Although I probably won't be around to see extreme versions in the UK (I hope), I'm deeply worried about climate change. What most concerns me, is that this phenomenon appears to be happening much more quickly than initially predicted by scientists. Our planet isn't even near being on track for necessary reductions in 'greenhouse gases', in spite of getting a 'helping hand' from the Covid19 pandemic. Most people (with some notable exceptions) now accept that climate change is happening. Confirmation Bias probably results in my attention being drawn to a particular type of article. These seemingly confirm to me that a majority of the current crop of world politicians are great on aspirations but useless (or next to useless) on actions. Many politicians seem to wax lyrical about getting to carbon zero. This desirable state is, however, generally some time in the distant future, when most will no longer have responsibilities. Action, however, generally isn't possible at this precise moment, because of jobs, the economy and/or imminent technological fixes that aren't quite ready. Just to give you an ABC flavour. We have reports of Morrison's
Australian government rejecting calls to phase out coal power (
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/08/morrison-government-rejects-call-to-phase-out-coal-power-ahead-of-un-session-on-australias-human-rights-record) and blaming China for the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef. We have Johnson's
British government apparently being so keen on the financial support it receives from property companies, it is currently unwilling to impose environmental standards on new-build houses to reduce emissions (
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jul/12/tories-have-unhealthy-financial-reliance-on-property-developers-says-report). We have people concerned about
Canada's Justin Trudeau's apparent 'love affair' with fossil fuel (
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/08/trudeau-love-fossil-fuel-makes-canada-extreme-weather-worse). There are many, many more from all around the globe. My worry about
climate change procrastinators is that they may convince a majority of their publics, they are concerned about climate change and remedial action will follow in time. We may well have much less time than most of us think. Even if we get to carbon zero, changes will persist for decades (at least).
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And another thing! Very few politicians mention 'tipping points' (when a change becomes difficult, if not impossible, to reverse) in their pontifications on the climate crisis. Climate scientists have warned of these for decades. The decision makers behave, as if limiting global heating, is like hitting a light switch!
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