Quote from UN: There is “no credible pathway to 1.5C in place”, the UN’s environment agency has said, and the failure to reduce carbon emissions means the only way to limit the worst impacts of the climate crisis is a “rapid transformation of societies”.
I have been blogging now for around 2 yrs and here is a bit of personal history: I joined the Sierra Club in 1962 (I was 12), in 1965 I came to the conclusion there were too many people on the planet to be sustainable (there were 3.4 billion and today we are almost at 8 billion), in 1980 I became aware of and concerned about greenhouse gases causing climate change. Received my first patent on renewable energy in 2004. 2016 decided humanity is not going to get its act together in time to avert significant/potentially catastrophic damage to the planet and ourselves, therefore laying the groundwork for an adaption strategy that is more focused on giving my family some chances to navigate the coming challenges. This resulted in the purchase of the Washington State property and formation of CASA. A work in progress.
If you go back on my blogs, closer to the beginning, you will see that I called bulls**t on the IPCC 2015 goal of 1.5 deg C and said that it will be closer to 2.5 deg C. This is what they are now saying if we are lucky and many in the scientific community think the number will be closer to 3 deg C. Today we are at 1.2 deg C and seeing drought, famine, deluge resulting in flooding (when the rains do come), fire and severe storms (hurricanes/cyclones). If you think for a moment, this is as bad as it is going to get, think again. We and more importantly, our children, are in for a very challenging time in the coming decades.
To repeat myself: It is human nature to address the immediate threats; wars, economics, shortages. Climate change is a long term threat but an existential (life as we know it/extinction) threat and not on our immediate agenda. This is the tragedy which will be paid for by future generations that find a way to survive. We are beginning to address it but too slowly. We all need to do everything we can and be prepared for significant sacrifices in the life we previously knew as there will be lots of pain in lifestyle changes. The party is over, period.
This is not a good news story but always happy to discuss as it does not need to be unmanageable.
best,
SZ