‘People are going to die because of the decision Trump made’ — John Kerry
The United States and Australian environmental policies will lead us to a slightly less deadly 4C warming world above pre-industrial levels. Even Europe will lead us to a 3C world. None of those policy choices will keep us from catastrophic climate impacts by the year 2100. ( I hate hearing about the year 2100 projections of likely climate scenarios because it is the delusional and selfish notion that we can kick this looming crisis down the road for the kids to solve).
The IPCC report states we have exactly 12 years to decarbonize or, it is game over for our civilization. That was the IPCC best case scenario, not the worst.
Recently, the conclusion of a newly released study, published in the journal Nature Communications, evaluates “the relationship between each nation’s ambition to cut emissions and the temperature rise that would result if the world followed their example”. It is not remotely promising.
The Guardian reports: Policies of China, Russia and Canada threaten 5C climate change, study finds:
Among the major economies, the study shows India is leading the way with a target that is only slightly off course for 2C. Less developed countries are generally more ambitious, in part because they have fewer factories, power plants and cars, which means they have lower emissions to rein in.
On the opposite side of the spectrum are the industrial powerhouse China and major energy exporters who are doing almost nothing to limit carbon dioxide emissions. These include Saudi Arabia (oil), Russia (gas) and Canada, which is drawing vast quantities of dirty oil from tar sands. Fossil fuel lobbies in these countries are so powerful that government climate pledges are very weak, setting the world on course for more than 5C of heating by the end of the century.
Only slightly better are the group of countries that are pushing the planet beyond 4C. Among them are the US, which has huge emissions from energy, industry and agriculture somewhat offset by promises of modest cuts and more renewables. Australia, which remains heavily dependent on coal exports, is also in this category.
The wealthy shopping societies of Europe fare slightly better – largely because emissions on products are calculated at the source of manufacture rather than the point of consumption – but the authors of the paper say their actions lag behind their promises to set a positive example.
Meanwhile at the UN Climate Talks, climate policy experts will gather in Katowice, Poland - “located in a mining region that is among the most polluted in Europe and are intended to hammer out a rulebook to the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, which set a sweeping goal of ending the fossil-fuel era this century by spurring a trillion-dollar transition to cleaner energy sources such as solar and wind power”.
Reuters reports:
Several Trump administration officials who supported keeping the United States in the Paris pact, although under different terms, have left the administration. They include top economic adviser Gary Cohn, national security adviser H.R. McMaster, and climate and energy adviser George David Banks. Now, economic adviser Larry Kudlow and national security adviser John Bolton are opponents of the Paris agreement, and Banks has been replaced by Griffith.
Ex-CIA director Mike Pompeo, a vocal critic of efforts to combat global warming by past U.S. administrations, has become Secretary of State, replacing former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who supported U.S. participation in the Paris agreement.
That places Trump’s team more squarely behind his “energy dominance” agenda of boosting U.S. fossil fuel output and exports, in part by promoting low-emission technology for fossil fuels to other nations.
The Energy Department has touted technologies including small scale “modular” coal plants that could burn the fuel more efficiently and step in when clouds and calm weather limit solar and wind power.
Environmentalists should not get excited that any State Department cooperation in Poland signals the Trump administration is eyeing a return to the Paris agreement, one of the sources said.
Childish Gambino warns about climate change.
Woo, ey
Woo, ey
You can feel it in the streets
On a day like this, the heat
It feel like summer
I feel like summer
I feel like summer
You can feel it in the streets
On a day like this, the heat
I feel like summer (ey)
She feel like summer
This feel like summer
I feel like summer
Seven billion souls that move around the sun
Rolling faster, faster, not a chance to slow down
Slow down
Men who made machines that want what they decide
Parents tryna tell the children please slow down
Slow down
I know
Oh, I know you know that pain
I'm hopin' that this world will change
(Ooo, I hope this world will change)
But it just seems the same
(It feels like the same)
You can feel it in the streets
On a day like this, the heat
It feel like summer
(I feel like summer)
I feel like summer
(I feel like summer)
I feel like summer
Every day gets hotter than the one before
Running out of water, it's about to go down
Go down
Air that kill the bees that we depend upon
Birds were made for singing, wakin' up to no sound
No sound
I know
Oh, I know you know my pain (woah, no no no)
I'm hopin' that this world will change
(This world will change, yeah)
But it just seems the same (woah)
I know
Oh, I hope we change
I really thought this world could change
But it seems like the same
I know
Oh, my mind is still the same
I'm hoping that this world will change
But it just seems the same
I know
Oh, I hope we change