OMNI
CLIMATE MEMO MONDAYS, #135, JULY 10,
2023
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Climate change studies by the IPCC and policymakers show
irreversible losses in terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal and open ocean
marine ecosystems, but these studies haveunderestimated melting
ice and sea level rise, while efforts to mitigate or adapt to these changes by
the 195 signatories to Paris ’15 have been “negligible.”
ROBERT HUNZIKER. “The Greenland
Threat Escalates.” CounterPunch (JULY 7, 2023).
Will the world’s major
coastal cities, such as NYC, survive escalating global heat conditions in
Greenland? And what if both Greenland and Antarctica follow the recent very
disturbing pattern of the world’s oceans? For the first time that scientists
can recall, sea surface temperatures that always recede from annual peaks are
failing to do so, staying high.
Climate change is
getting dangerously worse, which
is becoming a more common statement among scientists. Ecosystems are starting
to fail right before our eyes. For example, in 2022 Europe experienced a big
scare with temporary loss of full service for navigable commercial waterways,
like the Rhine, and loss of potable water in regions of France and Italy,
necessitating water delivery by truck to over 100 communities, with much of
Asia experiencing similar issues, especially China and India.
Suddenly, the world is
a different place, a description that fits Greenland, especially August 14th,
2021, when it rained at Summit Station, 10,551 feet elevation. There’s no
previous record of rainfall at the 2-mile summit. It was one more unprecedented
climate event. More on Greenland and coastal cities follows herein.
According to the [United Nations] IPCC 6th Assessment
Report: “There is high confidence that climate change has already caused
irreversible losses in terrestrial, freshwater and coastal and open ocean
marine ecosystems.” Still, climate
scientists continue pumping out reports about those same irreversible losses,
but frustration mounts as reports pile on top of reports in the face of
negligible efforts by the 195 signatories to Paris ‘15.
It’s not surprising
that climate scientists are becoming street protestors. MORE https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/07/07/the-greenland-threat-escalates/
The Greenland Threat Escalates - CounterPunch.org
Michael Mann. Our
Fragile Moment. 2023.
In this sweeping work of science and history, the
renowned climate scientist and author of The New Climate War shows
us the conditions on Earth that allowed humans not only to exist but thrive,
and how they are imperiled if we veer off course.
For the vast majority of its 4.54 billion years, Earth has proven it can manage
just fine without human beings. Then came the first proto-humans, who emerged
just a little more than 2 million years ago—a fleeting moment in geological
time. What is it that made this benevolent moment of ours possible? Ironically,
it’s the very same thing that now threatens us—climate change.
The
drying of the tropics during the Pleistocene period created a niche for early
hominids, who could hunt prey as forests gave way to savannahs in the African
tropics. The sudden cooling episode known as the “Younger Dryas” 13,000 years
ago, which occurred just as Earth was thawing out of the last Ice Age, spurred
the development of agriculture in the fertile crescent. The “Little Ice Age”
cooling of the 16th-19th centuries led to famines and pestilence for much of
Europe, yet it was a boon for the Dutch, who were able to take advantage of
stronger winds to shorten their ocean voyages.
The
conditions that allowed humans to live on this earth are fragile, incredibly so.
Climate variability has at times created new niches that humans or their
ancestors could potentially exploit, and challenges that at times have spurred
innovation. But there’s a relatively narrow envelope of climate variability
within which human civilization remains viable. And our survival depends on
conditions remaining within that range.
In this book, renowned climate scientist Michael Mann will arm readers with the
knowledge necessary to appreciate the gravity of the unfolding climate crisis,
while emboldening them—and others–to act before it truly does become too late.