Extreme Temperature Diary-November 27, 2018/ Topic: Masculinity And Climate Change

guyonclimate_mi5tor

Tuesday November 27th… Dear Diary. The main purpose of this ongoing post will be to track United States extreme or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials)😊. 

Masculinity And Climate Change

Yesterday while reading the following Paul Krugman article from the New York Times it occurred to me that there is another psychological human trait that not many if anyone has written about on the issue of climate change…masculinity, or the perception, at least in the United States, that those men who recycle and drive environmentally friendly vehicles are more feminine, and those that “rock the boat,” driving big, high octane carbon belching machines are more like “real men.” Here is the quote I read giving me the idea for today’s post and linked article by Paul Krugman:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/opinion/climate-change-denial-republican.html

“Finally, I have the impression that there’s an element of tough-guy posturing involved — real men don’t use renewable energy, or something.”

One of the first posts I ever wrote on this site involved something in the world of climate I had never heard of before…coal rollers. Take a look:

https://guyonclimate.com/2017/04/02/coal-rollersthought-that-i-had-seen-everything/

coal-roller

Image Credit: Business Insider

Here is an excerpt from my prior post: 

In life, no matter how long one lives, we discover new, mostly wonderful things…art, writing, books, great natural landscapes, and insightful knowledge. Sometimes we come across something horrible to see, though. While reading I stumbled upon something relatively new from the world of climate change that I thought I would never see and is giving me nightmares… what is called a “coal roller.” Here is the 2014 article where I got the picture of this monstrosity pictured above.

http://www.businessinsider.com/conservatives-purposely-making-cars-spew-black-smoke-2014-7

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Young men in their teens and twenties, no matter what sexual orientation, have a rebellious spirit, thinking that they know more and have found a better way of living than prior generations. Just ask most fathers. Yes, yours truly had somewhat of a rebellious spirit in my youth. I suppose that this aspect of humanity is built into our collective DNA, which positively makes society slowly progress with each subsequent generation since younger people strive to “outperform and outsmart” their parents. Negatively, though, that rebellious spirit can lead young people, particularly young men, to not heed sound advice from their parents, making many commit many life mistakes.

Too, many young men want to be as masculine, or be perceived as masculine as possible, often to the detriment of weaker and more effeminate male peers. Peer pressure can lead to dangerous, self destructive habits, as young men encounter pressure to be “butch and rebellious.” Think about past generations taking up the habit of cigarette smoking, stealing, or racing wildly on public roads just to get that perception of being more masculine, often in an effort to attract members of the opposite sex. Youth are often rebellious doing the exact opposite of what they are told or asked to do. Society perceives rebelliousness as masculine and being conformist more feminine…another reason for the advent of those coal rollers, the middle finger in the eye of those who ask all to take care of things.

In the long run, as far as the climate goes, should caring about the environment get a more negative perception among juveniles wanting to be butch, we are all in more trouble. Teachers must instill in the young that being responsible towards our environment is much more manly than say rigging vehicles to be coal rollers. Peer pressure can be used for a positive effect. Students going through college should look down on those who do drive big polluting vehicles, thinking of them as irresponsible. Teslas, I hope, will become the new “it” vehicle for the 2020s with young men and women pestering their parents for that brand of car, not Corvettes or Mustangs, wanted makes from my generation, for example.

God forbid that all electrics get looked on as cars for wimps with those with loud internal combustion engines as those for the macho man. I’m afraid, though, that this proverbial cat is already out of the bag. As the old saying goes, boys will be boys, liking explosions and the roar of engines. Electrics don’t fit this bill but are now capable of racing fast as any ICE’s for those having the need for speed.

In the South I’m also getting the perception that rebelling against science and learning continues to be in vogue, at least in some high schools. The “in” crowd has never been nerds, although most millennials and generation Z can’t tear there selves awat from smart phones.

I’d like a few climate scientists to interact more with the young, and particularly young men, helping to instill education and life habits that will protect all from carbon pollution, being mentors, taking a few underneath their tutorial wing. It is manly to care…and to care for our Earth.

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Here is some other weather and climate news from Tuesday: 

(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity.)

This is Bob Henson’s excellent summary of the new climate assessment:

More news and articles:

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The Climate Guy

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