I see. Exploring science is going to go a long way towards settling the matter; if not, it'll explain the situation we're in. Gracias for the clarification.

2022 may have been a turning point for action on climate change. It was hard fought, and much less than needed to be done, but it was something.

That’s the biggest story from 2022.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/from-climate-exhortation-to-climate-execution

This Year Was the Beginning of a Green Transition

Paywall problems with the New Yorker.

CNN:

The steel mill that looms over low-slung neighborhoods in Pueblo, Colorado, is a rare bright spot for American manufacturing. Once part of the state’s largest private employer, pumping out steel that was used to build rail lines across the Western US, it is now in the midst of a major expansion and recently became the world’s first steel plant to run almost entirely on solar power.

As we gain in wind and solar, we lose in our most dependable source, hydroelectric power, as Lake Mead and Lake Powell continue to dry up. Almost all of Switzerland's energy comes through hydroelectric, and the government is telling its citizens to cut back on the use of their EVs.

2022 may have been a turning point for action on climate change. It was hard fought, and much less than needed to be done, but it was something. — Mikie

:up: :100:

Rather than Greta Thunberg diatribes, This is the sort of progress I like to see.

:up:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/climate/earth-hottest-years.html

Hottest years on record, the last 8 were.

No snow in the Alps. Watch what that will do to the Rhine come spring and summer. This is fucking up groundwater levels because we're the goddamn stars in making water run the fuck off to the sea instead of living in the bog that was the river delta of the Maas, Waal and Rhine. Only way to save that is creating bogs again but oops it's built up to capacity (actually over if we take environmental measures).

But hey, at least I can have a beer on a terrace during winter!

Causes of global warming: many people using many resources.

(1) Deforestation.

Farming (palm oil, soy)
Livestock (cows, pigs, chickens)
Development (housing, roads, mining, businesses)

(2) Energy.

Oil
Natural gas
Coal

Burned to produce energy for:
Electricity
Transportation
Heat
Industry (steel, plastics, concrete)
Agriculture

-----

Little synopsis I found recently. Sums is up quickly.

Some good news:

https://apple.news/AfEh6Vmu5T8OrSjoVW2rFNg

Some bad news...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60248830

Google, Amazon, Ikea, Apple and Nestle are among those failing to change quickly enough, the study alleges.

Damn you Isaac— Couldn’t just give me 5 minutes, could you?

Sorry. I'll try and restrain my pessimism in future. In my defense, I'm English. It's our default state.

In my defense, I'm English. — Isaac

Ah, I forgot. In that case, I’ll let it slide.

I fear trying to correct a climate trajectory is a bit of a joke unless all on Earth work together diligently, taking away the comforts of civilized society. Not likely.

Sell your beachfront property while you can. I understand prices are going up in some places. Go figure.

@Isaac

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/06/revealed-1000-super-emitting-methane-leaks-risk-triggering-climate-tipping-points

I'm Scottish.

Yep. You win. My search for "World Goes to Hell in a Handcart" yielded nothing. I am, however, thinking of embedding this as my new email signature

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/17/global-warming-likely-to-breach-1-5c-threshold-for-first-time

Great. . .

Sleepwalking to extinction.

More like running. But yes, to extinction.

Sleepwalking to extinction. — Mikie

More like running. But yes, to extinction — Manuel

On the coast of Florida that might be more likely wading.

I can't think of anyone who thought that getting temperatures below 1.5 C would be achieved, given how sluggish progress has been. Sad but not surprising.

Very soon, yes. A bit later, Florida isn't going to be livable, barring a gigantic infrastructure change not seen since the Southern part of Florida was built.



Indeed. Some were hoping we got to that point in 2030, not prior. So, it's a bit worse than predicted, which isn't promising.

Sadly things being worse than expected is becoming an incresingly common phrase among alot of climate headlines today so I've learned to factor that into my predictions as well.

Yes, that's rather sensible, however bad it seems now, very soon, it's going to be significantly worse than predicted, because every new study is confirming this, including this one by McKibben:

https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/maybe-we-should-have-called-this

This is going to be an El Nino year. It's going to be pretty warm.

Yes, and we can't predict, a-priori, how bad it will be on top of the already burning ocean, so it's a kind of Russian roulette.

While I share everyone's concern and have a feeling that things are indeed worse than expected, that Aljazeera headline is misleading if that's all you read. The article goes on to note:

But that did not necessarily mean the world would cross the long-term warming threshold of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement. — Aljazeera

"Breaching 1.5C threshold" in a single year is meaningless, because there is no such threshold. Single-year averages can deviate widely from the long-term trend, and in an El Nino year that's expected.

Not meaningless, it signals that we are going above predicted deviations.

It may not formally lead to the conclusion that we already have exceeded the 2030 deadline goals, but it's certainly a statement announcing that this is likely to happen.

The McKibben article should also cause concern. It's hotter than predicted in addition to having El Nino, so that's worse.

I can see it clearly here where I live, the Dominican Republic, the amounts of seaweed we are getting from the bottom of the ocean off the coasts of Africa is insane, causing as much as an 80% drop in tourism, depleting oxygen and harming peoples health.

It's just awful.

Yes, and we can't predict, a-priori, how bad it will be on top of the already burning ocean, so it's a kind of Russian roulette. — Manuel

There's no reason to believe climate change will cause human extinction. Primates originally evolved at the poles during the PETM. The surface was hotter then than it will be during the whole AGW episode.

But one thing I've found: the belief that we're facing the end is very strong. I think those who hold that belief are doing so for a reason I don't totally understand.