What Can Be Done About Climate Change?

We now have only until 2030 to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees centigrade. The Arctic ice is disappearing. Rising sea levels, floods, droughts, heat waves: the weather will be totally out of control. We'll see huge geopolitical disruptions as more and more areas become uninhabitable. There will be conflicts for water, food, resources.

We're taking many of the animals and plants down with us, and not just isolated species; we may lose key species for the food chains, which would change the ecology of the earth as we know it.

Climate change is largely due to human actions. But it's an accelerating process with no apparent means of reversal. What is to be done? The problem is too big; people cannot wrap their heads around it. Many are in denial; others are inclined to do less, not more.

It is sometimes said that the only thing that could bring the world together in coordinated action is an invasion by aliens or a very large asteroid headed to earth. (We've seen the movies.) This is 'us against them' mentality, the invader from outside, the model of warfare that has been repeated throughout history. Climate change is different though. We are the bad guys! So what can we do?

How can we possibly shift from short-term to long-term thinking so quickly? From self-interest to the interests of the whole? Can you monetize future solutions sufficiently, since this seems to be the only thing that motivates people to act? Will the loss of tourism in Florida from the algae blooms and red tide be a wake-up call that forces the government to demand changes in order to protect the environment?

Can we have faith that human technology and intelligence are going to get us out of this situation? Does anybody have an answer?

We will begin the discussion from the position that climate change is real and one of the main causes is human activity such as burning fossil fuels.
Please bring any solutions you many encountered so that we can all feel there is a possibility of at least slowing down the process.

If there is interest, we can continue the discussion at Chili's afterwards, while having some snacks.