livable future

Planet Will Warm As Much As 3.1°C Under Current Policies

October 26, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! climate crisis, Global heating, livable future, Report, United Nations

Without greater action, the planet will warm as much as 3.1 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, according to the latest United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report: No more hot air … please!. In the coming round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), countries must commit to slashing their collective yearly greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent by the end of the decade and by 57 percent by 2035, a press release from UNEP said. Otherwise, the annual report says, the chance of meeting the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average will disappear within a few years.

Record Rise In Global Methane Levels Threatens ‘Habitable Climate’

September 12, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! Carbon emissions, climate crisis, livable future, Methane

While 155 countries have committed to reducing methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030 under the Global Methane Pledge, new research reveals that the world’s methane emissions have been rising at a record pace over the last five years. At least two-thirds of methane emissions produced each year come from human activities like agriculture, fossil fuels, landfills and other waste, the Stanford Report said. In a new perspective article published in Environmental Research Letters, the researchers warn this dire pattern “cannot continue if we are to maintain a habitable climate.” The article was published with corresponding figures in Earth System Science Data.

We Did Not Evolve To Be Selfish; We Can Choose How Our Cultures Evolve

August 24, 2023 April M. Short, ZNet. Educate! Community, culture, Evolution, History, livable future

Ours is a critical time in the cultural evolution of humanity that is likely to shape our long-term future, or lack thereof. As a species, we have been on a self-destructive trajectory that has led us to our current polycrisis of unlivable economic conditions, worsening climate disasters, and the potential of an unspeakably devastating war, as the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2023 puts it. The changes we all need to make, if we want subsequent generations to enjoy life, will most likely require big shifts toward improving connections with each other and the planet, and away from extraction and individualism.

Wet Bulb Temperature Is The Scariest Part Of The Climate Crisis

July 18, 2021 Tim Andersen, Medium. Educate! climate crisis, Extinction, Extreme weather, livable future

Wet bulb temperature is one of those features of climate change caused by global warming that often gets left out when discussing the radical changes our planet is going to experience in the coming years. Discussion has largely focused on issues such as drought, hurricanes, tornadoes, storm activity, and even unusual cold. The impacts of increased heat have been left out because we assume, incorrectly it turns out, that human beings can adapt to moderate increases in global temperature. This turns out to be false, particularly in areas prone to hot and humid weather. It all comes down to one measure: wet bulb temperature. Wet bulb temperature is the one factor, more than any other, that can render entire regions uninhabitable. Wet bulb temperature is essentially the temperature of a wet thermometer bulb such that the water is able to evaporate into the air.

We’re Hurtling Toward Global Suicide

March 21, 2021 Ben Ehrenreich, New Republic. Educate! Capitalism, climate crisis, Joe Biden, livable future

On January 13, one week before the inauguration of Joe Biden as the forty-sixth president of the United States and seven long days after the storming of the Capitol by an armed right-wing mob, it was easy enough to miss an article published in the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science, despite its eye-catching title: “Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future.” The headline was itself a train wreck: six dully innocuous words piling up in front of a modifier more suitable to a 1950s horror comic than a sober, academic journal. But there it was: The 17 scientists who co-wrote the article, the experts who peer-reviewed it, and the journal’s editors did not consider the word “ghastly” too sensational, subjective, or value-laden to describe the future toward which our society is advancing with all the prudence and caution of a runaway locomotive.

COVID-19, Climate Change, And Chaos

August 4, 2020 Mel Gurtov, Peace Voice. Educate! climate crisis, Fossil Fuels, livable future

COVID-19 and the protests for racial justice have drawn attention away from the mostly bad news about the environment. Yes, the skies in most parts of the world are a lot clearer these days as people stay home and auto emissions decline. But as one study points out, even if lockdown measures continue for the next several months, global carbon emissions will only drop by between 4 to 8 percent from last year. That drop would not be enough to make a dent in overall warming trends—and as the US and other economies recover, it will be back to “normal.”

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