“We are in uncharted territory as far as humans on this planet are concerned, so our records are falling with increasing frequency and that’s exactly what we expect to — and what we’ve been predicting would — happen.”
Katharine Hayhoe, Climate scientist
Way back in 2016 I took a climate science course to fulfill my undergrad science requirement. It was held on campus during that summer semester. The university campus is in the heart of downtown Denver, Colorado, surrounded by skyscrapers and lots of concrete and asphalt, along with thousands of cars which drive past the urban campus daily. I remember a particularly interesting lecture one day by my professor, an unassuming middle-aged man. Dr. Hansen was always careful in his word choice, as he’d been teaching young people for decades about science and was used to (I assume) students getting upset by information he presented during lectures. This particular day, he was carefully explaining to us the Albedo effect, which is “an expression of the ability of surfaces to reflect sunlight (heat from the sun). Light-coloured surfaces return a large part of the sunrays back to the atmosphere (high albedo). Dark surfaces absorb the rays from the sun (low albedo).” Norwegian Polar Institute
Dr. Hansen went on to explain that as more of the polar ice caps melt, there is less reflection of the sun’s heat back into space. Consequently, more heat will be absorbed into the oceans and atmosphere on the planet, creating a feedback loop. “What will happen as the oceans and atmosphere continue to get warmer?” What can we do to stop this process?” We asked the professor. He answered our questions in his measured and calm manner. Basically, the feedback loop is baked into the system, and due to the increase in carbon dioxide already in our atmosphere the temperatures will continue to rise around the planet for decades to come, was his clear, measured answer. When the class was over, I walked outside into a stifling hot late July afternoon in a kind of daze. It was a moment in which I, for the first time, truly realized the enormity of our collective situation as humans on Earth. I understood that no matter how much we wanted to reverse global heating and keep it below 1.5 degrees Celsius, it was already too late. Global heating would continue because it was already baked into the pie that is our changed planet. The Anthropocene, for me, began that day.
That moment happened seven summers ago. According to the World Meteorological Organization, “The past eight years were the warmest on record globally, fueled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat,” according to six leading international temperature datasets consolidated by the World Meteorological Organization. (Jan, 2023)
This summer of 2023 has shattered all temperature records for global heat. June and now July are the hottest global months ever recorded. One scientist estimated that this summer’s temperatures have not reached these record highs for 120,000 years on Earth. The temperature extremes lead to many other extreme events that humanity is not adequately prepared for: unprecedented flooding in some areas while others experience extreme drought. The polar ice caps melting will create sea level rise that humans have not seen in recorded history. Many people will be forced to leave their homes and cities, seeking safety in higher ground. We are on the brink of climate change that will be unprecedented in human history.
From NOAA:
“June 2023 set a record as the warmest June for the globe in NOAA’s 174-year record. The June global surface temperature was 1.05°C (1.89°F) above the 20th-century average of 15.5°C (59.9°F). This marked the first time a June temperature exceeded 1°C above the long-term average. The Junes of 2015–2023 rank among the ten warmest Junes on record. Globally, June 2023 set a record for the highest monthly sea surface temperature anomaly of any month in NOAA’s 174-year record. June heat was not limited to the ocean surface; the Southern Hemisphere had its warmest June on record and the Northern Hemisphere tied 2019 for its warmest June.”
Of course, the next logical question for a thoughtful person is, What are we doing to prepare? Yes, dear Readers, you guessed it—not much, except when climate disasters come knocking on our doors. The Paris Climate Agreement back in December of 2015 feels like a long ago memory now. Even after reams and reams of reports by the IPCC and many global climate summits, along with millions of people protesting Big Oil and government-subsidized fossil fuel development, global political will seems to be as weak as ever.
Last summer I wrote a blog post about The Ministry of the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson. It’s a climate science fiction novel which takes place from the mid-2020s through the 2050s. Robinson incorporated a lot of hard science research into his incredible story. It’s his imagining of how things on our planet might reasonably accelerate, and the main characters’ responses and actions. Reading his book gave me a deeper understanding of the gravity of our global situation and some possible scenarios in response. It should be required reading in all high schools, as it does a remarkable job of presenting our climate crisis in a compelling and understandable way.
In the meantime, Life continues as best it can on our beloved Gaia. Young couples welcome newborns into their lives every single day. New souls continue streaming onto the planet, regardless of all the significant challenges they are bound to experience. The rest of the 2020s and following decades of this century will be possibly the most challenging humanity has ever faced on a global scale. In a best-case scenario, the old, rigid thinking by world leaders stuck in the old paradigm of power over and material gain at all costs will be replaced by younger, flexible and progressive thinkers and political leaders. They will move quickly to clean, new technologies for energy, water supplies, food production, transportation, built environments, and supply chains. Can you envision a new world by the start of the 2100s, driven by clean technologies and no more polluting chemicals on Earth? The new souls being born in these years will be the ones to forge the way forward. They will need to be the strongest, cleverest, and most compassionate humans of all, for that is what will be required for humanity to fully awaken and do the work of moving from the current mess we’ve created over the past 170 years.
for further reading:
https://apnews.com/article/hottest-record-climate-change-july-65e13c9c3d88932b50de935c7977ee70
https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/july-2023-set-be-hottest-month-record
interrelated planet 