The recent UN report on current climate change worries us and not a little. And in the meantime, our mother Earth, disfigured for decades by endless human activities, is sending us a shocking message today: "that we may be at the point of "No Return" (if we don't take action now).
'Men argue. Nature acts.'
(Voltaire)
The issue of climate change has never been as serious and alarming as it is today.
Whether it is the release of the sixth official UN report on the future projections for the planet, which is upsetting the general public, or the publication of books such as the latest by Bill Gates, which urges us to seek timely solutions to the impending disaster, or the succession of natural events that are causing considerable concern. Or finally the Covid Sars2 pandemic, which has no intention of ending and which increases the uncertainty of the overall context, in which there comes a time for each of us to ask some questions about it, namely:
What role does it (in practice) fall to each of us to save the planet?
Are we already at a point of no return? Or rather, would any effort now be ineffective in improving or at least not worsening the Eco-system?
Will the issue of Climate Change consequently lead to a progressive limitation of freedoms in everyday life, in the name of environmental salvation alone? (already verifiable with the pandemic emergency)
Ida and her 'Terrible' Brothers
'After the hurricane, people are not the same, they have changed.'
(Film quote - Invasion -)
Exactly 16 years after the ferocity of Katrina, Hurricane Ida has now arrived in the US state of Louisiana, claiming almost 50 lives. It has gone from a Category 4 (out of 5) storm, with fears of record gusts of up to 200 km per hour, to a Category 1 tropical storm, putting more than 1 million customers without power (according to the monitoring site PowerOutage.us.
At the moment, the storm has passed through the state of New Jersey and New York, completely flooding the city, causing a great deal of damage and depriving citizens of services for many more hours.
This year's exceptional summer has affected not only the United States, but several areas of the planet, with unexpectedly prodigious intensities and durations (unprecedented in modern history).
Here are some bizarre and very dramatic events that affected many countries 'almost' simultaneously, such as:
Germany: The record-breaking floods in July, which claimed some 200 lives, have already led to the approval of a 30 billion Euro emergency fund by Angela Merkel to rebuild homes, businesses and infrastructure in the worst-hit cities.
England: Severe flooding in the many streets of London, which have turned into canals, was caused by heavy downpours and thunderstorms over the past several days;
Canada: The British Columbia area recorded its highest ever temperature of 49.5C, creating an unprecedented heat dome;
California: The summer wildfires on the Californian coast are still going strong, breaking new records each time;
Italy: The flooding of beautiful Lake Como in August saw the water level rise to 1.41cm, devastating the entire area around the lake.
Many are wondering whether Ida and her 'Terrible Brothers' are yet another warning from the earth about climate change, which environmentalists, including Greta Thunberg, say 'will not stop and will become irreversible unless we act now'. Or whether, as in the case of scientist Steven Konnin, these are changes driven by powerful natural forces that are independent of humans, where human adaptive power and the use of geo-engineering can improve the current and future climate.
But it is the constant massive battle waged by the very young Greta that finds official confirmation with the release of the UN Report on the current state of the world's climate.
Human influence killing the Oceans
'The Earth does not share our prejudice against plastic. Plastic comes from the Earth.'
(George Carlin)
In the sixth UN report released on 9 August on the assessment of the climate system and climate change, the compilation of some 14,000 scientific studies by the scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has provided the most comprehensive and detailed picture ever of how climate change is altering the natural world and what could still happen. As noted in the exhaustive article by Reuters, (a well-known British news agency) the dramatic alarm raised by the Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres himself is highlighted, in which the Report is described as a "code red for humanity" that "must sound the death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet".
Harsh sentences, without rhetoric and finally directed at the problem. And which define it once and for all. Scientifically speaking.
The UN Report, which is strictly based on the physical science of measurement and cross-data experimentation, addresses several areas of scientific study related to the four most frequently asked questions about the climate, which are:
The current state of the climate. It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, the ocean and the earth. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred.
Possible climate futures: using scenarios, climate models and projections.
Climate information for risk assessment and regional adaptation. Natural factors and internal variability will modulate human-caused changes, especially on a regional scale and in the short term, with little effect on century-long global warming. These modulations are important to consider in planning for the full range of possible changes.
Therefore, the countless cross-evidences prove that the increase of: CO2, methane(CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) in the atmosphere are the result of human influence on climate impact. This is undeniable as we have been observing before our eyes for some time the devastating effects of the thoughtless "human activities" undertaken since the industrial age, which without any ethical criteria have damaged the environment; just think of the largest eco-system on earth, namely the Ocean, where:
The rise of the sea together with the melting of the glaciers and the expansion of the sea due to the warming of the oceans are just some of the dramatic and sudden changes taking place, which are slow but nonetheless unstoppable. And let's not forget intensive fishing, marine pollution from maxi-tankers, plastics, etc.
Breathing will become increasingly difficult
'In the name of progress, man is turning the world into a fetid and poisonous place (and this is "anything but" a symbolic image). He is polluting the air, the water, the soil, the animals... and himself, to the point where one may legitimately wonder whether, in a hundred years' time, it will still be possible to live on earth.'
(Erich Fromm)
Gas in the atmosphere is trapped by heat energy from the sun, making the air we breathe increasingly unlivable, especially in metropolitan and industrial areas. And the poor production and consumption of energy caused by human activities and derived from fossil fuels is causing water and air temperatures to rise precipitously, so that by 2030, the main challenge will be to:
to halve the current level of emissions to zero by 2050.
In the commitment to combat the climate emergency, there is the famous Paris Agreement of 2015, in which European countries were made responsible for following clear measures to reduce emissions. But in the aftermath of the same agreement, the reality that presents itself is increasingly unpredictable, so much so that the intensification of extreme events across Europe has actually changed entire areas of countryside and cities with the consequent devastation of protected populations and biodiversity, putting a real emergency within the emergency on the agenda.
'The future will judge us mainly by what we could have done and did not do.'
(Ermanno Olmi)
Leaving Europe, the situation in the rest of the world is no different, both in terms of the transformation of territories and the desolation of them after repeated and terrible atmospheric disasters. Attention to the issue of biodiversity, and specifically to tribal peoples, was the central theme of the last independent Congress held in Marseille, in opposition to the World Conservation Congress (IUCN) being held from 3 to 11 September, with common initiatives in limiting the loss of biodiversity and thus climate change, with the shared idea of
Turn 30% of the planet into "protected areas";
Promoting solutions based "on Nature";
Decolonising the conservation of indigenous territories and populations.
Indigenous peoples are the ones who preserve 80% of the planet's biodiversity and play a key role in the solutions to the global climate change alarm. As reported by oulandournature.org, the preservation of protected areas and the so-called "guardians of nature", is the effective measure of a real "green solution" as opposed to "traditional congresses", where words often remain in agreements without ever moving to the concrete. On the debate agenda for #DecolonizeConservation, solutions of: action, social justice and recognition of abused human and territorial rights are sought.
It is undoubtedly a perfect demonstration of how another way is possible, if there is the vision and the common will to do it.
Steve Konnin and what science doesn't say
'Past changes in the surface temperature and heat content of the oceans by no means disprove that the increase (about 1℃) in the global mean surface temperature anomaly since 1880 is man-made, but show that there are also powerful natural forces driving the climate.'
Steven Konnin - Scientist -
As pronounced by the UN Report 2021, it is an established fact that fossil fuel emissions from human activities have had a decisive impact on climate change.
But there are also a number of considerations, some of which are at odds with ordinary physical science and come from the physicist Steven Konnin, who with his latest book "Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters", feels it is his duty as a scientist but also as a citizen, to expose all the information he can in order to help people understand and evaluate the problem concretely in the manner of the "Big Picture", thus linking two stories:
The Scientific method narrative: with dozens of sophisticated instrumental models analyzing the response of the Climate to human and natural influences and proposing projections for the future.
Society's response to Climate Change: what society can and should do about Climate Change, and the influential role of the "different players" in the field, such as the media, politics, activists and the scientific community who are in favor of a likely "perpetual climate crisis", which never reaches a final and shared resolution.
Here then, Steven Konnin, with his brave and well-structured book, intends to offer a balanced alternative picture of an outsider's narrative, which was perhaps missing on the topic of Climate. With just the right amount of scepticism, scientific-critical reasoning and marked indulgence, he analyses the multitude of models and graphs contained in the official assessments of the Scientific Community, (which does not see eye to eye with him) posing questions and perplexities, and pointing out that sometimes Science does not tell or transmits the information gathered to communication channels that mislead the original meaning in pursuit of a prevailing narrative.
Moreover, Konnin's aim is also to call the Media and others to the accuracy and improvement of the promulgation and understanding of climate change, stressing in equal measure the importance of the same human activities to the Natural ones that are also linked to the cycle of "our Mother Earth" and that participate in the consequent climate change.
For Konnin, the 'challenge is still open, albeit uncertain, but this does not mean impossible for humanity to overcome', as it tends to be portrayed by the media and scholars. Finally, the author dedicates the text to all those who have an open mind and do not stop at the first narrative presented to them. A read for all Outsiders like him who enjoy open but calm discussion, where active participation and civil debate is welcome, even towards the Scientist himself, author of this book.
It is a book that we really like and that does nothing but remind us of one thing: namely that the essence of Science is precisely that between dissent and doubt, in an eternal search for truth and open debate, between graphs and experiments. Nothing is certain but everything can change at any time in view of the contingent variables of a given space-time context.
What is the possible solution?
'Local actions for global [climate] benefits.'
(José Manuel Barroso)
From the announcements and global demonstrations that the very young environmental champion Greta Thunberg has undertaken in recent years with the motto "There is Not a Plan(et) B", and which has become a mantra for all environmentalists and activists around the world, we now arrive at the official realization of that much-felt prediction, inside the Glass Palace in New York.
The fear and disconcertment over a not-too-distant future consisting of rising temperatures, rising sea levels, rising air pollution, etc. makes everyone perhaps a little more realistically alert to small everyday actions. I defy anyone who has not at least once tried to sort the rubbish at home, or to remember to switch off the light when not needed, or to reduce the water when taking a shower.
But perhaps we have reached the point where small actions are no longer enough. And it is not certain (and perhaps this is the most certain fact, given the Report in question) that everyone is aware and so scrupulous in trying to limit their habits in favor of the environment and on a daily basis, even if it is such an important one.
Taking up the three questions we posed at the beginning of the study, let us see in practice what voluntary action means, without the option of losing any fundamental freedoms and rights; and whether any collective-individual sacrifice would nevertheless be in vain, given the inevitability of the change taking place.
First of all, voluntary actions must be carried out by:
Governments: with a first step of short-term plans to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere in order to plan for the long term.
Businesses: with substantial aid in the form of incentives that states reserve for large, medium and small businesses with eco-sustainable projects that benefit both the environment and the population, especially the most suffering, bringing jobs, opportunities and improvements to areas previously trampled by multiple human activities.
Individuals: Awareness of climate change needs to change level of attention, as the focus of a better future for all, with the support of the media and public opinion, stimulating people to feel an active part of global change.
In this regard, we like to think of those who in one way or another have inspired (and continue to inspire) millions of people with their stories of courage and heroism; for those looking for new stimuli, in a difficult time like ours, there is a book that recounts the challenges of many famous people, giving all readers, adults and not, "the chance to become a future HERO of the Earth", following in the footsteps of Jacques Cousteau, David Attenborough and many others in "You can save the world. 38 Earth heroes to inspire and 12 challenges to curb climate change'. A further invitation and positive impulse for the individual who "wants to change the world", always starting with himself.
Therefore, solutions or the possibility of continuous and responsible action to the problem, are the first weapon to operate, both on a collective and personal level; as well as no less important is to spread the topic properly and discuss the common challenges of Climate.
(even if we are not ALL Scientists).
In the recent talk published on TED by Kim Stanley Robinson, a well-known Science Fiction writer and famous for the "Mars Trilogy (vols. I,II,III)", an attempt is made to offer just such a resolving trend. The short fictionalized account of the hypothetical message sent by the future generations 'of 2071' and communicated to mankind about the decisions taken regarding Climate Change in the so-called 'Terrifying 20s', (which would be the current ones), give the distant world a hope for a better life, thanks above all to the:
'Reconciliation and sharing between Governments in the aforementioned exceptional state and the active and fundamental role of tribal peoples and the empowerment of women in top decision-making.' It is therefore another vision, but with a "utopian" background, which although quickly recounted here, reserves a further reflective space to be included in the real solutions that the world will have to face sooner or later, in the front line, as for the Covid19 emergency, without more procrastination and conflicts of interest from multinationals, which instead see today a flourishing business of the "Green Economy", only partly connected to the Eco-sustainable purpose.
On the sensitive issue of Climate Change, we would like to include a further conclusive projection to the UN officialdom, Konnin's alternative version of Science and Robinson's Fanta-Utopian version:
Not having the full Scientific certainty of the actual 'red zone' boundary in which we reside today, we can only direct our individual efforts on a daily basis. But the commitment and responsibility of institutions to direct citizens to pro-active behaviour, with incentives and eco-sustainable opportunities is decisive to the improvement of the latter and consequently to the environment itself. Moreover, if information is able to renew its pact of trust with the people through continuous transparency and search for the truth, it also fosters the growing and shared desire for a better world, which thus moves away from the risk of new dogmas and the dangerous measures of limitations of freedom, in the name of saving the planet. In this uncertainty acquired in the present, what really matters is the objective intentionality to lovingly use a language and action representative of 'taking care of each other' and without restrictions. But to think this way, is to imagine a very different world from the present one; even if we stress that "caring" (which includes animals, plants and all the endless beauty of the available Earth) would be nothing but the initial engine towards an optimistic and concrete vision, to see that beyond the storm, there is a perfect abode for our achievable sustainable future, which is called 'Earth'.
The OutsiderPost recommends:
Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters, di Steven konnin, (versione Inglese), 2021
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, di Bill gates, 2021
Tu puoi salvare il mondo. 38 eroi della Terra a cui ispirarsi e 12 sfide per frenare il cambiamento climatico, di Raquel Travé, 2020