(1/21) On November 6, 1965, the U.S. agreed with Cuba to airlift Cubans to the United States.
In the next eight years, around 300,000 Cubans took advantage of this program and left for the country that had played a central role in its domestic politics for a long time. π§΅
π
(2/21) On that very same day, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson's science advisory committee sent him a report entitled Restoring the Quality of Our Environment.Β
Summarized in one line: a warning that burning fossil fuels will change the climate.
(3/21) Although the report correctly warned about the increase of carbon dioxide, it noted that it would take a few more years before climate models could reasonably project future global surface temperature changes.
π
(4/21) They were right; nine years later, one of the report's authors presented a climate change model that turned out to be remarkably accurate by today's measurements.
(5/21) Of course, some essential aspects of climate change that we know of today were missing in the report, like the warming by other greenhouse gasses or the cooling by aerosol pollution, but these more or less leveled out each other's impacts.
(6/21) Johnson had other things on his mind than the first climate change report on the desk of an American president.
November 1965 is the month of the U.S. forces' first major battle in Vietnam.
It was also the year of civil rights marches and anti-war protests.
π
(7/21) Had Johnson put on the radio on that day, he would have heard America's number one single.
Starting with Charlie Watts' spectacular rhythm that was the spine of 'Get Off My Cloud,' while Mick Jagger sang about 'looking out the window, imagining the world has stopped.'
π
(8/21) But the world didn't stop. American intervention didn't stop (only sometimes for good reasons), nor did anyone stop climate change (for no good reason).
Instead, the wheel of history started spinning faster and faster, a trend that hasn't stopped.
π
(9/21) I could fill this page with exponentially growing graphs beginning in 1965: use of #resources, #production, #pollution, #population, #defense spending, or the number of fast-food restaurants in the city where you are living.
π
(10/21) Those graphs lead to other exponential growing graphs, like greenhouse gas emissions or rising atmospheric temperatures and destruction by #extremeweather events.
π
(11/21) Thirty years later, Jagger described the song as a post-teenage-alienation song; "the grown-up world was a very ordered society in the '60s, and I was coming out of it." And I guess we all joined.Β
(12/21) Today's main headline news covers the airlift from #Kabul and the hurricane #Ida, which is likely to have developed into a powerful CAT4 hurricane by the time it reaches the #Louisiana Gulf Coast on Sunday.
π
(13/21) By then, it is likely to be still strengthening, which would make it a much more damaging storm at landfall than a weakening storm at similar wind speeds.
It is too early to tell how this one will end, but people in the area should urgently take measures.
π
(14/21) I don't think history should guide us on predicting events on specific dates, but let's call it a reminder of past events that meteorologists expect Ida to make landfall precisely on the 16th anniversary of hurricane #Katrina.
π
(15/21) The measures should, of course, be more structural than local preparedness in the days before a hurricane strikes. Scientists predict an increase of quickly intensifying storms as they approach landfall as a consequence of climate change.
(16/21) If we don't collectively and efficiently tackle climate change, we will get more extreme weather, human suffering, and #inequality.
It is frustrating to know that scientists warned the president of the most powerful nation in the world more than half a century ago.
π
(17/21) I suppose Johnson never read the report, presidents get a lot on their desks, and he had urgent news asking for this attention.
One of his predecessors, Eisenhower, knew all about the urgent and important principle.
π
(18/21) Each president since (well, I can think of one exception), and every kid at school, understands the principle, but they all struggle to act upon it. The #climatecrisis is the perfect example.
π
(19/21) As a last thought before I close, the report that Johnson received speaks in its final paragraph about a possible fix for climate change.
The report recommends further investigating:β¦
π
(20/21)
'injection of condensation or freezing nuclei that will form cause cirrus clouds to form at high altitudes.'
It is an early reference to geo-engineering. To end with the words of Mick Jagger; he sang in that same week in early November 1965: βGet off my cloud.β
π
(21/21) Wow, you made it this far!
Thank you π
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(1/9)
This week, Donald Trump promised to begin mass deportations with Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio.
He added this would be "the largest deportation in the history of our country."
A thread 𧡠with a historical perspective:
#news #history #opinion #politics
(2/9)
His followers wouldn't understand such an announcement without Trump having carefully prepared the ground for supporting such a policy.
Just days earlier, he had said to tens of millions of Americans watching the presidential debate that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were abducting and eating pets. This inflammatory rhetoric didn't emerge in a vacuum; it was the culmination of a campaign of misinformation and fear-mongering that had started last month when neo-Nazis created the tensions Trump has been exploiting and advancing.
One of the leaders of the "Blood Tribe" organization said Jews should be blamed for the influx of migrants in Springfield that had been taken over by "degenerate third worlders". As Heather Cox Richardson reported, the "Patriot Front" then protested against "the mass influx of unassimilable Haitian migrants" on September 1. Meanwhile, Trump's running mate, JD Vance, reposted a post from a private Facebook group about Haitian immigrants butchering a neighbor's cat for food.
(3/9)
Within a month, the activities of some obscure neo-Nazis in Ohio and a debunked racist claim on a private Facebook group made it to a presidential debate and then to a campaign promise to start mass deportations of Haitians in Springfield.
Trump is to blame for fanning the flames of racism. The result so far is schools, businesses, City Hall, and hospitals in Springfield closed or in lockdown due to bomb threats. The ultimate price is regaining Senate control for the MAGA Republicans and a second presidency for Trump.
Authoritarian regimes have consistently used a similar sinister strategy like Trump is using today to consolidate power: exploiting cultural differences to create divisions in societies. History has shown that even established democracies are not immune to such divisive rhetoric.
Lessons of history
As a European, I grew up in a society that warned at school against falling for baseless conspiracy theories and the kind of propaganda used by authoritarian regimes to dehumanize targeted groups; we were taught to learn from the lessons of history. So, when Katie Sibley, a history professor at St. Joseph's University, pointed out in a recent interview that the language used against Haitians in Springfield echoes antisemitic blood libel myths dating back to the Middle Ages, this was a familiar historical parallel for me. These myths, which accused Jewish people of ritualistic sacrifice of Christian children, were later weaponized by Nazi propagandists to devastating effect.
(1/5) The aims of #COP27 this year are especially important as the world faces enormous challenges like climate change, energy, water, and biodiversity loss. @SuntoryGlobal is committed to contributing to a better, cleaner, and more sustainable planet. #SuntoryPartner
(2/3) By the end of 2022, @SuntoryGlobal is aiming to switch to 100% purchased renewable electricity in all of their directly-owned manufacturing sites and R&D facilities in Japan, the Americas and Europe. Learn more: bit.ly/3UEj8DQ#COP27#environment#SuntoryPartner
(1) I love forests for their beauty, the peace and calm I feel when I walk on forest trails, and their role in preserving biodiversity and the climate.
Today, I was reminded twice how diverse other people's attitudes toward natural forests may be.
Start of a thread π§΅
π³
(2) First, according to a BBC Panorama investigation, I learned that a firm that has received six billion pounds in green energy subsidies from UK taxpayers is cutting down forests that are essential to the Canadian ecology.
(3) Reporters concluded that millions of tons of imported wood pellets, classified as renewable energy, are burned at Drax's largest power plant in Britain. However, part of the wood came from Canada's old-growth forests, which took thousands of years to develop.
(1) Today's story was the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian in Florida. It is one of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike Florida, and in the coming days, we will learn more about the damage and victims.
(2) Expect lots of shocking photos and heartbreaking videos on social media that will remind us of the power of nature, specifically when boosted by the additional energy we have trapped in the system.
(3) Man-made climate change has raised sea levels and warmed the oceans, which fueled Ian to a hurricane that, at a certain point, was just two mph shy of a Category 5.