Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rise Like a ‘Speeding Freight Train’ in 2018
It seems to me we are truly and globally fucked:<p>1. There were just <i>massive</i> protests and riots in France (a relatively ecologically-aware country) due to an increase in the diesel tax of about 8 cents a liter meant to help wean the country off carbon. As a result of the riots, the tax was cancelled.<p>2. Current US administration is going 180 degrees in the other direction, i.e. doing everything it can to support coal.<p>3. Even if places like China and India go all out to try to reduce their reliance on carbon, their huge populations and still relatively low level of development mean that there is a tidal wave of new &quot;carbon users&quot; coming.<p>It&#x27;s pretty clear to me that the short&#x2F;medium term incentives to cheap energy are just much too great to counter the long(er) term impact of climate change. Major change (i.e. in the 3-4 degree range or more) appears completely inevitable to me, and we should at least start recognizing and dealing with that fact. The only thing that can possibly counter this is if the economics change drastically in favor of non-polluting sources, but given the timescale in which that would be necessary and the natural equilibrium economic forces fighting against this (e.g. if wind and solar get much cheaper, could lower demand for oil, but that would also lower price for oil - some alternative oil sources might become uneconomic but I&#x27;m certainly betting that all the carbon under Saudi Arabia is eventually going to be in the air), at best we&#x27;re just extending the inevitable a little bit.<p>Drastic climate change is coming, and it is unavoidable. The planet (and I believe humanity) will most definitely survive, but sunken cities, mass starvation, climate-change induced wars, stronger and more powerful storms and fires are coming, and at this point there isn&#x27;t much we can do to stop it.