First, right now is a time for healing. You can better help heal the world when you take care of yourself and spend time nurturing yourself.
Second, the more we all recognize how strongly we are all connected, the more we can make inroads by getting people to change their practices in one country which in turn impacts another country positively. That in turn has an impact on another country. People are realizing just how connected we are and this is a big step.
Covid has helped show how connected we all are globally and how dependent we are on the good health of all countries. If India is dealing with a bad outbreak, it will cause waves around the world unless we address what is going on in India quickly. The same can be said in large degree with climate change. Toxic waist in Nebraska will find its way to the ocean and contribute to issues in every state along the pathway and even once in the sea.
Of course, you already know this and have been trying to wake other up for some time. I am sensing a big change in the making right now. There is a growing swell forming. Each drop of water in a glass helps the level rise.
Keep dropping that water Ana. Everyone, keep dropping the water.
First, right now is a time for healing. You can better help heal the world when you take care of yourself and spend time nurturing yourself.
I ordered a new pair of running shoes yesterday hoping to burn off some stress by getting back into running. The expense will be motivating.
Of course, you already know this and have been trying to wake other up for some time. I am sensing a big change in the making right now. There is a growing swell forming. Each drop of water in a glass helps the level rise.
Keep dropping that water Ana. Everyone, keep dropping the water.
You're right and I keep telling myself the same thing . I think I read the news too much.
@ana Dear Ana, Thank you for your post and for reminding us that you are still here and dealing with such a difficult loss. Sending you all love and care.
Thank you Jeanne. ❤️
Good article. This is another one that basically says the same thing: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/26/what-the-coronavirus-curve-teaches-us-about-climate-change-148318.
I would add that for anyone living on the coast, its a good idea to get out of the path of tropical cyclones, even if initial forecasts are tepid; at the very least, have a go bag ready. A lot of storms from now on will strengthen shockingly fast before they make landfall, and anyone within 30-50 feet of sea level (and especially along rivers) will be endangered by the storm surge. I read a book last week about the 2011 Great Tohoku Tsunami, and a lot of the victims either thought they were far enough away from the ocean that they didn't need to evacuate to higher ground, or they went to government evacuation centers that were barely above sea level and were therefore inundated by the wave. This is all a part of exponentiality and the real world throwing up conditions we never encountered before.
Don't be the slug who is happily chugging along but then finally looks up and sees a moving mountain of salt approaching.
This is my first post but this Forum has buoyed me for over a year now, so thank you all. (I mistakenly thought I registered as Rainbow but did so as Raincloud).
Longish story to frame my frustration.
In the early 1990s, Jim Hansen, the climate scientist, kindly responded to my daughter's query for information about climate change. He sent her scientific articles with kind, hand-written notes on them. The content floored me. He predicted that if global warming were not curtailed, there will be "a refugee problem on a scale the world has never seen." Intuitively, I felt that sea-level rise would be a huge risk and that it would happen relatively quickly.
I began to see the world through a climate science lens. Few computers were in use so I went to Columbia U. to collect many papers published by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, put together an old fashioned slide show and began to give presentations. I had no one to talk to about climate change for years. In 2005, I entered a Master's program in an environmental program but was disappointed to find myself the single, passionate climate-focused student. And, unbelievably, a professor teaching a climate science course, asked me during class to report the current atmospheric concentration of CO2 because he didn't know.
When Al Gore's, "The Inconvenient Truth" was released, I thought, "Whew, I can relax, now everyone will know." Silly me.
So, after years of working on many things climate, I can tell you that things are not going well. Many climate scientists are deeply alarmed but it goes against their academic culture to sound the alarm. No one expected it to occur at this pace and...it is accelerating as the recent heat dome illustrates. Conversely, efforts to mitigate climate change are proceeding very slowly.
This is the kicker, because of inertia in the system, if we stopped emitting all greenhouse gases right now, the earth will continue to warm for decades and there is no upper limit to the temperatures we could reach.
I constantly grapple with climate grief. At this point, while there will be some technology aids there is no magic bullet because we cannot stop some of the processes we have begun, particularly the melting of glaciers, polar ice caps and permafrost as well as massive damage to oceans. At one of the big, international climate meetings, I asked the scientists in the new Cryosphere (ice) pavillion, if it would be possible one day to hear a public service announcement to evacuate all coastlines because a huge Antarctic ice sheet had melted quickly. They looked at each other, then at me and said, "Yes." (not likely but possible)
The dilemma: Few people, including policy makers, truly understand the dangers ahead. On lobbying teams, I now take the role of communicating urgency to politicians. However, I think about quantum physics in terms of the potential of creating our futures and realities through our imaginations. Picturing a dystopian planet seems counterproductive.. but.. it is hard not to do.
What we need to do:
The single most important task is to communicate the need for action for climate change mitigation at every level of government. We need federal action for maximum effectiveness.
Economists strongly recommend a federal price on carbon, preferably, a fee and dividend or carbon tax that protects lower income citizens. Let your representatives know that you support a price on carbon.
Many emissions are controlled at the local level. Promote tighter building codes, public transportation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, green urban areas, etc.
As a corollary, protect voting rights and fair elections.
I found Jeanne on the internet because of her climate changes posts. Her visions of the future are in step with the science; I hope we can create a better future.
Welcome to the forum @raincloud.
What an incredible first post. I am so happy you found Jeanne's site and decided to post.
Our community is very concerned about the environment and climate change and as you have discovered Jeanne has tried t raise the alarm for some time as well. Your background and insight will be very helpful to our forum, those who contribute and those who lurk from afar.
I love the question you asked the Cryosphere pavillion scientists.
Is the "Price on Carbon" the same thing as a "carbon tax" or are there differences? Is there a good link that describes this in simple terms, showing the positive impact it is hoped to have so we can speak of it from a place of knowledge?
PS- Rainclouds bring forth rainbows so your name is a foreshadowing of hope. I believe there is a way to change your user name but am unsure how to do so.
@raincloud Thank you for posting and welcome, a very hearty welcome.
So I'm glad you joined us and can remind us what you know. I have two grown offspring who both want children of their own and anyone with young children also has that burden to carry. I don't want to leave this world without protecting them. I fantasize about having many acres of rich farmland in Vermont on Lake Champlain or some other water source. And enough money to afford greenhouses and solar to fuel it or some windmills. I also want to build a large basement quarters stocked with water and food. And a way, probably by boat, to escape to the Southern Hemisphere during summers.
In the meantime, I just keep educating people that human caused global warming is real and we have to stop burning fossil fuel. That's it for now. I've seen visions of aerosols being sprayed into the atmosphere in the early 2030's. I am concerned about that and how it will affect the weather. But I also think they may need to do it unless they can do the many other important projects, e.g., -- carbon tax, planting trees, ban fossil fuel use.
@lovendures Thank you for your warm response.
First, the idea of a price on carbon, is to include the cost of pollution damages in the price of products that create the damage, gasoline, for example.
A carbon tax is one of two versions of a price on carbon. The other is "cap and trade," where companies or entities that emit carbon dioxide agree to cap their emissions at a certain level, but can trade permits or emission allowances so that those who can reduce their emissions more easily, can do so at a lower cost. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. I agree with those who recommend a hybrid approach that would include an economy wide tax on carbon emissions (higher prices for fossil fuel energy) but a cap and trade among a limited number industries and utilities that are so fossil fuel intensive that they struggle to find equivalent, alternative sources of energy.
Most economists believe that a carbon tax is more efficient. A bipartisan group including former secretaries of state both Rep and Dem, strongly advocate for one. Washington Post op ed by Paulson and Bowles -(Paulson was Sec. of Treasury under George W. Bush and former chief ex of Goldman Sachs)
Although cap and trade schemes can work, they are harder to implement and easier to game; we need speed and simplicity now, which favors a carbon tax. I like the general proposal by the Citizen's Climate Lobby which is a "fee and dividend" (avoiding the "tax" prejudice) arrangement so that lower income and even most middle income folks receive a dividend to compensate them for higher prices. They have a simple, clear explanation on their website: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/price-on-carbon/
For academic, objective and thorough discussions: https://www.wri.org/research/putting-price-carbon
The links have been added to @raincloud's post for anyone who wants more information about the carbon tax, the cap and trade proposals, and for more detailed research discussions.
@jeanne-mayell and others, at the moment we have nice weather, no heat whatsoever. It is the first cooler summer since years.
I work at a socialfarm where we grow plants organically. The land is like a spunge!
I like the way you describe the energy both growing, expanding. At the same time we have a globally diverse crisis there are diverse solutions being born.
Our brains can't comprihend the complexity of it all. Our senses can do.
I am concerned, yes, and yet feel myself growing stronger and getting clearer on my life's purposes.
The Earth, the Spirits, are calling upon us. Our ancestors are ringing in our ears. You might hear ancient hyms.
I see a fire and around the fire pit they are humming - in trance, there is no time-boundary. They know I can hear them.
We are being assisted big time. Hold on!
Aho
Tjomme