1.5°C Is Doable. The Barriers Are All Political

Isn’t it time to recognize that a 1.5°C limit on average global warming was a nice idea, but obviously unattainable given the cost of change and the political realities we face?

Even if we know that the difference between 1.5 and 2.0°C is measured in millions of lives lost, untold suffering, and massive environmental degradation, isn’t it time to accept that future, avoid these losses, and adapt as best we can?

Here’s what we should be asking instead.

Why is there any doubt about reaching the 1.5°C target when the depth and severity of the climate crisis are clear to all, there is no scientific doubt that the target is attainable, and the solutions to get us there are practical, affordable, and ready to scale up?

And if political will https://www.theenergymix.com/2018/10/08/1-5c-is-doable-but-just-a-dozen-years-left-to-get-on-a-low-carbon-pathway/, not technical or financial capacity, is the only thing standing in the way of stabilizing the Earth’s systems and minimizing harm for billions of people, why are we letting politics stand in the way?

The bottom line is that the countries that caused the lion’s share of the problem don’t get to declare the 1.5°C solution dead, just because they think it’s inconvenient. Certainly when they’ve done so little since the 2015 Paris conference to make the promise a reality.

• 1.5 is Achievable
• 1.5 is Affordable
• 1.5 is Political
• 1.5 is about Human Justice

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C by the end of the century won’t be a paradise. But it’s still a better future for all, and we can still get it done with the political will to curtail fossil fuels and shift trillions in global financial flows to practical, affordable solutions. |Read more https://www.theenergymix.com/2023/01/16/1-5c-is-doable-the-barriers-are-all-political/|
#environment #ClimateChange #world #cdnpoli #cop27

Where Will All This Clean Air Come From?

The government of France ordered new CO2 standards for school classrooms, because high CO2 levels not only indicate low air exchange but also high COVID levels.

“The thing about cleaner indoor air is that it works on any variant and any airborne disease; it helps against pollution; it helps against all kinds of things. And it doesn’t take away anyone’s freedoms.”

“Safe air, provided by technologies developed and implemented by mechanical engineers, will stop COVID-19 and its mutations, as well as colds, flus, and other airborne diseases,” he wrote. “But first we will have to make a conscious decision to build them.”

Until then, don’t expect this pandemic to end, let alone fade away. |Source: The Tyee https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2023/01/11/Revolution-Clean-Indoor-Air/|

Carbon dioxide (CO2): Fossil fuel use is the primary source of CO2. CO2 can also be emitted from direct human-induced impacts on forestry and other land use, such as through deforestation, land clearing for agriculture, and degradation of soils. Likewise, land can also remove CO2 from the atmosphere through reforestation, improvement of soils, and other activities.

Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have significantly increased since 1900. Since 1970, CO2 emissions have increased by about 90%, with emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes contributing about 78% of the total greenhouse gas emissions increase from 1970 to 2011. Agriculture, deforestation, and other land-use changes have been the second-largest contributors. |Source: EPA https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data|

With 90% of our air polluted on a global scale, it’s going to make having clean air an impossible task for a lot of the world population
#cdnpoli #environment #covid #AirQuality #sickness #FossilFuels