word is not law but I do know it's a matter of finding balance
Vote for Democrats at the local, state, and federal level.
Haha how naive do you have to be to suggest the same thing that has failed for the last 50 years?
"Just keep supporting the same downward spiral that hasn't worked until you die!!!".... and the sad thing is some people actually buy it.
But we can get some EV credits. That should fix things
LOL. Why would you admit to being tricked into thinking democrats care about the environment?
What have Democrats done for people of color?
VOTE! In every election, even the tiny local ones. REALLY read up on the issues, who supports what, what’s their track record, etc.
Shop consciously. Beware of greenwashing. Avoid megacorps when possible.
Stop buying so much. Generally, people hyper consume everything. Clothing, house stuff, food, all of it.
Compost and avoid food waste where you can. If food waste were a country, it would be the 3rd largest carbon producer. That being said, tons is wasted before it ever gets to the consumer.
Eat local. Support your local farmer. Local food systems are so important!
Eat less meat. Factory farmed meat is HORRIBLE (ethically, environmentally, nutritionally). The alternative is expensive sometimes, but adding in a few meatless meals per week can help mitigate that!
Get to know your neighbors and community. Work to be a better member and person. Build up your skills (traditional? Trade-like? The descriptor word is evading me). A strong community is resilient. Think community sufficiency over self sufficiency.
Be kind. Give people benefit of the doubt. Practice empathy. We’ve lost our ability to handle others with different viewpoints. It’s a major problem.
There’s no returning to what we had. We’re in damage control mode right now. Take time to grieve what we’ve lost, but do SOMETHING. Anything will help, especially imperfect action.
Live somewhere you dont have to drive 30 minutes to the grocery store. Reduce your car use. Get a heat pump. Continue to find joy.
Earth has always been changing. We may not like it but the earth doesn't give a shet and just keeps on spinning. Life is an absolute miracle. Look at space and how enormous and dark, cold and dead it is. This little rock that we live on has, for a short amount of time provided perfect conditions for life to be possible. But that short time is coming to an end. We are a horribly destructive species that consumes so much and our numbers are multiplying so fast, we really were doomed from the start. And the earth will keep on just a spinning, long after we are all gone and the sun runs out of hydrogen, the earth is scorched and it's oceans boiled away and there will be no trace of us ever even being here. And the earth will still keep on spinning.
I work hard to help young kids learn to work with their hands. They're gonna have to be able to take care of themselves.
Read "Nature's Best Hope" by Doug Tallamy. Then share it with a friend.
VOTE! while I'd love to encourage you to do all kinds of environmentally friendly things to reduce your carbon footprint, we all know that big corporations are polluting so much more than individuals. What matters is voting for people who will encourage policy changes to help environmental change.
Politically one huge thing you can do is support investments in pedestrian and bike infrastructure, public transit, and passenger rail, in Maine and across the country. Cars and the infrastructure required to support them are incredibly inefficient and wasteful from both an environmental and financial point of view. I'm not talking about "banning cars" here, but getting to a place where most people don't need a car most of the time because their needs are met by other options. MaineDOT just released a draft of their new Long Range Transportation Plan which I'd encourage you to take a look at, it's pretty cool.
On a similar note, advocate for better land use; ending single family zoning and building denser, mixed use development in your city or town. The closer buildings are together, the less space is required, the less wild land gets destroyed. These days most places have minimum parking requirements and minimum lot sizes for new construction, which adds lots of expense and also results in almost all new buildings taking up a lot more space then they need to, which spreads things out, which makes it hard to walk, which means people have to drive from place to place. Here's a great video going into more detail on that: https://youtu.be/SfsCniN7Nsc
What can we do in this state? How about we vote against the clean energy pipeline again. That's sure to help.
Reduce the time you spend on the Internet
I agree with a lot of the individual actions that have been highlighted already. (Eating plant based, driving less, making our homes more energy efficient, etc.) I just wanted to highlight one I think is really important: we can consume less.
Just wrapped a holiday season where relatives think they're doing a great thing by giving my kids more cheap plastic toys, shipped halfway around the world, made so poorly that they fall apart in days, and so can't even be donated. These kids would actually appreciate spending time with these relatives, and they would REALLY love their environment not to become unrecognizable.
Consumption levels are bananas, and the social pressure to consume nonsense feels unrelenting.
Another thing we can do: support dense zoning around our cities: mixed use areas with retail and multi family buildings or townhouse style layouts will help make public transportation feasible and will allow our beautiful rural areas to not be taken over by sprawl. This is absolutely realistic political change to work towards, and helps with the housing crisis.
I haven't read this book yet but want to:
Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle: Why Individual Climate Action Matters More Than Ever https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57179585-living-the-1-5-degree-lifestyle
I feel petty. I really wanted to try snowshoeing this year
No, I feel you. This is our first Maine winter, and I’m just kind of like looking around and wondering where is all the snow? (minus the 22 inches we got in that one storm, which happened while I was out of town) 🙃
Invest in electrical heat pump water heaters and heating/cooling for your home. Lots of state funding partially covers those costs. Electric vehicle or install solar if you can afford it. Like JillStencil said, get involved with nature preservation, volunteer at local farms, or state parks.
Most importantly, VOTE! The more you make your voice heard to the people who make policy, the more change will happen.
Bomb a pipeline.
Learn how to hunt and trap. Start gardening with heirloom seeds. Practice foraging. Start now
Stop eating meat
Work from home
Install energy efficient appliances
Reduce fossil fuel dependency
Shop local. No more Amazon. No more Walmart. Find a truly local business and spend your money there.
Move to Canada
Because climate change stops at the U.S. border??
Climate change is inevitable. Don’t trust our political system to fix it. The Maine climate you seek is now being found in Canada
Yeah but that doesn’t take care of the problem
It needs to snow. And snow heavily, particularly in the south part of the state.
The snow melt is crucial.
At this point, we can't do anything because 'climate change is a hoax'.
Lobsters aren’t moving north as much as they say but yeah I know what you mean
Wait a couple of weeks. The state will get slammed with a Nor’easter. We’ll have 2 feet of snow. It’ll be freezing cold. The snow won’t melt till May, and all will be right in the world again. Fear not.
I hope so
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Seek out other groups that don’t have hard rules against discussing the most effective and impactful solutions.
You forgot the worst of them all. Browntail moth is ruining my life from mid may to mid july past 3 years. Spent $5k on mitigation/removal so far but they keep coming back that just keeps them from expanding. Looking at having to spend around $3000 this year. My wife breaks out even when fully clothed just from being outside until late September but I stop breaking out around 3rd week of july. It is our worst nightmare. Looking at contacting someone with a drone. My oak trees are infested and I have about 40 large oaks near my house all around 45-80 feet tall and I am on a pond so can’t spray within 75 feet. The injections are very expensive. Has another here used a done removal service and how much was it? It causes stress and anxiety for me year round worrying about how bad the next season will be. Spent many hours last year delimbing as much as I could around the house with a pole trimmer but that doesn’t help much for the 80ft oaks.
Voting, more often locally than nationally, has one of the biggest impacts. Though you should obviously vote nationally, too. The change an individual can make in their town and state is much more achievable.
Boycott big monopolies and big box stores, shop local, Protest against cmp, stop mowing your lawns, plant a garden, learn foraging and hunting, get involved with land conservation, eat local and low impact foods, buy less shit, reuse things as much as possible, take young ones hiking and camping and get them excited about the outdoors!
Everyone point their air conditioners outside of their house and turn them on
Gotta be rich af to make change, otherwise fucked. You can't do anything about it (except maybe voting) so no sense worrying about it. Face the troubles as they come.
Don’t have kids.
Put pressure on elected officials. US House Speaker Kevin '15 Votes' McCarthy has vowed to increase use of fossil fuels. This is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. Write to Pingree, Golden, King, Collins - tell them we must reduce fossil fuel use. Same with your Maine legislators.
There are things that can be done. https://www.drawdown.org/
Debunking 3 Common Climate Change Myths
Climate change is anthropogenic
It’s not just a problem for future generations
There is a lot we can do so mitigate it
https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/debunking-3-common-climate-change-myths
Be load. Vote. Get the maine power grid to be a government utility. Avoid brands the contribute to climate change when ever possible. We all need capital N E E D gas for our cars and heat. It's a bitch. It's gonna fuck us over. But don't feel bad about living. Write you reps. Both state and fed. Studies have shown reps ate far more likely to read response and vote for policies they receive support for through mail. It's because they get to use mail for free and most don't understand an email sadly.
If it get bad enough thier will be a time to fight. But we still have a small amount of time left to prevent that.
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Jesus Christ, things change and are out of your control. Do the best you can going forward.
The earth has warmed and cool for ages before we got here. Relax.
Adapt and enjoy the longer, warmer summers and change of ecology such as tree and animal diversity. Be thankful for lower heating bills and better farm produce. Go swimming in the ocean more because it's not too freaking cold. Just to name a few.
You do realize that rising temperatures are bad for our crops and biodiversity, right?
I respectfully disagree. I suppose it's how you define "our"
The crops we grow here are suited to our climate. As our climate changes, they will not adapt fast enough to keep up. Severe drought and other climate extremes will make it harder to grow as well.
Then grow other crops. A warmer planet does not mean severe drought. These are not proven things.
Stop worrying.
Turn off the news…chill
Climate change is real. But is 10 degrees above average really climate change, or is it a weather pattern? As a skier I still have hope that this pattern will flip, and Feb/March will be very cold and snowy.
I assuming this will just be an unusually warm winter, but as average temperatures rise these kind of winters will be more and more common.
To anyone who doubts that this is 100% manmade, and is not "just a weather cycle," this is always helpful to look at
TLDR: yes, the climate cycles. Slowly over tens of thousands of years. Since we started burning fossil fuels, the trend is clearly not natural.
I should have said real and man made. I just meant that during a winter, one month can be above average while the next is below average, or vice versa. All monthly averages are definitely creeping up though.
Fear mongering is what the media does best
If you really think that the world is going to pieces due to the actions of a relatively small group of extremely wealthy individuals then go fight for it and execute some oligarchs in Minecraft.
Or just post about it on social media. That seems like a popular way to let off steam too.
Jesus, what a way to live life.
Where are maple trees going? I must have missed that one… 😂🤦♂️
Edit: Let me clarify my source because of the downvotes from Redditors who likely live in apartments in Portland with zero actual knowledge, I tap over a hundred trees per year on my own property in southern Maine with no issues. The number of people on Reddit who are “experts” in everything they know nothing about is sad.
The trees aren’t leaving, the sap is
Please explain or cite a source with actual evidence beyond “well if it gets warmer sap will be gone!”
My source is I tap almost a hundred trees on my own property in Southern Maine, and know a dozen other people who also do. ZERO issues with sap production in recent years. Last year was actually excellent, I couldn’t keep up and plan to go to a vacuum system and larger evaporator.
Maple trees in CT still produce sap so I would think we still have 15 or so years before Maine is a barren wasteland for sap production except for northern maine. By 2050 Portland will have around the same weather as Baltimore has today.
I use only GMO free gasoline, have an organic smart meter and use only gluten free solar panels.
acfox13 t1_j3f2jer wrote
I try to focus on the things I can control and grieve the things I can't.
Things I can control:
Join a local charity that helps support the local ecosystem and volunteer or donate. (Maine Land Trust Network)
get involved in local government related to the environment (recycling, bringing in EV stations, weatherproofing, grants for green energy projects, etc.) Maine Community Resilience Partnership
I spend a lot of time in the woods and at the beach, so I always bring a bag with to carry out trash I find along the way.
landscape for native plants, compost, install green energy (heat pumps, solar, wind, geothermal)
spend eco and local whenever possible
I might not make a dent, but at least I can sleep at night.