Climate change – time for radical action

The Image depicting progressive global warming on Mars (Matt Williams, March 2016)

Sometimes we stare too long at a door that is closing and we see too late the one that is open.

Alexander Graham Bell

It’s now time to change our approach to climate change. We need to stop persuading people it is a reality and start working out what to do about it.

In Exeter, the UK has what is probably the leading Climate observatory and climate change scientists, with more contributions to the International Centre for Climate Change than any from anywhere else.

But all their expertise will count for nothing if temperatures rise by four degrees this century as they fear.

In 2005, I wrote that computer science, mathematics, biology, chemistry and engineering are working together in building large-scale models of climate change.

We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it.

President Barack Obama, September 2014.

The Paris climate accord debated if global warming could be held to an increase of 2 degrees Centigrade above pre-industrial levels. The target of 1.5 degrees has been all but abandoned.

A four degrees temperature rise by th

e end of this century would be catastrophic for human life in many areas of this planet and trigger high death levels and mass migration.

The belief is that we have twelve years to act decisively in changing our behaviour and fundamentally altering the life-style and expectations of everyone on this planet.

We no longer have the time to change industrial infrastructure and human behaviour.

The UK has already reduced its CO2 emissions by 39% since 1990. Despite our commitment to continue along this path, emissions from other countries will grow. BP’s energy forecast for 2019 predicted a 25% increase in energy demand by the year 2040. They expect this demand to come largely from developing countries who aspire to first-world life-style.

The conclusion is that we can no longer avoid global warming on a scale which threatens human existence where the climate becomes inhospitable.

All those climate scientists should be joining multi-disciplined teams, and putting their talents to the task of radical thinking, ambitious experimentation and early action.

The fact that carbon capture and storage technologies may not be proven does not mean they should be ignored. Reflective umbrellas in space may seem fanciful, but no more so than imagining that human nature and globalisation can be turned on its head in half a human generation.

Disruptive technologies, collaborative research, systemic analysis and major engineering exercises all need to be enlisted in the exploration of radical means to slow climate change. This work should proceed in parallel with measures to curb our prolific use of fossil fuels and other harmful practices.

These measures are urgent, because climate change is now inevitable. It is even doubtful if we have twelve years in which to change our ways eve if we could. All the evidence points to the fact that we will not change our ways sufficiently in that time to make any difference.

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