Climate optimists like to claim that as soon as we reach “net zero” — the point when capitalist commerce and industry begins emitting less carbon dioxide than the amount absorbed by oceans, rocks, or plants, along with the amount being taken out of the atmosphere (theoretically) via high-tech CO2 removal — then global warming will stop almost immediately.

It’s a nice message, one intended to make us feel better, reassured that our leaders know what they’re doing. Don’t worry, we are told, everything is under control. By 2050, if not sooner, they’ll have the situation turned around. 😃

In the meantime, we can all relax and go ahead with Business As Usual. Keep shopping, keep buying, keep driving, keep flying. And don’t forget to do your part: buy a shiny new electric SUV and recycle your plastic water bottles!

BUT — there are big problems with this phony net zero promise, and the way countries report their emissions is one of them. Investigators have found huge discrepancies accruing through the use of spurious carbon offsets, outsourcing, and other UN-approved loopholes. Also, CO2 emissions from the military are not required to be included, nor are emissions from international trade.

Some estimates suggest that actual emissions could be at least *twice* as high as what’s being shown in the official reports. No wonder global temperatures keep rising even though we’re constantly assured that great progress is being made.

In addition, there’s a growing risk that climate change itself will trigger “natural” emissions of greenhouse gases as peat bogs dry out, as drought-weakened forests burn, as permafrost melts, and as the sea floor warms, releasing previously frozen methane clathrates. So it’s not just the emissions of human industry we need to worry about.

The point is, net zero is NOT zero. Don’t fall for their lies. It’s time for real change, for system change. We must demand the end of #capitalism and a pivot toward #degrowth.

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #Degrowth

👣 "A woman hiking in the Italian Alps discovered a fragment of a 280 million-year-old ecosystem, complete with footprints, plant fossils and even the imprints of raindrops, researchers have confirmed.
Experts subsequently visited the site multiple times and found evidence of an entire ecosystem dating back to the Permian period (299 million to 252 million years ago). The Permian was characterized by a fast-warming climate and culminated in an extinction event known as the "Great Dying," which wiped out 90% of Earth's species.
Traces of this ecosystem consist of fossilized footprints from reptiles, amphibians, insects and arthropods that often align to form "tracks," according to a translated statement. Alongside these tracks, researchers found ancient traces of seeds, leaves and stems, as well as imprints of raindrops and waves that lapped at the shores of a prehistoric lake. Evidence of this ancient ecosystem was found up to 9,850 feet (3,000 meters) high in the mountains and down in the bottom of valleys, where landslides have deposited fossil-bearing rocks over the eons."

#Fossils #Paleontology #Geology #Science #News

livescience.com/planet-earth/f…

If you really want to know what we're in for (and if you're not afraid of being terrified), here are a few books I suggest reading. They might help to prepare you for the reality of 100% fully-intentional capitalist climate chaos.

NON-FICTION

📙 "Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant's Guide" by Bill McGuire, Professor Emeritus of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London

Bill McGuire explains the science behind the climate crisis and presents a blunt but authentic picture of the world our children and grandchildren will inherit; a world that we catch only glimpses of in today's blistering heatwaves, calamitous wildfires, and ruinous floods and droughts. Bleak though it is, the picture is one we must all face up to, if only to spur genuine action – even at this late stage – to stop a harrowing future becoming a truly cataclysmic one. ➡️ iconbooks.com/ib-title/hothous…

📕 "Our Final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency" by Mark Lynas

We are living in a climate emergency. But how much worse could it get? Will civilization collapse? Are we already past the point of no return? What kind of future can our children expect? Rigorously cataloguing the very latest climate science, Mark Lynas explores the course we have set for Earth over the next century and beyond. Degree by terrifying degree, he charts the likely consequences of global heating and the ensuing climate catastrophe. ➡️ bookshop.org/search?keywords=O…

FICTION

📘 "The Deluge" by Stephen Markley

This very dark, epic novel offers the most accurate projection of where we're probably going that I have ever read. It doesn't flinch from depicting the greed and corruption all around us, or from portraying the ugly results of climate breakdown and societal fracturing. ➡️ simonandschuster.com/books/The…

📗 "The Light Pirate" by Lily Brooks-Dalton

On a (slightly) lighter note, this is a beautifully written, touching, sad, and haunting novel about trying to live with and survive the near-future impacts of climate breakdown. A real gem, highly recommended. ➡️ openlibrary.org/books/OL378531…

#Books #Bookstodon #Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange

Mother Nature says: FAFO
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Trees and land absorbed almost no carbon dioxide (CO2) last year, and scientists are struggling to work out why.

Carbon sinks, such as forests, oceans and soils, are an essential part of regulating the Earth’s climate. Through natural processes, these land and ocean masses absorb almost half of all human carbon emissions from the atmosphere.

But preliminary findings for 2023 – the hottest year ever recorded on Earth – have found that the amount of carbon absorbed by forests, plants, and soil has temporarily collapsed.

This was completely unexpected, and therefore not something factored into most predictions and calculations about how quickly the Earth will heat up as a result of climate change. The breakdown of the land carbon sink could be temporary, but if it isn’t, this will drastically increase the rate of global heating.

It will be impossible for the world to reach net zero without carbon sinks, because there is simply no human technology that can absorb carbon on the same scale as the forests, grasslands, peat bogs, and oceans of the world.
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FULL STORY ➡️ thelondoneconomic.com/news/env…

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

Why are you so upset? Stop worrying!

Business As Usual is turning out just fine. 🙄
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The Copernicus Climate Change Service, a European Union organization that monitors global heating, announced on Thursday that the year 2024 will be 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels. That means humanity has passed a critical threshold established in 2015 in the Paris climate accord.

“After 10 months of 2024, it is now virtually certain that 2024 will be the warmest year on record and the first year of more than 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels," Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in a statement. "This marks a new milestone in global temperature records and should serve as a catalyst to raise ambition for the upcoming Climate Change Conference, COP29.”

The EU agency announced this moment as nations all over the world gather in the Azerbaijani city of Baku for the 29th Conference of the Parties. The ERA5 dataset found that global temperatures in 2024 were on average 1.55 degrees Celsius higher than the 1.48 degrees threshold measured in 2023. The report also noted climate change-fueled major weather events in 2024 such as torrential floods in Spain and rapidly melting Antarctic sea ice.
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FULL ARTICLE -- salon.com/2024/11/09/earth-on-…

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis