Amid the endless interesting details of the climate and energy fight, I find myself sometimes losing track of the basic outlines of our the dilemma. So let's try to oversimplify it for a moment, just to make sure we're at a place we can work from. The key, as always, is the sun.
Right now, thanks to our recklessness, the sun is overheating our planet. And by right now, I don't mean in this century. I mean, in this month. The global temperature readings for September should have been the top story on every newscast in the world, because they were bonkers. June, July, and August were historically hot—we saw the hottest days recorded on the planet in 125,000 years. September wasn't quite as hot, of course, because it's fall. But in relative terms September was even more outrageous. It was, the scientists tell us, the most anomalous month we've ever seen, with temperatures so far beyond historical norms that the charts don't even seem to make sense...
Bill McKibben
It is sad that climate change is already affecting our planet so much because of our previous inaction. And, I doubt we will return to pre-industrial temperatures in any real human lifetime scale.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I still hold hope that we could stop the worst effects, if we ramp up efforts immediately. At least we may be able to keep temperatures where they are now. A new normal, if you will.