Closeup of the map Trump presented to the media in the White House in Washington on 4 September 2019, showing the projected path of Hurricane Dorian. The projected path of Hurricane Dorian has been extended into Alabama by amateurish drawing with a Sharpie, Trump’s favorite type of pen. When asked by reporters whether the map had been altered, Trump said he didn’t know how it had been amended. Photo: Tom Brenner / Bloomberg
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?
Map of the U.S. showing 11 weather and climate disasters each costing $1 billion or more that occurred between January and May, 2024. Graphic: NOAA / NCEI By Meredith Garofalo 13 June 2024 (Space.com) – Two severe weather events in...
Two men walk through rushing water on Front Street in Nome, Alaska, just a half block from the Bering Sea, on 17 September 2022. Photo: Peggy Fagerstrom / AP By Taylor Telford 18 September 2022 (The Washington Post) – Floodwaters...
Graph showing temperatures and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide over the past 66 million years. Paleo-CO2 (including 95 percent credible intervals) is superimposed on the GMST trend over the past 66 million years. Age and CO2 labels highlight notable climate...
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.