Ripped from the Headlines

Here’s a selection of recent headlines, which I only wish I had made up for April Fool’s Day.

“Earth just had its hottest year ever recorded — by far.” — NBC

“Hurricanes are getting so intense, scientists propose a Category 6”— Washington Post

“Parts of Amazon rainforest could tip toward collapse by 2050, study warns.” – Washington Post

“Critical Atlantic Ocean current system is showing early signs of collapse, prompting warning from scientists.” –- CNN

“Scientists discover an alarming change in Antarctica’s past that could spell devastating future sea level rise.”  — CNN

Those headlines look like they’re taken from a dystopian science fiction book, but they are all too real. What are we to make of them?

The first couple of headlines are reporting changes that have already taken place. What they show is simply that the scientists have known what they were talking about all along. it’s now been over thirty years since the IPCC issued its first report, and the models have been accurate so far. At this point, anyone in touch with what psychiatrists call the Reality Principle realizes the need for action.

The other three headlines are about things that might or might not actually happen. We still don’t know how likely they are.  What the recent science seems to be telling us, however, is that these tipping points are not merely figments of our imagination.

We shouldn’t look at projections of future climate impacts and assume those are the worst case scenarios. They’re not, just as COVID was not the worst-case global pandemic.

All the more reason, then, to redouble our efforts to achieve net-zero carbon.  And that’s no joke either.