Figures and previews from the forthcoming IPCC AR6 (due out in July) are starting to come out. They're not looking great. Limiting warming to 2 degrees C or less is now virtually impossible, as even the most optimistic net carbon zero projections put us at 2.1 degrees of warming by 2100. More realistic target is now in the 2.5-3.5 degrees of warming range, which is likely to be extremely bad for a lot of people.

The authors of the IPCC report suggest that only an "immediate and radical transformation" of the global economy and governance would allow us to avoid the worst of the oncoming climate catastrophe. This kind of language is a marked difference from earlier IPCC reports, and reflects a growing sense of urgency and impending doom within the climatology community broadly.

  • triangle [none/use name]
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    4 years ago

    I remember hearing, can't recall where, one market lib saying "even if it led to a bad outcome, we did the right thing by deregulating the markets." I think this was specifically about the bank bailouts in 2009 and the earlier repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999.

    Obama type Libs, Cons, capitalists of every stripe in 2045, "Yes, we acknowledge human civilization and potentially even human life at all may no longer be possible. But we did the right thing by letting oil companies keep all the profits and refusing to take control or take any action beyond wagging a finger at consumers. This was just meant to be, without capitalism or without human civilization we had no true choice - we decided that civilization must end."