We have been curating a recent article from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for the past few weeks. The publication warns about how current trends could turn Earth’s natural forces against us in the next few decades. Critics say these Hothouse Earth warnings are too extreme. Does this mean we neither have to reorient our values, nor become Stewards of the Earth?
Two Sides of the Debate Over Hothouse Earth Warning
Dr Phil Williamson from the University of East Anglia, says the world is getting closer to “crossing thresholds and tipping points that seem likely to occur around 2º C. And committing the planet to irreversible further change, as it becomes Hothouse Earth.”
However, Prof Chris Rapley from University College London, believes the report’s authors overestimate humanity’s capacity to grasp the serious nature of the problem. “Given the evidence of human history, this would seem a naive hope,” adds Prof Chris Rapley, from University College London. Are we undone, then? As we write, Australia’s government is refusing to set emission targets.
No Likelihood of Reaching an Acceptable Intermediate State
Prof Chris Ripley goes on to say, “We are at a time of a widespread rise of right-wing populism, with its associated rejection of the messages of those perceived as ‘cosmopolitan elites’ and specific denial of climate change as an issue,
Therefore the likelihood that the combination of factors necessary to allow humanity to navigate the planet to an acceptable ‘intermediate state’ must surely be close to zero..” From where we sit, the math trying to counter the Hothouse Earth warnings does not stand up to objective scrutiny.
The evidence of climate change is everywhere we go, in news reports of extreme weather events around the world. But then, some human beings have always been greedy creatures, especially their leaders. Perhaps we don’t have the capacity to grasp the serious nature of the problems we have introduced to our planet after all.
Related
We Knew Climate Change Was Coming, Surely?
Lose Control of Warming, Hothouse Follows
Preview Image: North Dakota 2011
