Seven Climatologists Speak Openly Of N. Hemipshere Summer 2023, Where We Are & What's Next

[hatrack]

I am stunned by the ferocity’

What is playing out all over the world right now is entirely consistent with what scientists expect. No one wants to be right about this. But if I’m honest, I am stunned by the ferocity of the impacts we are currently experiencing. I am really dreading the devastation I know this El Niño will bring. As the situation deteriorates, it makes me wonder how I can be most helpful at a time like this. Do I keep trying to pursue my research career or devote even more of my time to warning the public? The pressure and anxiety of working through an escalating crisis is taking its toll on many of us.

Dr Joëlle Gergis, senior lecturer in climate science Fenner School of Environment and Society, associate investigator ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes at the Australian National University

Even 1.2C of global warming isn’t safe’

We knew by the mid-1990s that lurking in the tails of our climate model projections were monsters: monstrous heatwaves, catastrophic extreme rainfall and floods, subcontinental-scale wildfires, rapid ice sheet collapse raising sea level metres within a century. We knew – just like we know gravity – that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could be one of the earliest victims of uncontained global warming. But as today’s monstrous, deadly heatwaves overtake large parts of Asia, Europe and North America with temperatures the likes of which we have never experienced, we find even 1.2C of global warming isn’t safe.

Driving all this is the fossil fuel industry. Enabling it are political leaders unwilling to bring this industry under control and who promote policies such as offsetting and massive gas expansion that simply enable this industry to continue.

Bill Hare, physicist and climate scientist and chief executive of Climate Analytics

What other choice do we have?’

This is what climate change looks like now. And this is what climate change looks like in the future, though it will likely continue to get worse. I don’t know how many more warnings the world needs. It’s as if the human race has received a terminal medical diagnosis and knows there is a cure, but has consciously decided not to save itself. But those of us who understand, and who care, just have to keep trying – after all, what other choice do we have?

Prof Lesley Hughes, board member of the Climate Change Authority and an emeritus professor at Macquarie University

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/25/northern-hemisphere-heatwaves-europe-greece-italy-wildfires-extreme-weather-climate-experts

[rampartc]

1. the "elite" have decided to do nothing

probably will be very profitable for then, but best to leave the rubes confused as the deal becomes ripe.

[Artcatt]

3. No, they have decided to do SOMETHING: run us right over the edge of the cliff.

[rampartc]

6. why wait for money?

maybe our "elite" are actually space aliens terraforming our planet for their habitation. their planet is hotter with a co2 Atmosphere.

[KPN]

8. It has occurred to me given the insanity especially of the last

seven years or so that aliens have indeed landed and are meddling in their own interests. I imagine to them, by all accounts we are potentially dangerous. Better to upend our apple cart before we reach our potential.

[rampartc]

10. any intellugent creature knows that we are dangerous predators with no regard

fpr life or the environment. why would they invite barbarians to join their civilization?

[bronxiteforever]

2. Kick and recommend!

[GenXer47]

4. nobody can face what is necessary

The Paris Agreement in 2015 set the sustainable per capita carbon footprint at 2 metric tons per year.
That's the lifestyle of someone who makes less than $30,000 per year. No car, no vacations; chicken; but not every day, no beef. Apartment/condo living. No more big houses unless they're occupied by a big family.
Take it a step further and now there is no reason to work your ass off to make partner at a lawfirm, become a doctor, or sell whatever the hell salespeople sell. Why earn a half million dollars when you can only spend $30,000 of it?
Capitalism as we know it will die either the easy way or the hard way. If it's the hard way, it will be because there are no customers left to buy anything.

[Brenda]

9. That's a very good summation of the situation. nt

[patphil]

5. Last year my brother-in-law and his wife decided not to move to Dallas from New York State.

Their son asked them to come south so they could see their grandchildren more often.
Brother-in-law is going on 81 years of age, and likes to work outside in his garden.
And then came the summer of '23.
Not moving was the most intelligent decision they've made in the last decade.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. See also

The Guardian: 'No one wants to be right about this': climate scientists' horror and exasperation ...