Amos Power Plant, West Virginia. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

Scientists have issued a new clarion call about our seemingly unstoppable momentum toward climate catastrophe. In a recent article, The state of the climate 2024: perilous times on planet Earthsome of the world’s greatest climatologists are exposing it.

“We are on the brink of an irreversible climate catastrophe. There is no doubt that this is a global emergency. Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is in peril. We are entering a new critical and unpredictable phase of the climate crisis. . . For half a century, global warming has been correctly predicted before it was even observed, not only by independent academic scientists, but also by fossil fuel companies.

“Despite these warnings, we are still moving in the wrong direction; fossil fuel emissions are at a record high, the three hottest days on record occurred in July 2024, and current policies put us on track for maximum warming of around 2.7 degrees Celsius from here 2100.

“Unfortunately, we cannot avoid serious consequences and we can now only hope to limit the extent of the damage. We are witnessing the grim reality of forecasts as climate impacts intensify, causing scenes of unprecedented disasters around the world and human and non-human suffering. We find ourselves in the midst of an abrupt climatic upheaval, a disastrous situation never before encountered in the annals of human existence. We have now brought the planet into climatic conditions never before seen by us or our prehistoric relatives within our kind. . . “

One of the graphs in the article shows just how out of whack things are, which shows key climate indicators reaching levels well above historical records:

Scientists explain the gory details, illustrating our global misdirection.

“Fossil fuel consumption increased by 1.5% in 2023 compared to 2022, mainly due to substantial increases in coal consumption (1.6%) and oil consumption (2.5%). ). »

“Global forest cover loss increased from 22.8 megahectares (Mha) per year in 2022 to 28.3 Mha per year in 2023, reaching its third highest level; this was at least partly due to wildfires, which caused a loss of tree cover that reached a record level of 11.9 Mha.

“Annual energy-related emissions increased by 2.1% in 2023 and now exceed 40 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent for the first time. . . concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane are reaching record levels. . . An increase in carbon dioxide levels has recently been observed. . . Additionally, the growth rate of methane emissions has accelerated, which is very worrying. . . Nitrous oxide also hits record high; annual anthropogenic emissions of this potent, long-lived greenhouse gas increased by approximately 40% between 1980 and 2020.”

“Surface temperatures are at a record high and 2024 is expected to be one of the hottest years on record. Every 0.1°C of global warming places an additional 100 million people (or more) in unprecedented average temperatures.

It must be recognized that this group, led by William Ripple of Oregon State University, places the situation in the general context of ecological overshoot.

“Global warming, although catastrophic, is only one aspect of a profound polycrisis that includes environmental degradation, rising economic inequality and loss of biodiversity. Climate change is a glaring symptom of a deeper systemic problem: ecological overshoot, where human consumption exceeds the Earth’s capacity to regenerate. Overshoot is an inherently unstable state that cannot persist indefinitely. As pressures increase, the risk of the Earth’s climate system tipping into a catastrophic state increases. more and more scientists began to study the possibility of societal collapse.

“In a world of limited resources, unlimited growth is a perilous illusion. We need bold, transformative change: dramatically reducing overconsumption and waste, especially among the wealthy, stabilizing and gradually reducing the human population by strengthening the education and rights of girls and women, reforming systems of food production to support a more plant-based diet and adopting an ecological, post-growth economic framework that ensures social justice.

Will the world listen? Has he listened to decades of such clarion calls? A new United Nations report evaluates the climate plans of the world’s nations. UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said: “The report’s findings are grim but not surprising: current national climate plans fall far short of what is needed to prevent global warming to cripple all economies and destroy billions of lives and livelihoods in every country. »

Even if all plans were fully implemented, which is a highly uncertain proposition, climate pollution would only be reduced by 2.6% from 2019 levels by 2030, compared to the 43% needed to sustain warming climate below 1.5°C, a limit beyond which climate change accelerates sharply. .

The world clearly doesn’t understand.

This first appeared on The Raven..