Chapter 7 – the climate catastrophe part 1

July 2022

First draft

After my last post with various notes and ideas and thoughts about transitions in complex systems:

Chapter 7 – a state of change a change of state

I never thought that I would look back fondly at the relative simplicity of 2021. The pace of change seems to have picked up in 2022 in Europe.

I was reading about climate change, or rather, the impending climate catastrophe and decided to collect a few links and sources here. The screenshot for this post was extracted from a graphic by Zack Labe so thanks for that right here.

My climate bio

I live in rented accomodation in a small urban setting with my family. The heating and hot water system in the apartment is dependent on gas (from Russia at the moment). We all have bicycles of which one is an E-bike which can pull a trailer. This is useful because it is possible to do a weekly shopping trip and get it all home by bicycle. Admittedly, we don’t manage this very often but, apart from in winter, we could. My wife and I each have a car/automobile both of which are diesel-powered. Additionally, I have a motorcycle which runs on petrol. We are very dependent on fossil fuels for mobility and heating.

I would like to be less dependent and more climate friendly and this sooner rather than later. I imagine that many people are in a similar position. What can I do to do my bit for the climate?

• Sell one car and replace it with a low or zero emissions vehicle for local transport. This will need some prior homework and also to find charging points which I can use.
• Get in contact with my landlord and talk about changes to the heating system in the house. Also, talk about installation of charging points for electric vehicles on the property.
• Get into the habit of using the e-bike and trailer for weekly shopping trips.
• Look into ways of getting to and from work using public transport.

From August 14, 1912:

In 1985 Carl Sagan testified before Congress on climate change.

In 1985 Carl Sagan testified before Congress on climate change. Can you imagine if they had listened?

There is no time to wait. #ActOnClimate#ClimateAction #ClimateCrisis #climate #energy #renewables #Cop27 #GreenNewDeal pic.twitter.com/piX3HUA7qK

— Mike Hudema (@MikeHudema) October 24, 2022

Where to find out about the climate catastrophe?

If you want to find out about climate change there is an abundance if not overwhelming amount of information out there which is not always easy to sort out. It can sometimes be difficult to work out who to believe and who is running a second agenda. I shall start with the people who really have a good overview of the whole planet from space and who I would tend to trust as good even excellent scientists: NASA

Here is their take on climate change:

Direct observations made on and above Earth’s surface show the planet’s climate is significantly changing. Human activities are the primary driver of those changes.

The Royal Society (Great Britain/United Kingdom) has their climate angle with a short explainer video:

Climate change: evidence and causes | Royal Society

Supplementary information for the project ‘Climate Change: Evidence and causes’.

The European Union has a position on climate change:

Causes of climate change

Humans are increasingly influencing the climate and the earth’s temperature by burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests and farming livestock.This…

The Chinese government has recognised the challenge of climate change:

Full Text: Responding to Climate Change: China’s Policies and Actions

Responding to Climate Change:

The United Nations has a good page with numerous links to further information:

Causes and Effects of Climate Change | United Nations

Fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

So there is a clear consensus at the highest levels of government that we have a serious challenge facing us.

Climate scientists and researchers

There are many climate scientists who publish and inform via many different media about details and current state knowledge concerning climate change. These are often detailed and scientific sources and may well not be suitable for all readers but are also often informative and passionate.

I have gathered a small selection which is by no means meant to be exhaustive or complete but just to give an idea of where to get started.

Here is a list of climate scientists with links to their bios and webpages at Wikipedia:

List of climate scientists – Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here are a few who I follow on social media:

And, of course, there are many more such as Stefan Rahmstorf who are very much worth following:

There we are for part 1. I shall continue the series but think that there’s enough food for thought for starting out. We really need to get this issue at absolute number one on the political agenda and make sure that we elect people into decision making positions in politics who understand the issues involved which will affect all aspects of our lives.

For those who prefer reading here is a real “firebrand” of a book about the dangers ahead:

‘Soon it will be unrecognisable’: total climate meltdown cannot be stopped, says expert

Blistering heatwaves are just the start. We must accept how bad things are before we can head off global catastrophe, according to a leading UK scientist

Read More

www.theguardian.com

and even back in 1912 some people had an inkling of what might come to pass: