31 December 2019 (Desdemona Despair) – In 2019, the climate data show Earth’s climate system unraveling mostly as predicted, although faster than expected by some. But the really scary chart was penned by none other than the President of the United States himself.
Trump would not be gainsayed by the National Weather Service and insisted that Hurricane Dorian posed a threat to Alabama, even though NWS was quite confident in predicting no impact. A stroke of his Sharpie remedied the offending chart. Science in the U.S. now hangs on political whim.
It’s like the President of Brazil saying that scientists studying deforestation in the Amazon are lying about their data. And it’s like Australia’s PM Scott Morrison denying that the megafires consuming his country are a climate catastrophe. The authoritarian style is to assert absurd claims as truth, against all facts, to solidify the support of followers; dissonance reduction is a powerful tool of social control.
Desdemona has worried frequently about the time when the overwhelming volume of scientific data would reveal abrupt climate change to any reasonable observer. Will we mobilize at the required “world war” scale, or will we listen to authoritarian madmen and kill the messengers?
Firefighters near Moruya, on the south coast of New South Wales, on 4 January 2020. Photo: Rick Rycroft / AP By Kate Shuttleworth 17 February 2020 MELBOURNE, Australia (The Washington Post) – At the height of Australia's bush fire crisis last month,...
Proportion of insect species in decline or locally extinct according to the IUCN criteria: vulnerable species (>30% decline), endangered species (>50% decline) and extinct (not recorded for >50 years). A) terrestrial taxa; B) aquatic taxa. Graphic: Sánchez-Bayo and Wyckhuys, 2019 /...
Annual change in Human Development Index value, 1991-2020. The 2020 value shows the simulated change in Covid-19-adjusted HDI. The Covid-19 pandemic may have pushed some 100 million people into extreme poverty, the worst setback in a generation. Data: UNDP 2020b....
One Response
“Will we mobilize at the required “world war” scale, or will we listen to authoritarian madmen and kill the messengers?” If by we, you mean humanity as a whole, I think you already know the answer. These are also not the only two options, another is to ignore it, which is what I believe most are doing. Until grain prices start to skyrocket, resulting in rampant food inflation, most people are not going to take this seriously. Of course by then it will be far too late.
“Will we mobilize at the required “world war” scale, or will we listen to authoritarian madmen and kill the messengers?” If by we, you mean humanity as a whole, I think you already know the answer. These are also not the only two options, another is to ignore it, which is what I believe most are doing. Until grain prices start to skyrocket, resulting in rampant food inflation, most people are not going to take this seriously. Of course by then it will be far too late.