I see it like this: The (global) climate is in a constant state of flux. It always has been and always will be. Nothing we naked apes can do will change that reality, even slightly. What our (supposed) intelligence does allow us to do, is adapt to the changes in our environment or adapt our environment to better suit or needs and tastes. The prime example of this is Industrial civilisation, which gave humanity a once-in-history opportunity to ignore the climate for roughly three hundred years.
All thanks to the bonanza of fossil energy.
All thanks to the bonanza of fossil energy.
To use a well-worn metaphor, Industrial Civilisation is like the proverbial ocean liner that has struck the proverbial iceberg. The iceberg being the non-renewable nature of fossil energy. As long as the Coal held out, the pumps could expell the water as fast as it came in. Early on, when the leaks were small and the Coal bunkers full, the power plant could produce more than enough energy to meet the demands of the pumps and all the other systems. But now the Coal is almost gone and the need for power has only increased, the engines can no longer keep up with demand.
Everyone on-board believes the lifestyle the ship provides is normal. It's the only thing they or anyone they know has ever experienced. And the first-class passengers and officers want to keep it this way.
The first-class passengers aren't concerned about water in the hold. They've become used to lights and all the other luxuries. Since they're the ship's owners, they can tell the crew what they want, and expect to get it. So the pumps get triaged and the water level in the hull is rising. The first class passengers are concerned that these rising waters might adversely affect the crew, or the second and third class passengers in steerage. But only because this may cause unrest and they don't want their boat rocked (at least not in that way).
So, they've employed a scammer to tell the second and third class passengers - the ones in steerage - that the the ship is is not sinking, just taking on water. This is because it's being weighed down by all their money and that the pumps can't keep up because they're using too much light and heat. They can address the problem if they turn off their lights and heat, eat cold meals and load all their money into a lifeboat which the scammer will generously volunteer to row away. The first class passengers know the ship is sinking and plan to continue enjoying all the luxuries the ship can provide before they step aboard their own (luxurious) private lifeboats, as the ship's deck sinks level with them.
There are, of course, some passengers and crewmen, who are getting worried that the ship might actually be sinking. The scammer has convinced a majority of these people that even if this is true, building masts and sails will provide the power needed to keep the pumps working and the lights and heat on and that life can continue as normal. But a minority are pointing out that the ship was designed to run on Coal exclusively and sails can't provide even a fraction of the energy the machinery requires. It would need to be completely re-designed and rebuilt as a sailing vessel and the rescources needed to do that have all been used to build the ship as-is. They also point out that the're aren't enough lifeboats for all the passengers and crew and everyone needs to be building liferafts from the remaing available rescources.
The ones who favor sails are tolerated (even encouraged) by the officers and first-class passengers as they're all wind (if you'll excuse the pun) and are angry at the people advocating liferafts because it disrupts their comforting belief that everything is (or can be) OK. Angry enough to support the scammer and ship's officers to shout them down and lock them up in the Brig.
Does this sound familiar? As I said, if it looks like a scam...
