Really glad to see this in just the second post in this thread, with what has been going on on the west coast of the states and Canada, these floods, I only hope that people begin to take climate change a lot more seriously.Climate change is real
Some additional facts:
In many areas, mobile/internet connections do not work, hence the high number of people still missing. Yet many more deaths are to be expected.
Dams' structures are starting to get compromised by the pressure. Some are overflowing, but most cases are not too dangerous at the moment at least.
Massive rise of collapses of buildings. The water washes down the sometimes sandy-ish ground and the integrity is immediately compromised, leading to quick collapses in the last hours. To add to that, there are cases where gas is starting to leak due to the structural damages in some gas lines.
Designated chancelor and prime minister of Nordrhein-Westfalen travels to the affected region and wants to come across very statesman-ish. He's a cnut of the highest order.
The Bundeswehr is getting deployed to help evacuate people.
Officials say the catastrophy came by surprise, no one expected those dimensions. Whatever that means.
You're the German, where efficiency and engineering is at its best.
I think what he meant is that this amount of water is force majeure type of disaster, not some engineering or city planning error. Which sadly I can't say for Indonesian, most flood are human made stupidity.
Death toll in Germany rises to 81 and there's still hundreds missing. Almost as much water came down that day as in 3 months on average.
I emailed the guy we stay with when we travel to Nurburg to check in with him and haven’t heard back from him yet, I’m really hoping it’s because of the internet being down.
Nature is a force to be reckoned with, it’s about time world leaders start taking climate change way more seriously.
https://www.tvnow.de/shows/rtl-aktu...zial-wetterkatastrophe-in-deutschland-4129735
at the 25 minute mark is a really good explanation on why this is happening
RTL, really? You should also mention that it's in German and people might be geo blocked.
Why not RTL? If you want an overview of a certain topic, it's not as bad to use as people think. You just need to know that if you want actual in depth information, you're wrong there. The media we have at hand is absolutely fine if you know how to use it.
Unfortunately it's only partially true nowadays. There are still sectors where german efficiency and engineering is up there with the best, but the days of hegemony in many fields is in the past. Many other countries have closed/are closing the gap and are able to produce at much lower costs, which makes many products which germany is famous for inefficient in themselves. Also, there's many scandals and failures in recent history; just look at the Berliner Flughafen. Big yikes, this project is one of the biggest architectural failures in Europe and one of the biggest embarrassments for a technological country like germany.
I know he meant that it's not a planning error. But in the context of climate change, I feel like these statements should always mention that it was and is pretty predictable that drastic weather incidents like these will happen and are more likely to happen due to climate change. And I think if we take climate change and how it will affect central Europe seriously, there should be more actions taken to prevent these catastrophies from happening. Better drainage systems, more regulations for newly built houses (in terms of technical features) in high risk areas and what not. Our government plans and awful lot, as I personally know from my job it basically plans everything it can with a laughable amount of work put into it. When I had to do my time and work for the local government (mandatory stuff to become a lawyer in germany), I witnessed 6 city officials work and talk for (hours combined over several days) about 8 hours each to specify whether a traffic sign should be placed there, there or here. And this was no special sign at all. Just something you see hundreds of times every day if you drive for 20 minutes or so. My point being, we're definitely not efficient when it comes to our government. On the contrary, I think it's one of the most inefficient ones in the world and it has become some kind of unemployed prevention campaign. People working there just for the sake of working. And my example is just a small fraction of what's actually happening on a daily basis. You can not imagine how much is wasted here in terms of ressources/work power.
What you're saying isn't wrong, but when I ask myself "what can I link on an English forum to explain the situation" RTL still wouldn't be very far up my list.
Very insightful. Thank you. Stay safe. My thoughts and prayers with you all
A lot of German engineering from the past has cramped up the rivers, leaving little room for extra water. That was the main cause of floods in the 90's and 2000's I doubt that has all been changed yet. Governments and media and very eager to blame this all on climate change and use for promotion of the EU's undemocratic green deal that makes the citizens pay for letting big industry, China and globalization in general off the hook. I don't say climate change has nothing to with it, but it's probably a bit more complicated than that.You're the German, where efficiency and engineering is at its best.
I think what he meant is that this amount of water is force majeure type of disaster, not some engineering or city planning error. Which sadly I can't say for Indonesian, most flood are human made stupidity.
I emailed the guy we stay with when we travel to Nurburg to check in with him and haven’t heard back from him yet, I’m really hoping it’s because of the internet being down.
Nature is a force to be reckoned with, it’s about time world leaders start taking climate change way more seriously.
Fecking hell. Almost a hundred confirmed dead now in Germany.
The images from the floods in Liège are really disturbing. My family there are safe luckily as they live in the northern parts of the city itself but they all know friends whose homes have been damaged (severely or beyond repair).
I think those dinosaurs generations have to die out before anything of relevance can actually happen. Change is hard as is, but it's extremely unlikely that anybody 35-40 and older will make major lifestyle changes.
Are there 'before' pictures for those images? I can imagine the difference is particularly shocking for the one on the right.
The fault lines don't run along generations but cognitve ability. I'm 46 and got rid of my last car years ago. The son of one my neighbors, 21, has gotten himself a Feck you, Greta sticker for his tuned 3 series BMW. And he's proud of it...
I think those dinosaurs generations have to die out before anything of relevance can actually happen. Change is hard as is, but it's extremely unlikely that anybody 35-40 and older will make major lifestyle changes. A truely global effort is also not something I expect to happen with China, Russia and the US. Also treshold countries are rightfully pissed that once they developed some economic power, they have to make major adjustments (which are very expensive most of the times) because of a problem mostly caused by the few richest countries on earth. When it comes to climate change, I am very pessimistic. There's no true will to at least try to prevent it from happening in such a drastic way that this planet becomes uninhabitable for humans. Na man, individuals should do what they can and adjust accordingly, but it's absolutely unrealistic that the extreme changes that need to be done will be done ever. Planet is fecked longterm (human time scale). Once the planet's feaver has wiped enough parasitcal life out, there will be new.
The fault lines don't run along generations but cognitve ability. I'm 46 and got rid of my last car years ago. The son of one my neighbors, 21, has gotten himself a Feck you, Greta sticker for his tuned 3 series BMW. And he's proud of it...
Feel like you're putting the cut off a bit too low, there. People who are 40 this year are millennials, we're not talking boomers here.
the older you get, the harder is change
There are some before/after pictures here for Belgium's most affected cities. Especially the ones in Heppeneert, Maaseik and Dinant are scary sights.Are there 'before' pictures for those images? I can imagine the difference is particularly shocking for the one on the right.
Somebody on ResetEra has done it, just scroll down the page
https://www.resetera.com/threads/he...-in-de-and-be-many-more-missing.456994/page-5
There are some before/after pictures here for Belgium's most affected cities. Especially the ones in Heppeneert, Maaseik and Dinant are scary sights.
Yes, but it's not just that which decides how someone feels about climate change, it's also the prevailing view of the generation. 35-40 year olds grew up in a world where climate change was increasingly recognized.
Death toll in Germany rises to 81 and there's still hundreds missing. Almost as much water came down that day as in 3 months on average.
Yes, definitely true! I never wanted to imply this being completely monocausal or sth like that, sorry when it came across that way. My point being is that while obviously the 35-40 year olds have a more rational stance towards climate change than the boomer generation, I still think it's much harder for them to change than for someone who's 15 years old right now. Not only because their generational views differ, but because of their ability to adapt easier than someone who has already a hardened world view.
Ultimately, I still think that before any true progress towards the fight against climate change will take place, those generations who did not grow up knowing about it when they were rather young will have to die out/fall out of society (nursing homes etc.). Genereally speaking, social changes are pretty slow and sometimes, people ask themselves why. The answer is very often just the above. Change is so slow because those who completely oppose an idea, but have the social power (economical status, government, influence in general, influential jobs etc.), will oppose that idea since their world view is hardened; they can't adapt as easy as a younger person, who's more malleable (had to look that word up, hope it makes any sense). So for changes to take place, a majority of people who are in for a change needs to form. This will only happen if the former generation loses its economical status, government positions, influence in general, influential jobs etc., otherwise it's very unlikely to happen. Drastic, abrupt and harsh social changes rarely happen and those that do happen, often happen because of acute (immediate!) crisis (mostly: wars).
Now more than 100 deaths.Damn. What’s the prevailing National opinion? Just pure shock or some kind of grand narrative about how it happened, what to do, etc.?
