Climate Change a non-issue on Boards?

Iwannahurl

It's remarkable really. Or is it?

Climate Change is constantly in the news, and is headline material right now because of the EU climate summit.

Yet the number of Boards threads/posts on the all-important topic is minuscule. As far as I can tell from a Google search there have been only a scattering of posts over the past month that even mention "climate change" or "global warming".

Climate Change is the single biggest environmental, political, economic and social challenge facing humanity, apparently requiring no less than "an industrial revolution for sustainability starting now", and what do we see in the Latest Posts or Trending lists?

Is Climate Change a non-issue as far as Boards members are concerned? Is it too serious an issue?

Apathy perhaps? Fatalism? Dumbing down? Or is Boards just the wrong forum for such a profound topic?

generic2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somebody_Else's_Problem

Iwannahurl

Tragedy of the Commons also, perhaps, a habitable planet being the ultimate commons for us humans.

generic2012

Logical Fallacies and Heuristics might be of interest to you! TOC and also the 'Prisoners Dilemma'.

looksee

I have a daughter with a first class honours degree and a Masters in climate change, she has not had a sniff of a relevant job since finishing college about 4 years ago, she is one of the MScs working in supermarkets.

tgdaly

looksee wrote: »

I have a daughter with a first class honours degree and a Masters in climate change, she has not had a sniff of a relevant job since finishing college about 4 years ago, she is one of the MScs working in supermarkets.

I achieved my MSc in Environmental Policy recently and have had no luck finding work. Hearing about your daughter who has a 1.1 doesn't fill me with much hope!!

The_Captain

It's very difficult. I finished my masters and didn't get work in the environmental sector for a good two/three years

I was originally taken on as a van driver before being shifted into what I do now, which is actually a fairly common way of taking on new staff.
There's another guy here who just showed up one day with a CV when coincidentally the company needed to take on someone to do admin work and was given a job, saving the boss from having to advertise and run interviews.

Just make sure your CV is exactly what someone in the industry would want and keep at it

tgdaly

Any tips? I feel like my CV is ok, as good as it can be considering I've no experience to put on it. I've no problems working my way up, I'm pretty much just getting shut down when I contact anyone though

The_Captain

What specifically are you looking to go into? Depending on what you're going for, you should push different aspects of your course. Tailor your CV to the job

If you're applying directly, use industry terms as much as possible, big up the programs, modules, knowledge etc you have relevant to the position.

If it's through a recruiter, imagine you're explaining to a stranger in a pub why you should get this job. They don't know you, have no vested interest, don't actually know much about the job and will have no knowledge of environmental science, but you need to appreciate that and build your CV to appeal to them. This is normally going to mean using lots of numbers and making sure you have at least one line on your CV per item in the job spec.

You'll find most interviews will be literally the recruiter/employer reading your CV in front of you, picking relevant points on your CV and asking you to expand on them, so you should really put serious effort into getting a 100% CV.
Don't make it more than two pages, don't use anything more than the very basic formatting/fonts. If your CV goes out of alignment or doesn't work on your prospective boss' Macbook, it's getting canned. End of.

Hobbies like rugby and guitar are a waste of ink. Put down swimming and something like first aid training. Have/get a full (preferably clean) driving licence and mention that.
Every line on your CV should make you look like a better candidate for that job. If you aren't applying for a job playing chess, don't put chess down as a hobby, no matter how much you might be into chess

If your CV is more than two pages, lose your references. Everyone knows you have references, no one wants to get a reference from your lecturer or the manager of the Spar you worked in.

Difficult to explain better or show ou properly without knowing your actual background, but hopefully it's of some use

Iwannahurl

The_Captain wrote: »

Hobbies like rugby and guitar are a waste of ink. Put down swimming and something like first aid training. Have/get a full (preferably clean) driving licence and mention that.

Every line on your CV should make you look like a better candidate for that job. If you aren't applying for a job playing chess, don't put chess down as a hobby, no matter how much you might be into chess

Speaking of wasted ink, I love the way this thread, concerning the way in which our society continues to ignore the realities and implications of climate change, has in the space of just nine posts morphed into a discussion about what to put or not to put in a CV when looking for apparently non-existent jobs in the Environmental sector.

QED perhaps?

Here's some more of said wasted ink:

Concluding instalment of the Fifth Assessment Report: Climate change threatens irreversible and dangerous impacts, but options exist to limit its effects

Human influence on the climate system is clear and growing, with impacts observed on all continents. If left unchecked, climate change will increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. However, options are available to adapt to climate change and implementing stringent mitigations activities can ensure that the impacts of climate change remain within a manageable range, creating a brighter and more sustainable future.

...

The report expresses with greater certainty than in previous assessments the fact that emissions of greenhouse gases and other anthropogenic drivers have been the dominant cause of observed warming since the mid-20th century.

The impacts of climate change have already been felt in recent decades on all continents and across the oceans.

The more human activity disrupts the climate, the greater the risks. Continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of widespread and profound impacts affecting all levels of society and the natural world, the report finds.

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/ar5/prpc_syr/11022014_syr_copenhagen.pdf

The_Captain

To be fair, there wasn't any real shocking revelations in AR5 that wasn't already covered to an extent in AR4.
I imagine most people who are interested in such things have already discussed it to death.

The greenhouse effect will heat the Earth, the US and Europe will get slightly warmer, extreme weather events will be more frequent, tropical/equatorial regions will have a much higher sea level and disease rates, dengue will become a massively problematic disease.

The science behind it is well covered and documented.

tgdaly

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Speaking of wasted ink, I love the way this thread, concerning the way in which our society continues to ignore the realities and implications of climate change, has in the space of just nine posts morphed into a discussion about what to put or not to put in a CV when looking for apparently non-existent jobs in the Environmental sector.

QED perhaps?:

To be fair I don't think asking someone with knowledge of the environmental sector for advice is wasted ink, it is my future we are talking about. Also the lack of jobs in the environmental sector and the difficulty of those qualified to obtain those jobs highlight how there needs to be more discussion and concern and investment into the important issues

learn

Iwannahurl wrote: »

It's remarkable really. Or is it?

Climate Change is constantly in the news, and is headline material right now because of the EU climate summit.

Yet the number of Boards threads/posts on the all-important topic is minuscule. As far as I can tell from a Google search there have been only a scattering of posts over the past month that even mention "climate change" or "global warming".

Climate Change is the single biggest environmental, political, economic and social challenge facing humanity, apparently requiring no less than "an industrial revolution for sustainability starting now", and what do we see in the Latest Posts or Trending lists?

Is Climate Change a non-issue as far as Boards members are concerned? Is it too serious an issue?

Apathy perhaps? Fatalism? Dumbing down? Or is Boards just the wrong forum for such a profound topic?

Despite the warning of climate change and higher sea levels, I notice the latest almost completed new houses which are facing the seafront at the Kilbarrack/Howth Rd. junction appear to have their ground floors below road level.

tgdaly

learn wrote: »

Despite the warning of climate change and higher sea levels, I notice the latest almost completed new houses which are facing the seafront at the Kilbarrack/Howth Rd. junction appear to have their ground floors below road level.

The planning of housing in Ireland is seriously poor. To be honest I'd say those houses would have been built the same way even if climate change had been considered, which it wasn't in any case

BryanF

tgdaly wrote: »

The planning of housing in Ireland is seriously poor. To be honest I'd say those houses would have been built the same way even if climate change had been considered, which it wasn't in any case

There has been a dramatic improvement in energy savings in new houses. To blame 'planning' is just lazy.

tgdaly

BryanF wrote: »

There has been a dramatic improvement in energy savings in new houses. To blame 'planning' is just lazy.

I don't believe so. Anyone I have talked to, which includes numerous college lecturers who are experts in both planning and environmental issues, would agree with me