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Ignoring climate change will yield 'untold suffering,' panel of 14,000 scientists warns

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Ignoring climate change will yield 'untold suffering,' panel of 14,000 scientists warns (msn.com)

They say the climate tipping point is imminent. Immediate action is required.

Nearly 14,000 scientists have signed a new climate emergency paper, warning that "untold suffering" awaits the human race if we don't start tackling global warming head-on, effective immediately.

One of the tipping points is the Amazon rainforest, which has become a carbon source, no longer a carbon sink.

The new paper, published July 28 in the journal BioScience and led by researchers from Oregon State University, is an update of a 2019 paper that declared a global "climate emergency" and evaluated Earth's vital signs based on 31 variables — including greenhouse gas emissions, surface temperature changes, glacial ice mass loss, Amazon rainforest loss, plus various social factors like global gross domestic product (GDP) and fossil fuel subsidies.

Unsurprisingly, the authors of the new paper find that Earth's vitals have only deteriorated over the last two years, with 18 of the report's 31 categories showing new all-time record highs or lows, the authors wrote. Greenhouse gas emissions are at an all-time high, while glacial ice thickness is at its lowest point in 71 years of record keeping, the report found. The world is richer than it's ever been (measured by global GDP), while the sky is more polluted than ever (measured by carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide concentrations in the atmosphere).

Related: 10 Signs Earth’s climate is off the rails

"The updated planetary vital signs we present reflect the consequences of unrelenting business as usual," the authors wrote in the study. "A major lesson from COVID-19 is that even colossally decreased transportation and consumption are not nearly enough and that, instead, transformational system changes are required, and they must rise above politics."

While the report includes some positive trends — like record increases in the use of solar and wind energy, and institutions divesting money from the fossil fuel industry — it paints a generally bleak picture of the future, accentuated by ongoing surges in climate-related disasters like floods, hurricanes, wildfires and heat waves, the authors wrote. The planet may also be about to pass (or has already passed) critical natural tipping points — such as the Amazon rainforest becoming a carbon source rather than a carbon sink — from which it will be hard to recover, the team added.

This all boils down to one conclusion: The future habitability of our planet depends on immediate, large-scale action, the authors wrote.

To accomplish this task, the team suggests a three-pronged near-term policy approach: 1) Implement a "significant" global carbon price to reduce emissions; 2) phase out and eventually ban fossil fuels; and 3) restore and protect key carbon-rich ecosystems, like forests and wetlands, to preserve the planet's largest carbon sinks and protect biodiversity.

"Implementing these three policies soon will help ensure the long-term sustainability of human civilization and give future generations the opportunity to thrive," the authors wrote. "The speed of change is essential, and new climate policies should be part of COVID-19 recovery plans."

The researchers plan to release another planetary "check-in" in the coming years. Hopefully, that future report will show more signs of positive change as more nations take the severity of climate change seriously. Or, perhaps it will reflect the collapse of society. Time — and political action — will tell.

1. Implement a "significant' global carbon price to reduce emissions.
2. Phase out and eventually ban fossil fuels.
3. Restore and protect key carbon-rich ecosystems, like forests and wetlands, to preserve the planet's largest carbon sinks and protect biodiversity.

I'm surprised they didn't include anything about population control, which I would think is the most significant factor.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
So all you meat-eaters out there, are you going to do your part to prevent this catastrophe by becoming vegetarians?

Also, part of the plan is to get rid of 80 million people a year. I wonder how they plan to enact that.
 
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ADigitalArtist

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
So all you meat-eaters out there, are you going to do your part to prevent this catastrophe by becoming vegetarians?
Trying to put the responsibility on the consumers will go nowhere. It's lack of oversight to the transportation and distribution industries that produce the vast, vast majority of pollution. Even if cattle farms ceased to exist the comparable difference wouldn't be enough.

Want to do a much bigger service than what you eat? Make fossil fuel industries bleed for environmental oversights, kill Amazon dead and prevent more instant gratification distribution from taking its place, and commit major investment to new battery technology and renewable energy.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
Trying to put the responsibility on the consumers will go nowhere. It's lack of oversight to the transportation and distribution industries that produce the vast, vast majority of pollution. Even if cattle farms ceased to exist the comparable difference wouldn't be enough.

Want to do a much bigger service than what you eat? Make fossil fuel industries bleed for environmental oversights, kill Amazon dead and prevent more instant gratification distribution from taking its place, and commit major investment to new battery technology and renewable energy.

It's a 6 part plan the scientists signed up for. You are advocating for only 1/6th of the solution?
Well, I guess as long as it limits the interference with your life.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
So all you meat-eaters out there, are you going to do your part to prevent this catastrophe by becoming vegetarians?

Also, part of the plan is to get rid of 80 million people a year. I wonder how they plan to enact that.
Soylent Green.
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
So all you meat-eaters out there, are you going to do your part to prevent this catastrophe by becoming vegetarians?

Also, part of the plan is to get rid of 80 million people a year. I wonder how they plan to enact that.

It's not quite so simple, but this is important.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
- Eat less meat: UN climate-change report calls for change to human diet

"The special report on climate change and land by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) describes plant-based diets as a major opportunity for mitigating and adapting to climate change ― and includes a policy recommendation to reduce meat consumption."
Culture grown meat has a future. It's 100% real meat. No animal has to die for it. One animal alone could feed thousands if not millions.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I was thinking another corona virus variant. There was quite a reduction of pollutants put into the environment during the pandemic.

Another virus might be just what the Dr Fauci ordered. :D
It'll come. All viruses mutate on a regular basis.

It's their job. ;0]
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
Yes, I expect the scientists are going to have to do more than sign an affidavit.

Heh...no, I meant your point about vegetarianism.
Cutting out meat helps, but some commonly used vegan products (almond milk, for example) aren't great in ecological terms.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
Heh...no, I meant your point about vegetarianism.
Cutting out meat helps, but some commonly used vegan products (almond milk, for example) aren't great in ecological terms.

I can't imagine the necessary restrictive laws to save the planet will be accepted by many.

Whatever decisions we make, I can't see humanity getting out of this unscathed. Unless by some miracle of science.
 

Jose Fly

Fisker of men
Whatever decisions we make, I can't see humanity getting out of this unscathed. Unless by some miracle of science.
I believe that horse has left the barn. Thousands upon thousands have already been dramatically affected.

What's frustrating is how the cause of fighting global warming has been taken up by white supremacy groups. They worry that the climate crisis will lead to more migration and "mixing".

Sometimes there are people you absolutely do not want on your team, no matter how just your cause is.
 
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lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
I can't imagine the necessary restrictive laws to save the planet will be accepted by many.

Whatever decisions we make, I can't see humanity getting out of this unscathed. Unless by some miracle of science.

I agree, in a general sense.
Apart from the difficulty in implementing any laws, the fragmented nature of global government means it's not a decision to be made, but hundreds of decisions.
 
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