Dismaying climate news doesn’t mean the climate fight is over
Also: a flood prevention solution under a park
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fight → dismay → park
Welcome to our weekly newsletter where we highlight environmental trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world.
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that → welcome → world
Hi, it’s Nicole.
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it → ’ → ?
I often joke that I write a lot about doom-and-gloom climate change, things such as the warmest years, rising ocean temperatures, etc.
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I → joke → years
But even I had to take a pause when a couple of dire reports were released at the beginning of September.
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couple → have → September
It made me think that perhaps people felt that they are powerless and that the end is nigh.
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end → make → ?
So I wanted to remind people that all is not lost.
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all → want → people
This week:
- Dismaying climate news doesn’t mean the climate fight is over.
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fight → dismay → news
Dismaying news doesn’t mean the climate fight is over
There were a few climate stories that came out recently that were, well, not great news.
First there was the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) report on Sept. 2 that found we will overshoot the 1.5 C threshold set out by the Paris Agreement within the next few years.
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we → dismay → years
That threshold aims to limit the dangerous impacts of a warming world.
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threshold → aim → world
Then, on Sept. 4, the federal government released its second edition of Canada’s Changing Climate Report, which found that the country could face an average 5 C of warming by 2081 to 2100 relative to 1850 to 1900.
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country → release → 1900
These stories sound dire, and, to be fair, they are.
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they → sound → ?
They are an indication that, as we continue to pump fossil fuels into the atmosphere, we will continue to warm.
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we → continue → atmosphere
But that doesn’t have to be the end of the story.
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that → have → story
Just because we will surpass 1.5 C doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.
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it → surpass → C
And just because Canada could face 5 C of warming by the end of the century doesn’t mean it has to.
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it → face → century
Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, a global climate science and policy institute, welcomed the UNEP report, but, in a news release, said he was concerned that it didn’t do a good enough job of explaining that there is a way out, and that the report risks turning "into a call to apathy rather than a call to arms."
I was intrigued with that statement and decided to reach out to him.
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I → welcome → him
"I think that's the main message that … if we just treat this fatalistically, that, oh well, we busted through one-and-a-half, we're going to have to learn how to cope with three degrees
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we → think → degrees
— I don't think that's going to work.
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that → think → ?
I think that that's a recipe for apathy.
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that → think → apathy
It's very fatalistic," he told me.
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he → tell → me
"The message needs to be that we can still rescue this 1.5 limit.
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we → need → limit
We can still get back below it.
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We → get → it
But it's going to take urgent action and in particular on fossil fuels.
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it → go → fuels
Government regulations on greenhouse gas emissions or creating green projects are big ways that change can happen.
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change → create → projects
But what happens when people elect someone who they believe will make those changes but doesn't?
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they → happen → changes
"I think people need to think about what they do next time when they vote," he said.
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he → think → what
If you don’t follow climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe — who is the chief scientist for the Nature Conservancy and a professor at Texas Tech University — you should.
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you → follow → University
She says most people don’t realize that we’ve already made a difference.
"When the Paris Agreement was signed, we were heading for four- to five-degree Celsius of warming by the end of the century.
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we → say → century
Now we're heading to a 2.7-degree warming by the end of the century, globally, if we just continue on our current pathway," she told me.
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she → head → me
Following its report, UNEP director Inger Andersen told journalists that even if we’re currently on track to pass 1.5 C of warming, that it "is still the goal," as reported by Euractiv, a European media network.
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it → follow → Euractiv
"But now, we need to approach it differently, from above," she said, saying there would need to be "rapid and deep cuts" to fossil fuel emissions.
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she → need → emissions
After that, she said, we can aim for "net negative emissions," meaning we remove more greenhouse gases than we emit.
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we → say → gases
So we don’t have to remain at 1.5 C.
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we → have → C.
We can move the dial backward.
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We → move → dial
And if more urgent action is taken — climate scientists and UNEP say — there is hope.
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scientists → take → ?
"For me, the definition of hope is, if we do something, will it make a difference?” Hayhoe said.
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Hayhoe → do → difference
“And the science says, yes, if you do something, it will make a difference."
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it → say → difference
In our latest episode: It’s going to be a record-breaking few months of weather.
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It → go → weather
A natural surge of warm ocean water is colliding with a planet hotter than at any point in human history — meaning more heat, more floods, more droughts.
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surge → collide → heat
…and 41 more, not listed.
The Aporia
