On the bright side, they are supposedly doing this virtually, saving their huge fossil fueled travel for the meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, in November. Because floods and droughts and fire and heat waves never happened before
Climate Scientists Meet As Floods, Fires, Droughts And Heat Waves Batter Countries
More than 200 of the world’s leading climate scientists will begin meeting today to finalize a landmark report summarizing how Earth’s climate has already changed, and what humans can expect for the rest of the century.
Ever notice these things are always landmark? Silly.
The report is the sixth edition of an assessment of the latest climate science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body that coordinates research about global warming. The last edition of this report came out in 2013 — an eternity in the world of climate science, where the pace of both warming and research are steadily accelerating.
The urgency of addressing global warming has never been more clear. The two-week virtual meeting of IPCC scientists coincides with a raft of deadly climate-driven disasters unfolding around the world, from flash floods in Europe, North America and Asia, to intense wildfires in Siberia, to widespread persistent heat waves and droughts that threaten to upend food supplies in the U.S., Middle East and much of Africa.
How is this in straight news at NPR? Has NPR given up their use of fossil fuels and air conditioning?
The new report will be a crucial document for world leaders. It represents the international scientific consensus about human-caused climate change. Governments rely on its predictions as they develop policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, manage forests and fisheries and decide how to protect their citizens from extreme weather. In November, world leaders will meet for the first time since 2019 to discuss promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions — promises that are still insufficient to prevent catastrophic warming this century.
It’s crucial for government to implement draconian rules to control their citizens.
A critical goal of the forthcoming report is to help governments make decisions about how to address climate change. The report won’t tell governments what to do, but it is meant to help leaders understand the effects of different policies.
For example, if humans stop burning coal immediately, it will dramatically reduce the rate of global warming. But what if humans stop burning coal in the next five years? Or ten years? Or what if solar panels get really cheap and population growth slows down? How does that affect climate change? The new IPCC report is meant to help answer such questions using a set of 5 hypothetical policy scenarios.
In other words, looking into a crystal ball. Prognosticating. And, of course, nowhere within the report will it consider that this is all mostly caused by nature. It includes this fun graphic
How much of our economy will be destroyed with those numbers? What kinds of restrictions will be required in your own life? Are climate cultists willing to do this in their own lives?
