On the train of denial. Part 1.
Climate Change...can we scream loud enough to stop it?
Well, here we are again and again ignoring and still grappling with floods, drought, fires, extreme unprecedented weather events and etc.
The bane of our hubris? Corporate greed? Stupidity? Yes! All three and more.
Today’s New York Times reports:
A Big Climate Goal Is Getting Farther Out of Reach
“A new report forecasts global temperature increases well above the level that world leaders have pledged to avoid.”https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/14/climate/climate-action-tracker-temperatures-emissions.html?unlocked_article_code=1.aE4.EHwA.QYzzJNKotvUX&smid=em-share
The landmark and legally binding international treaty on climate change, the Paris Agreement was agreed upon and adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016. It was the first time all nations decided together to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
During the Trump Administration the United States was the first nation in the world to formally withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
President Biden upon his election had the United States re-join the community of nations. On January 20, 2021, on his first day in office, President Biden signed the instrument to bring the United States back into the Paris Agreement.https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-officially-rejoins-the-paris-agreement/
U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality
Back in 2023 The United States finally “As recognized in the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, the climate crisis and gender equity and equality are inextricably linked.”
In the 2023 Report to Congress on the United States Strategy to Respond to the Effects of Climate Change on Women, pursuant to Section 7019(e) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2023 (Div. K, P.L. 117-328) and House Report 117-401, the United States integrated cross-cutting climate action and gender equality priorities into several landmark strategies, policies, and initiatives.
https://www.state.gov/cross-cutting-issues/
Let’s take a few moments to look at the obstacles of trying to solve the climate crisis.
Governments are unprepared and the devastation is deadly shocking.
Huge numbers of people have protested in Valencia, Spain against government officials handling of recent deadly floods caused by caused by torrential rain. Flash flooding hit some areas around Barcelona, less than a week after devastating floods in Valencia. https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c937l4965v0o
One extreme climate disaster after another in the U.S. Hurricane Helene made landfall in September and swept across five states. Fires rage in the Eastern U.S. this month. According to Yale Climate Connections, at the Yale School of the Environment, “ Home insurance costs have more than doubled in the U.S. over the past two decades, and many insurance companies are exiting states like Florida and California that are especially vulnerable to climate-worsened extreme weather like hurricanes and wildfires. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is running out of money to fund its efforts to help communities recover from extreme weather disasters.”
There is still no sign of the rapid and deep decrease in total CO2 emissions that is
needed to tackle climate change.
History of atmospheric CO2, from 800,000 years ago until January 2024.
For more information on CO2 measurements, visit https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends.
The BBC Reports today:
UN climate talks 'no longer fit for purpose' say key experts
“The United Nations' COP climate talks are "no longer fit for purpose" and need an urgent overhaul, key experts including a former UN secretary general and former UN climate chief have said.
In a letter to the UN, senior figures say countries should not host the talks if they don’t support the phase out of fossil energy.
This week the Azerbaijani president told world leaders gathered in his country for COP29 that natural gas was a ‘gift from God’ and he shouldn’t be blamed for bringing it to market.”