It was a shower thought for me this morning, after having seen all these record temperatures being broken around the world.
But, if it gets too hot to cycle, then people won’t. And if they aren’t cycling, they may start driving again, which compounds climate change even further.
Does this worry anyone else?
You probably won’t get most people to switch to bikes by selling them on fighting climate change anyway. You get them to switch to bikes by making it more convenient to bike than to car. This requires a ratchet of policy that deemphasizes car infrastructure and invests in bike infra instead. That investment can include climate change accomodations like adding trees or artificial shading to bike paths/lanes or more aid stations with water/misters/cooling.
Yep, plus the whole “socioeconomic system that requires ever-increasing profits and nonstop production for the sake of production” means industries are going to continue to put out enough pollution (since it’s more profitable than sustainable production) to render individual decisions to switch from cars to bikes effectively meaningless.
And to be clear this isn’t meant to be a doomer-post. Just saying we’ve gotta fix this shit from root cause, not rely on individualistic measures.
In my Danish city, taking the bike into town is pretty comparable time wise to taking the car.
Oftentimes it’s even faster - especially during rush hour.
And depending on your destination, it’s literally the fastest option as you have to find a parking spot to get onto the “walk/bike street” where all the shops are.
I take the bike every day. It’s preferable to the car for certain.
This argument is like asking people to donate cups of water to fight a raging forest fire … if we could only gather thousands of cups of water, maybe we can stop that fire. Meanwhile, there is a maniac standing at the edge of the forest with a flame thrower burning everything and no one wants to acknowledge them.
Government should do things at the regional, national and international levels to curb the activities of major corporations and companies that produce a large majority of the pollution in our world. The world and planet will be fine with all the damage and destruction we are doing to it … it’s survived far worse than anything we can do. We have to do something in order to save ourselves … it’s not the planet that will die … we will all die off. We have to start prioritizing how to save ourselves as a species rather than in trying to manage the economic portfolios of a handful of billionaires and their corporate shareholders. As soon as we are gone, none of those profits will matter.
I don’t disagree that there’s more that can be done to fight climate change, especially at the corporate/industry level.
But I’m certain that if a few million cyclists suddenly had to switch back to driving, the environmental impacts would be significant in more ways than one. Even just the need to build wider roads or more parking spaces to support this influx in drivers would be a disaster for communities.
From an individual level, every bit counts. Just like recycling, not wasting water, eating a more plant-based diet, reducing our plastic use, and cycling instead of driving, these efforts are multiplied by tens of millions of times over.
A few cars on the road isn’t going to make a significant difference. The problem is the massive factories and industry churning out more greenhouse gases than we ever could with our measly automobiles.
Individually, not a significant difference, but when we’re talking about the potential for millions of cyclists to avoid riding, the impact would be felt.
But yeah, large factories also need to calm the hell down if we are to stand any chance of surviving the next 50 years of climate change.
Did you know its illegal to say that one strong hit with a 20ft speedboat at full throttle into the hull of a cargo ship in the section the two sheets of metal are welded on the broadside of the ship where the rivets are the weakest would take the ship down for repairs for months if not sinking it outright?
Totally, recklessly wildly illegal.
Now, it was okay for me to say it now because I was warning you not to say it. I wasn’t saying it myself.
What IS legal to say is that we have a group that meets under the Brooklyn bridge 23:00 on Sundays and the password is sic semper tyrannis.
Its not a fitting sentence because it has nothing to do with the previous statement, but it is technically legal!
I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently, trying to survive the recent heat and humidity. Every time I’ve gotten to a destination in the past few weeks, I’ve been drenched in sweat and slightly light-headed. While I still prefer that to driving, bike-crazed as I am, I can’t say it makes for a particularly effective promotion of cycling to the people who see me.
On the flip side, I’ve noticed more and more winter cyclists in my area over the years. Snow/ice doesn’t hang around as long as it used to when it falls, and winter seasons keep feeling shorter and shorter.
I’ve been reading up on heat acclimation and that might be the ticket for regular riders - just ride more often in heat, and you’ll simply adapt. LOL
Last winter was my first, and I thought it was pretty manageable. I just hated having to get a ton of extra gear ready for simple rides, and the added maintenance of getting my bike clean after every ride because of salt.
Reminder that the idea of carbon footprint was marketed by big oil to displace blame off themselves to the consumer, who barely has a carbon footprint in comparison.