Gregory's Server
Extended excerpts below from a stark warning issued by a team of international scientists about the intensifying climate crisis...
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You don't have to look far to see what climate change is doing to the planet. The word "unprecedented" is everywhere this year.
We are seeing unprecedented rapidly intensifying tropical storms such as Hurricane Helene in the eastern United States and Super Typhoon Yagi in Vietnam.
Unprecedented fires in Canada have destroyed towns. Unprecedented drought in Brazil has dried out enormous rivers and left swathes of empty river beds. At least 1,300 pilgrims died during this year's Hajj in Mecca as temperatures passed 50°C.
Unfortunately, we are headed for far worse.
Our new report, the 2024 State of the Climate, shows a continued rise in fossil fuel emissions, which remain at an all-time high. Despite years of warnings from scientists, fossil fuel consumption has actually increased, pushing the planet toward dangerous levels of warming. Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases – particularly methane and carbon dioxide – are still rising.
Last September, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere hit 418 parts per million. This September, they crossed 422 ppm. Methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, has been increasing at an alarming rate despite global pledges to tackle it.
Compounding the problem is the recent decline in atmospheric aerosols from efforts to cut pollution. These small particles suspended in the air come from both natural and human processes, and have helped cool the planet.
Without this cooling effect, the pace of global warming may accelerate. We don't know for sure because aerosol properties are not yet measured well enough.
Other environmental issues are now feeding into climate change. Deforestation in critical areas such as the Amazon is reducing the planet's capacity to absorb carbon naturally, driving additional warming. This creates a feedback loop, where warming causes trees to die which in turn amplifies global temperatures.
Loss of sea ice is another. As sea ice melts or fails to form, dark seawater is exposed. Ice reflects sunlight but seawater absorbs it. Scaled up, this changes the Earth's albedo (how reflective the surface is) and accelerates warming further.
Without drastic changes, the world is on track for approximately 2.7°C of warming this century. To avoid catastrophic tipping points, nations must strengthen their climate pledges, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
Immediate, transformative policy changes are now necessary if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Climate change is already here. But it could get much, much worse. By slashing emissions, boosting natural climate solutions and working towards climate justice, the global community can still fend off the worst version of our future.
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The above is taken from an article written by two scientists who helped produce the 2024 State of the Climate report. In my next post, I'll highlight some of the important content from the report itself. 🧵 1/3
READ THE ARTICLE -- https://www.sciencealert.com/humanity-faces-a-brutal-future-as-scientists-warn-of-2-7c-warming
#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency
🧵 3/3
From the concluding paragraphs of the 2024 State of the Climate Report, in which a team of scientists warn that without system change, we are likely facing societal collapse...
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Despite six IPCC reports, 28 COP meetings, hundreds of other reports, and tens of thousands of scientific papers, the world has made only very minor headway on climate change, in part because of stiff resistance from those benefiting financially from the current fossil-fuel based system.
We are currently going in the wrong direction, and our increasing fossil fuel consumption and rising greenhouse gas emissions are driving us toward a climate catastrophe. We fear the danger of climate breakdown.
The evidence we observe is both alarming and undeniable, but it is this very shock that drives us to action. We recognize the profound urgency of addressing this global challenge, especially the horrific outlook for the world's poor.
In a world with finite resources, unlimited growth is a perilous illusion. We need bold, transformative change: drastically reducing overconsumption and waste, especially by the affluent, stabilizing and gradually reducing the human population through empowering education and rights for girls and women, reforming food production systems to support more plant-based eating, and adopting an ecological and post-growth economics framework that ensures social justice.
The surge in yearly climate disasters shows we are in a major crisis with worse to come if we continue with business as usual. Only through decisive action can we safeguard the natural world, avert profound human suffering, and ensure that future generations inherit the livable world they deserve. The future of humanity hangs in the balance.
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FULL REPORT -- https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biae087/7808595
What's most notable to me about the 2024 State of the Climate Report is that some of the more moderate climate scientists, such as Michael Mann, signed their names to it. This report goes well beyond what we usually get from the mainstream science establishment.
Although they insist they're not being either optimistic or pessimistic but simply honest, the whole thing feels a lot closer to the kind of 'doomism' that many have denounced in the past. Of course, they don't want anyone to give up yet, and neither do I. As they say, "the fact is that avoiding every tenth of a degree of warming is critically important."
But they're willing to state here that climate feedback loops and tipping points could amplify warming beyond human control. And they allude to findings that suggest the current rate of global warming could be accelerating, per James Hansen.
They're even calling for a post-growth economy, i.e. #degrowth.
Bottom line: These scientists are scared, as they should be. As we all should be.
#Economics #Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency
🧵 3/3
From the concluding paragraphs of the 2024 State of the Climate Report, in which a team of scientists warn that without system change, we are likely facing societal collapse...
________________________________
Despite six IPCC reports, 28 COP meetings, hundreds of other reports, and tens of thousands of scientific papers, the world has made only very minor headway on climate change, in part because of stiff resistance from those benefiting financially from the current fossil-fuel based system.