10 years ago to the day, Dr James Hansen explained that if we continued Business As Usual until 2021, then suddenly stopped all emissions, we'd remain at risk in the climate danger zone above 350 ppm until 2300.
Even today, without runaway climate change, we're already suffering. We don't want people to be hopeful, we want people to be angry and we want people to act.
I find it remarkable to mention nuclear weapons without confirming that total collapse at any time is possible and has been for many decades. A nuclear war would collapse civilization and kill pretty much everything.
1. We're at 417ppm
Dr J. Hansen: that's 3.5°C eventually
2. We face 427ppm by 2025
That's like climates +3M yrs ago
3. Business plans: +450ppm by 2035
Scientists: worst impacts likely
4. Trajectory: 550ppm by 2047
Decent human survival threatened
5. Action: now or never
We're in an Ecological Catastrophe.
However, it's not too late to calmly take emergency individual-collective action to change consumption and production, organising for political and economic system change away from growth & corporate crimes.
You already know that 20% of all species face extinction in the next few decades that's why you're taking whatever emergency individual action you can and striving for profound economic & political change, but did you realise at least 40% of Earth's plant species are threatened?
1. Researchers say there are still huge gaps in our knowledge about plants, the implication being it would seem that it is perfectly likely more than 40% face extinction.
If you think capitalism is a system that will let butterflies, giraffes and bumblebees flourish, you might be out of your tiny mind.
And while we're on the subject.. think you know human nature is essentially destructive to the point where we must wreck our own habitat? Also no.
Migratory western monarch butterflies have reached a record low this year, putting them at the brink of extinction.. the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced.. it would not be recommending protection for the species under the Endangered Species Act.'nationalgeographic.com/animals/articl…
'Giraffes are in serious danger of extinction'.
'Conservation groups are suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to respond to a petition seeking protection for giraffes'
There are many things we can do to try to limit the damage of the ecological-climate crisis.
1. explore Climate Justice & Degrowth Economics to aim for individual-collective action. Make personal changes of course, and also join others to organise and influence policies/systems.
2. One of the most useful and important things we can do is inform ourselves and each other. With wider awareness comes deeper change.
See the detailed, thoughtful article linked here for practical tips on concrete ideas for taking action:
1. Global crop failures by 2°C. 2. Most humans dead by 4°C. 3. Earth uninhabitable by 6°C. 4. We risk 2°C by 2035. 5. We risk 4°C by 2065. 6. We risk 6°C by 2095.
One tweet is worth a million newspaper front pages.
1. It will never be too late to try to limit the damage/suffering of the expanding ecological-climate catastrophe by challenging media silence, destructlive growth & short-term profit maximization.
We need economic system change action now to avoid 3-4C by 2050-2100.
Sources:👇
2. 'Risks of simultaneous crop failure.. increase disproportionately between 1.5 and 2°C'