Bread and CircusesJun 17, 2023

Remember what Greta Thunberg has said?

"I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act."

The opinion piece below from Bloomberg/WaPo seems to agree with her...
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"Global Heat Records Are Falling. A Little Panic Might Be in Order."

The planet could easily set a record-high average temperature in 2023, especially with an El Niño weather pattern kicking in later this year. We have already suffered through the hottest early June on record, with global land temperatures briefly touching 1.5C above the pre-industrial average. Ocean temperatures this spring have been the hottest ever at this time of year, in records going back 174 years.

Many people, including myself, have warned against panicking about such stunning new highs, given the temporary nature of El Niño’s boost. Even if we temporarily hit 1.5C of warming this year, it will still be theoretically possible to avoid long-term warming beyond that level and all the catastrophic consequences that would come with it.

But first we must kick our fossil-fuel addiction and stop spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. And judging by how little the world’s policymakers seem to be interested in taking such steps, perhaps just a smidgen of panic might be helpful.

Scientists agree the world must zero out its emissions by 2050 in order to keep warming to 1.5C, a target set at the Paris climate accords in 2015. And so far 95 countries have made "net-zero" pledges.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the vast majority of those pledges aren’t credible. Current policies and practices have the world on pace to hit nearly 3C of warming by the end of the century. Even the most dependable net-zero pledges would still lead to close to 2.5C of warming, a recent study found.

One big problem is that significant numbers of "net-zero" countries have zero plans to stop burning oil, gas, and coal, according to a new study from the Stockholm Environment Institute. Of the 95 pledging countries, 45 talk about "continuing or expanding fossil-fuel production" right there in their net-zero pledges, according to the study. Only 5 of the 95 countries, in contrast, discuss transitioning out of fossil-fuel production as part of their net-zero pledges.
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FULL ARTICLE -- https://archive.is/uz5Nr#selection-341.0-341.66

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateAction #CO2 #Emissions #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual

Show threadChookMother 🇦🇺🦘

@breadandcircuses There are acouple of problems with the messaging.

One is the "It's not so bad really" narrative. 1.5° of warming was once seen as the absolute maximum that could be tolerated without dire consequences for humanity. Now it's expected this year and you say "Even if we reach 1.5° this year - there's still a chance ......" This narrative postpones disaster into the future. Politicians, non-scientific folk read this as " it's okay to postpone drastic measures."

Stick to the original narrative. The worst has happened. We are in the midst of planet-wide disaster. No-one is coming to save us.

Secondly, stop telling people about degrees of global warming by such and such a date and talk about the consequences, the impact on people's lives. Tell them meaningful stuff; the area of the planet's surface currently on fire or flooded, about crops lost, the likely maximum and minimum temperatures for their locality.

#ClimateAction #climate

Jun 17, 2023 at 11:45pmWeb
Show threadTruth Or Consequences ✅ 🇺🇦Jun 18, 2023
@anne_twain Everything is going to be fine, until it isn't. Then the climate deniers will blame scientists instead of capitalists. We are on that course right now.
Show threadChookMother 🇦🇺🦘Jun 19, 2023

@Savvyhomestead Will they blame scientists? Why?

I think they'll blame governments because they expect the government to take the lead. This has become clear during the pandemic.

The people will blame governments for not taking the lead earlier.

However, we also learn from the pandemic that governments in a democracy don't want to ask anyone to give up their current lifestyle except in extreme circumstances. So they'll wait for climate disasters to become extreme before they act.

Show threadTruth Or Consequences ✅ 🇺🇦Jun 19, 2023
@anne_twain In most sane countries they will blame the government but in the US the loudest voices blame scientists for their message.
Either way everything is fine until it isn't.
Show threadChookMother 🇦🇺🦘Jun 19, 2023
@Savvyhomestead I'm Australian, we tend to blame the government here. You sound very accepting of the status quo, is that right?