The Shape of Things to Come

 

Climate Change is No Hoax

For those of us who are in denial about how climate shapes our lives, Reuters is reporting how climate events on the other side of the world could cause food prices to skyrocket. 

This is merely a foretaste of what climate change will bring us. You may believe that global warming is a hoax. You may end up eating those words.

• Wheat worries: China's growers are facing “disaster” after heavy rains, Ukraine might lose 20% of its winter-grain yield because of poor weather, and Australia's wheat and barley output might fall by a third next year because of el Niño.
• Even less-tasty news: A slump in global cashew demand has pushed Ivory Coast's industry to the verge of collapse, and heavy rain in the west-African nation is raising fears of disease in its cocoa crop.

These events, by themselves, are not proof of climate change and global warming. The severity and increasing frequency of these events are. The orange skies and unbreathable air in the eastern part of the United States are the result of a very dry winter in Canada. The National Geographic warns the orange skies are the future. We better get used to it.

We tried to control the world around us pulling ancient matter from the ground and burning it, eradicating entire chunks of ecosystems, without bothering to think about long-term ramifications … We forgot that we can’t just take without consequences; we forgot that we’re inextricably part of a larger system.

- Elizabeth Weinberg, Unsettling Extinction Together (2022)

There's a line from a 60's tune, Shapes of Things, used as inspiration for the title of this article, "Will time make men more wise?" 

The lyrics in the second verse ask, 

Now the trees are almost green
But will they still be seen?
When time and tide have been
Fall into your passing hands
Please don't destroy these lands
Don't make them desert sands

It seems greed and self interest got in the way.

Things That Work / The Big Picture

 

Chris Leboutillier

Power Bills to Pop

Eversource and United Illuminating announced eye popping increases starting in January. Connecticut’s two biggest electric utilities requested a massive rate increase Thursday. The proposal could raise the average electric bill for residential customers of Eversource and United Illuminating by about $80 each month and would take effect Jan. 1. (CT Public 11/17/2022)  Then regulators rubbed salt in the wound by stating they can't do much about it.

According to the article, the people who regulate this stuff, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), says they can't do anything.  The agency said Connecticut’s decision to deregulate energy markets more than two decades ago made it so “PURA does not have the authority to reject or modify the standard service rates.”

Eversource said in a statement: “As has been widely reported, energy costs continue to rise globally, with regional electric supply prices reaching all-time highs this year due to increased global demand for and the high cost of natural gas, world events, extreme weather, and other issues.” (CT Public 11/17/2022) 

 Immediate Relief?

The gist of the article from CT Public suggests no quick fixes. There are some things that can be done in the short term. They offer temporary relief at best. 

• Release more oil and gas from the reserves.
• Cut taxes on fossil fuels.
• Offer heating assistance.
• Improve oversight of Connecticut's utilities.

These solutions offer no relief from increased demand and dwindling supplies. A situation made worse by the war in Ukraine. 

What works? 

A broader perspective. Dependence on fossil fuels and radical change to our environment caused by carbon emissions will continue to worsen the global crisis. "The UN says, Limited natural resources, such as drinking water, are becoming even scarcer in many parts of the world that host refugees. Crops and livestock struggle to survive where conditions become too hot and dry, or too cold and wet, threatening livelihoods."

An article in Zurich.com offers the grim prediction of 1.2 billion climate refugees by 2050. "Climate change does not just pose a threat by causing immediate harm to people and infrastructure, it is also a long-term danger that can slowly destabilize societies and economies, making them more vulnerable to other threats. Take for instance sea-level rise. Over the past 30 years, the number of people living in coastal areas at high risk of rising sea levels has increased from 160 million to 260 million, 90 percent of whom are from poor developing countries and small island states."

The Big Picture

The Union of Concerned Scientists has come up with Climate Solutions listed below. These are not immediate fixes. We cannot wave a magic wand and make everything better. the changes are incremental, but they offer an improvement on the direction we're headed right now.

Cut Emissions 

Carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases are the main drivers of global warming. While climate change cannot be stopped, it can be slowed.To avoid the worst consequences of climate change, we’ll need to reach “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner. Net zero means that, on balance, no more carbon is dumped into the atmosphere than is taken out. The scale of these changes will require significant federal policy that puts a price on carbon. It also requires international cooperation.

Remove Carbon Dioxide

To reach net zero emissions, we need to do more than just reduce our emissions: we need to actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or offset its effects.The easiest way to do this is by planting new forests (afforestation) or restoring old ones (reforestation). Other enhanced land management practices can help, as can new technologies that suck CO2 out of the air (“direct air capture”), or prevent it from leaving smokestacks (“carbon capture and storage”).

Fight Disinformation

For years, media pundits, partisan think tanks, and special interest groups funded by fossil fuel companies have raised doubts about the truth of global warming.These contrarians downplay and distort the evidence of climate change, lobby for policies that reward polluters, and attempt to undercut existing pollution standards.

Prepare and Adapt

No matter how quickly we reduce emissions, the reality is that certain climate impacts are inevitable. The seas are rising. Temperatures break records every year. Droughts, floods, and extreme weather are damaging communities today. Cutting carbon is the only long-term solution for avoiding climate impacts. In the short-term, we need to adapt.

Act

Speak up. Organize. Demand change. Promote alternatives to fossil fuels. Hold those who stand in the way accountable. Vote for politicians who understand and are willing to do something to make this a better place. 

Positive News recently posted Seven Solutions to Climate Change That Need to Happen Now. 

Embrace Renewables - The cost is coming down. Way down.

Electrify Transport - Their batteries can play a key role in the renewables revolution by acting as mini power plants, trickling energy to and from the grid when not in use.

Retrofit Houses - Most homes can be warmed by ground- or air-source electric heat pumps.

Reduce Waste - One third of all food produced never gets eaten – either because it spoils between being harvested and hitting the shops, or because it’s thrown away by the purchaser. For farmers in the global south, a combination of agricultural market reforms and provision of refrigerated storage can drastically cut wastage and boost their income.

Restore Carbon Sinks - Plant trees. Beyond trees, we need to farm in a way that locks carbon in the soil, rather than releasing it, using low- and zero-till methods, rewilding land where appropriate, and boosting agroforestry and other sustainably intensive approaches. The seas matter too: we need to adopt fishing methods that conserve marine carbon sinks and encourage habitats like mangroves and seagrass, which captures carbon up to 35 times faster than rainforests.

Reduce Consumption - Cutting resource consumption is key to many climate solutions. The rise of the circular economy, as celebrated by the Green Alley Awards, is helping break the link between quality of life and quantity of stuff.

Shift the System - It means putting a high enough price on carbon that industry is incentivised to move away from it – and reflecting that in fiscal policies that shift the burden from labour to resource use. In other words, tax what we don’t want (planet-warming activities), and not what we do (jobs).

Stepping back and taking the time to look at the broader perspective for increases in utility bills led to a greater understanding of the reasons why and some ideas of what can be done to overcome the problems.

Methane and Climate Change

Here's an aspect of environmental news that isn't getting much coverage.

Ten to 15 years ago there were people telling me that global warming (now called climate change) wasn't being caused by people. It was because of belching and farting cattle. And indeed, methane from many sources...not just cattle...is bad for the environment. It is 20 times more potent than CO2. According to an article in the National Geographic, "Burn natural gas and it warms your house. But let it leak, from fracked wells or the melting Arctic, and it warms the whole planet."

Today those same people are saying the argument is ridiculous because the Obama Administration wants to regulate methane emissions. The focus is again on farting cattle...not the whole picture. The language used is derisive and ladled with name calling. Do those who were backing Methane as the leading cause of global warming ten years ago have short memories, or are they just arguments of convenience?

Isn't there a journalistic responsibility here? When these people speak up, they should be called out on this. The truth might not set them free, but the rest of us need to know.