#COP27 took place in Egypt as the climate crisis worsens. In October, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) reported that there are now record levels of all three greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane) in the atmosphere.
Last year saw the biggest year-on-year jump in methane concentration in 40 years. The growth rate for carbon dioxide concentration was greater last year than the average over the last decade.
WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas said:
"The continuing rise in concentration of the main heat-trapping gases, including the record acceleration in methane levels, shows we are headed in the wrong direction."
The WMO also revealed that temperatures have increased as double the global average rate in Europe over the last 30 years. European temperatures increased by 0.5C each decade from 1991-2021.
It is a very welcome development that @GretaThunberg used the launch of her new book in October to place responsibility for the climate crisis at the door of capitalism and to call for its overthrow.
Greta said that capitalism is "an extreme system built on the exploitation of people and the planet. It is a system defined by colonialism, imperialism and oppression and genocide."
Greta Thunberg's journey from school striker and climate campaigner to support for the anticapitalist left is a journey that can be, and hopefully will be, undertaken by many others in Generation Z.