Thank you for sharing this. I've watched what has been released of the video series and I think it's very good work.
Thanks for this. I'm glad to hear from someone who can better express my own objections to Ms Solnit's views. Also, great links in Bendell's article.
This is profoundly good advice. Thank you, nickwitha_k.
Misinformed critique of doomerism
It often seems that people are searching harder for evidence we’re defeated than that we can win
I ran across this article recently and thought I'd post it for comment. Ms Solnit addresses what she considers "doomer evangelism", and aims her criticism directly toward folks like me and others who might share my views. Although she makes some salient points, I regard most of her supporting assertions as not representative of my reaction to climate catastrophe. Not surprisingly, I take such misrepresentations personally and will take a moment to address one of these distortions.
Ms Solnit makes her thesis one that describes doomers as those who have surrendered in advance, do nothing to participate in efforts to achieve carbon neutrality, and who, by these actions, encourage others to do nothing. That is simply not true. Setting aside the fact that individual participation is a negligible activity, I'd posit that most doomers are already engaged in activities that support efforts to mitigate their own contribution to warming the planet.
I'll point to myself as an example: I live in a rural northeastern US community, where mass transit is nonexistent. When I did live in a city, I used public transportation whenever I could. I drive a hybrid vehicle and have plans to purchase an EV as soon as I can. I engage in recycling and avail myself of the local composting program. I am deeply cognizant of my water and electricity usage and actively seek ways to limit that consumption. I limit my purchases of products that use single-use plastic by buying in bulk whenever possible. I buy local produce and meat whenever possible, almost exclusively during growing season. I support local, regional and national policies that encourage conservation of natural resources and those that limit the release of carbon into the atmosphere.
These efforts are expensive and consume a larger than average financial burden for me, especially considering that I am retired, and living on a nearly fixed income. I am doing everything I can possibly do on an individual level to contribute to a healthier planet. I know it's not enough, and I recognize that larger societal and political realities prevent me from doing more. Yet, Ms Solnit would arrogantly declare my efforts to be settling for the worst outcome by doing nothing.
I have many more issues with Ms Solnit's view which I haven't the time or energy to presently address. Among them is her premise that my considerations are based on outdated research or misinformation. I'll save that discussion for another day.
What a thoughtful and heartbreaking piece. In many ways, your thoughts echo my own.
Thank you for sharing this.
Nobody knows just how bad things will get
As the barrage of bad news from places like Greece continues, all we can be certain of is there are many surprises lying ahead, says analyst Roger Harrabin
FTFA: Former IPCC chief Prof Bob Watson, said: “I am very concerned. None of the observed changes so far (with a 1.2C temperature rise) are surprising. But they are more severe than we predicted 20 years ago, and more severe than the predictions of five years ago. We probably underestimated the consequences.”
Update on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)
For various reasons I'm motivated to provide an update on my current thinking regarding the slowdown and tipping point of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). I attended a two-day AMOC session at the IUGG Conference the week before last, there's been interesting new papers, and in...
10 basic points on the health of the AMOC, which if halts, will kill everything in the ocean.
I'm not sure I understand. Both ESG investing and DEI marketing are methods of extracting value from capital. Last I heard, insane far left radicals are demonstrably not capitalists. Consider how psychopathic plutocrats have known for centuries that spewing carbon into the atmosphere would eventually trigger catastrophic environmental destruction, yet did it anyway. This is likely less hoax than reality.
Also, evoking a narrowly defined postgraduate thought experiment is meaningless in this context.
What happens when there's not enough food for everyone?
Climate breakdown and crop losses threaten our survival, but the ultra-rich find ever more creative ways to maintain the status quo, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
The green revolution ended in 2015, when the number of food insecure people began to rise. Around 2.3 billion people in the world were moderately or severely food insecure in 2021, or nearly 30 percent of the global population – more than 350 million more people than in 2019.
It's just a matter of time until simultaneous crop failures, exacerbated by a non-resilient agricultural system, will force conflict between the few maintainers of the current economic system and everyone else.
What the ultra-rich want is to sustain and extend the economic system that put them where they are, but that system is unsustainable.
Yet another underestimated risk of climate catastrophe
The risks of harvest failures in multiple global breadbaskets have been underestimated, according to a study Tuesday that researchers said should be a "wake up call" about the threat climate change poses to our food systems.
It seems as though every week brings news that some predictor of climate change has been given less consequential value than warranted.
This week brings news of research that examines the likelihood of simultaneous global crop failures, and it's not a happy outlook.
The Hill offers toxicly positive article on climate catastrophe
As hot as it is now, the summer of 2023 might be considered a “cool” summer to future generations.
FTFA: >Admittedly, this may all seem hopeless. But unlike a terminal illness, we know exactly what the problem is, we know exactly how to fix it, and we have all the solutions we need now. What is required is that we pay attention and get serious — quickly. Our future depends on it.
Yeah, right.
When the honeybees are gone, humanity's demise is certain.
Another deadly setback for honeybees
Nearly 50% of US bee colonies died off last year, although efforts have helped the overall bee population remain ‘relatively stable’
Although it's encouraging to see industry being forced to respond responsibly to PFAS clean-up efforts, $10.3 billion is a drop in the bucket.
According to a recent report in The Guardian the Pentagon estimates remediation efforts at 50 military bases to be $31 billion, but the Environmental Working Group identifies 700 more PFAS-laden sites and estimates costs at tens of billions of dollars more.
I quite agree and recommend everyone give this a read.
Do you have any objection to my pinning this post to the top?
Study predicts potential ecosystem collapse as early as 2030
Across the world, rainforests are becoming savanna or farmland, savanna is drying out and turning into desert, and icy tundra is thawing.
This study, newly published in Nature Sustainability, explores the influence of primary stress, additional stress, and erratic events on Earth System, using data from 4 recent environmental collapse events. As one might expect, results pointed to -39% - 80% acceleration in global ecosystem collapse predictions, potentially advancing current models' catastrophe deadlines from 2100 to 2030.
California's dam system unprepared for severe weather
One superstorm could send walls of water sweeping through populated areas. There’s not much time to act.
(paywalled)
Like most of this country's infrastructure, California's dams were built without regard for the truly severe weather that climate change makes possible. In the US, electrical grids, coastlines, transportation networks, communication facilities are all vulnerable to extreme weather.
What, if anything, is your community doing to prepare its infrastructure for the ravages that rising temperatures will bring?
No, but I think it's still too early to tell. There is still quite a bit of uncertainty over the total inventory of gas hydrates. Temperatures at the bottom of the North Atlantic have not yet moved as dramatically as those at 500 meters or less. Also, methane clathrate deposits in shallower waters in that region are not particularly voluminous.
Just spitballing, but could this be an artifact of a dramatically slowing Atlantic meridional overturning circulation? Regardless, it looks like an exceptionally hot dry summer for most of Europe.
North Atlantic marine heat wave more severe than predicted
Temperatures in parts of the North Atlantic Ocean are soaring off the charts, with an “exceptional” marine heat wave happening off the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland, sparking concerns about impacts on marine life.
Once again, we are experiencing the intensity of a climate event that far surpasses what was ever predicted under current conditions.
Marine heat waves (MHW) have increased 20-fold, according to this study. It is projected that such events, occurring once every hundreds to thousands of years under a pre-industrial climate, will occur at least every decade under 1.5ºC conditions and annually under 3.0ºC conditions.
However, the MHW currently underway in the North Atlantic is “very exceptional,” said Mika Rantanen, a researcher at the Finnish Meteorological Institute and is “way beyond the worst-case predictions for the changing climate of the region."
Yes, India's functioning bar is at the top, yet their worry seems inappropriately low. Filipinos seem to be appropriately worried.
Grim results when applying superconductivity models to predict future climate outcomes in the Anthropocene
A new report shows just how close Earth is to reaching total chaos, and unfortunately, it isn't that surprising.
Published 21 April, 2022, this not-yet-peer-reviewed study (pdf) applied the Ginzburg-Landau theory (Wikipedia) to model future conditions on this planet. Predictably, even the best case scenarios presented dismal outcomes.
Plankton could accelerate warming
A new study reveals that rising global temperatures could convert widespread microbial communities worldwide from carbon sinks to carbon emitters, potentially triggering climate change tipping points. These findings were recently published in the British Ecological Society's journal, Functional Ecol
Mixotrophic microbes are single-celled organisms such as plankton and paramecium that are able to switch between photosynthesis and predation for survival. Plankton is the base food source for all marine trophic levels. Normally, these microbes employ photosynthesis, absorbing carbon and providing 70% of atmospheric oxygen. But their switch to eating other single-celled critters releases carbon.
The mechanism for the switch is not well understood, but appears to be triggered by a rise in the temperature of their environment. Their switching could indicate a tipping point for sustainable marine life and accelerate global temperature increase.
What has led you to doomerism?
Although the linked study examined attitudes of those 16 to 25 years of age, there are many outside that range (myself included) who experience extreme pessimism about the future of human existence.
What experiences led you to your own conclusions about the fate of humanity? Do those conclusions affect your everyday decisions? How does your acceptance of imminent calamity shape your long term goals?
I'll start. I was but a child in the 1960's (Boomer II), born into a family deeply involved in charismatic Christianity. Fear surrounding the predicted events of a highly anticipated second coming of Christ (The Rapture, Tribulation, etc.) combined with the exaggerated cultural threat of communist aggression and the certainty of thermonuclear destruction created a perfect storm of personal despair and dread by the time I was 9 years old. As the fundamentalist Christian culture edged toward prosperity gospel and Seven Mountains, my mind turned towards nihilistic and scientific literature.
By my teenage years, I was solidly convinced that nothing short of a miracle could save humanity prior to my 30th birthday. Yet, here we are. The angst of my childhood absolutely shaped the trajectory of my life. Secondary education seemed a senseless enough endeavor to ignore. I considered reproduction to be a cruel endeavor. I embraced agnosticism, punk culture and anarchism.
The privileged existence of being white, privileged and cis male has served me well, and I can't say that I'm unhappy. I find succor in the growing probability that a natural death will spare me the majority of horrors to come. And I am sad and angry for what subsequent generations are about to experience.
What's your story?
I don't think this will end well. Slow escalation will eventually lead to a cascade of chaos.
Often, a society's awareness of mission critical issues is shaped by the language used to describe such events. And things never go well when urgency and denial are given equal value in the public arena.
In 100 years, the earth will be completely different. I am sad for the young who will live to see it all go down.
Climate change-induced migration began long ago. Since 2008, around 20 million people annually relocate as a result of changing climactic conditions. About a quarter of those migrate to other countries.
Temperatures as high as 44.7 C kills nearly 100 in India
Indian officials say at least 96 people have died in two of the most populous states over the last several days with swaths of the country reeling from scorching heat. The death toll announced Sunday comes as authorities are warning residents over 60 and others suffering various maladies to stay ind...
Heat waves of this nature are becoming more frequent as our climate catastrophe continues.
Proposing a 1.0°C Climate Target For a Safer Future
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that climate change has already caused substantial damages at the current 1.2°C of global warming and that warming of 1.5°C would elevate risks of a wide-range of climate tipping points. For example, wet-bulb temperatures are already exceeding ...
The technology to do this exists, but it will never happen. Like any other organism, humans will use up all available finite resources until death is certain.
I don't know why this is getting downvoted. It's clearly satire, folks. I especially like the part about wolves. Can we do that?
Yes, it seems that there is solid data that polar bear populations are increasing.
Is the War in Ukraine a Global War?
Experts seem divided on whether or not Russia's invasion of Ukraine already qualifies as a global war. There's no doubt that the conflict is having negative consequences on an international scale. There are those who claim that these consequences are grave enough to eventually end society as we have come to know it.
I think anyone can envision a scenario whereby V. Putin makes a decision that provokes other powers into direct armed conflict.
Four Charts
Soaring temperatures. Unusually hot oceans. Record high levels of carbon pollution in the atmosphere and record low Antarctic ice. We’re only halfway through 2023 and so many climate records are being broken.
Most of the media is referring to these charts as "alarming". Has no one been alarmed by previous charts?
Yes, boats and submarines flood. And the conditions at both polar regions are changing more dramatically than anywhere else. There are lakes bubbling methane from melted permafrost in Siberia and Alaska. Norway is already too warm to have glaciers.
I agree that It is completely possible to transition to zero emissions in just a few years. The process would be painful, disruptive, and cost $50 trillion. There's a shot if it starts next week. It may be too late.
I don't think that flood-proof is a thing, but their heart is in the right place.
And it's true that with sufficient wherewithal, most problems could be fixed. The solutions are certainly non-trivial and will be unthinkably expensive.
I don't think it's suppression from the scientific community. It seems like over-moderation of results in order to ensure future funding for further research.
Is "Negative Emissions" Even Attainable?
The scientific consensus is we need to aim for negative emissions by phasing out fossil fuels, not just removing carbon from the atmosphere
(opinion)
More bad news... Every climate catastrophe indicator is far above what anyone even considered just a year ago. It appears that the rate of climate change is beginning to increase exponentially, further evidence that enough climate tipping points have been reached to render change unstoppable.