I'm starting to feel like the box is being used in lieu of actual serious threads (not to be terrible but seeing this as soon as you get on the forums is depressing).

It's shameful that randos in richer countries pretend like it's not happening.

Small island countries are already sinking below sea level and being consumed by the ocean.

Which is why poorer countries are some of the ones most worried at this point, I imagine. Wealthy countries like the US, Canada, etc won't feel the effects nearly as soon

Realistically: there doesn't have to be truly catastrophic impacts to screw us all over. Frequent enough storms will disrupt our infrastructure, which will hobble our ability to rebuild quickly and cause pretty big backslides in quality of life. I don't mean "oh no, I can't charge my iphone", more like "dysentery is as common as the flu because the resources just aren't there to clean the water anymore".

If no, then procrastinate some more

Well, the most important question: is it going to stop me getting some drive thru at McDonald's?

It's kinda nuts seeing insurance ads tell everyone multiple 500-year storms a year is the new normal, but the general attitude over is still at best *shrug*.

Sad thing is... Boomers are still leaving their vile taint on a lot of the younger generation.

Certainly the boomers won't live to see it, and they're the worst generation for not giving a shit

We're seeing some of it, yeah, but very likely all the truly catastrophic impacts will hit once most of us are dead

Stupid thing is: We ARE seeing results in our lifetime, but it's still slow enough that we, as a culture, are willing to ignore it despite what the scientists are saying.

Captain Planet we need you

As long as nothing interrupts their morning latte and consumer-driven lifestyles, they're good

Because humans are notoriously bad at caring about things they don't see happening within their lifetimes

And no one else in my class cared. None of my teachers cared. My parents didn't care.

One of my more frustrating memories regarding Climate Change is from when I was in 2nd grade in 1996. My poor redneck middle-of-nowhere school had a decade old science textbook written so a 2nd grader could read it and it had enough about the impending Global Warming that I was worried as a 6 year old.

Plus a MUCH higher chance of lake effect snow: since milder means the great lakes will take that much longer to freeze over.

Eh, really does depend on what you look for in winter. "Milder" also usually means "wetter", so... you know, MORE snow to deal with.

It was unusually warm here as well, until 2 or 3 days ago. The temperature's a little more seasonal, now. They are predicting a milder winter than usual this year, which for Canada isn't such bad news

"Global warming is a myth" my ass. It's the middle of October, and summer is back in full swing. What the hell.

I can't remember the last time I used a gif avatar here

did something change about how avatars work here? I had a GIF as one and I can't get a new one to work

My vice is plastic. Once when I was cashiering at a grocery store I sold a lady three cartons of cigarettes and it came to over 80 bucks. I had just bought Brave Max and thought at least I wasn't going to go out and burn the thing.

Well, their going to TRY to make money off it. I suspect that price point and convenience will continue to drive the black market over the legal stuff.

I'd say the "make money off it" makes them less likely to even try. And things like Prohibition gives them an excuse as though club-fistedly banning something is the only way to deal with a problem since they're willingly incapable of nuance or patience.

My only vice is blu-rays; lots and lots of them

None of it will be my money; personally I've only tried pot once (and that was at a family party, and the brownies were made by my aunt, lol), and though it was enjoyable enough, I've never been inclined to try it again

I'm sure they'll make a ton of money on it, and I'm equally sure nobody will ever be able to figure out where it went once it evaporates

Not aimed at you megs, at pennpenn.

Why? Legalization is the just the government admitting they CAN'T deal with something, and since they can't ban it: would rather make money off it.

On the war on drugs thing, I drove down to Niagara Falls/Buffalo today to pick up some packages and do some shopping, and as I was on the highway getting close to Whirlpool Bridge, there's a new big electronic construction sign in the middle of the road that says "No cannabis at the US border", I assume due to the coming legalization on Friday

i get that just up and banning it isn't going to work, also see the "War on Drugs" for another course on that path. But is something that should be gotten rid of. It's something that governments should treat as the health issue it is, rather than a big ol' money pot.

So, I have to eat my words. The Assassin’s Creed Odyssey streaming version works very well.

There's also the fact that we know outright prohibition doesn't work. It was tried with alcohol and that was a disaster, and it's the reason marijuana is becoming legal in more places.

Toronto is just as bad, thanks to everyone assuming that vaping ("it's healthy") and marijuana ("it's legal") don't count as smoking.

Last time I saw data about it, all but two states in the US have decreased smoking consistently for several decades. Except two that both still smoke like it's the 1970s and I happen to live in one of them.

On the whole; more people are quitting smoking than taking it up. It's a slow process of attrition, but it will stop eventually. Unless you live in quebec: they still smoke like it's a cure for cancer.

The only reason cigarettes are "permissible" is because of their historical precedence, but personally that's not good enough for me

There's the personal choice angle, but honestly, it's like Pennpenn mentioned before. If anyone tried to market the same product today, it would never be allowed. Same reason why you're not allowed to sell Bleach as a drink.

It doesn't help that the problems caused by smoking are mostly slow acting and therefore easy to ignore.

I'd say the second hand smoke thing simplifies it immensly- it's affecting others, therefore it is no longer an issue of personal choice. Also "if they know what they're doing" is rather undermined given the addiction can effectively override that and in many cases, they didn't know what they were doing when they got addicted.

"Well maybe if you chose to eat better diets, you wouldn't have that problem to begin with".

"You could annihilate cancer in our countries!"

Relatedly, I am reminded of some panel from Black Panther I once saw about why Wakanda doesn't immediately maximize the effect of its resources on other countries.

Cigarettes are one of those thing I have mixed feelings on. I hate them personally, but I tend to lean towards the "people should be able to stick whatever into their own bodies if they know what they're doing" camp. The secondhand smoke problem complicates that a lot, though, since it creates a burden on people whose only choice was to happen to be near smokers

Oh I get that banning them overnight wouldn't work, it'd take time and effort and money, but honestly as societies it's one of those things we should be moving away from (and in many cases are). It just could be done quicker if there was more political will and if governments didn't make so much money off the taxes.

Personally I think they should be phased out, maybe with the legal age for them gradually raised over 15 or 20 years. That would give people time to quit/die,and the industry time to transition to something else.

I mean, it's pretty obvious that if they'd been invented later they'd be hella banned, but since they make govenments a lot of taxes the death sticks can still be peddled.

I really hate cigarette stench. It's so disgusting and gives me headaches like someone is stcking a power drill into my head.