I was fortunate to be invited back to CNN-International to discuss all-things climate change, in the wake of hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida. Rosemary Church asked fabulous questions, but I admit, the final question was totally unexpected. My segment begins at 4:13. Enjoy!
Well, it finally happened. NOAA published an update to the AGGI (Annual Greenhouse Gas Index), including their best estimate of CO2e, as of 2023. And without postponing the reveal one moment longer, their value was CO2e = 534 ppm. And, drum roll, the value I posted in my article on CO2e was 532 ppm. I’m going to count this as […]
The latest update to my “Canary in the Coal Mine” video, now including 2024.
A deep conversation discussing a bit of paleoclimatology, the current state of the planet and what it would take for humanity to save itself and how that just isn’t going to happen.
The first part of this conversation focuses on CO2-equivalent and the challenges of getting this number right. tl;dw: CO2e is somewhere in the range 530 – 540ppm. The second part is wide ranging and includes monthly global temperatures, heatwaves, 1.5°C, blue ocean event, AMOC, Antarctic and global sea-ice, and the the collapse of global industrial civilization.
If a calculation is correct, then all roads should lead to the same answer. That is, unless the road is a ditch, a dead-end or a cliff. And so, let us begin our pothole-filled journey together on the road to computing the current value of CO2e, otherwise known as CO2-equivalent, the current atmospheric level of the totality of greenhouse gasses, […]
Please enjoy the latest update to my “Windows of Opportunity” video, now including 2023 & 2024. And, in case you missed it, here is a link to my essay “The Steel Door of Doom is Welded Shut.”
Surprise! CNN International invited me back for my third appearance, which was taped last night. The journalist doing the interview was Anna Coren. I was overjoyed to say “yes.” In the 8 hours leading up to the interview, I watched previous climate change reporting by Coren and I was very impressed. I made some notes, but eventually just decided it […]
You’ve got to know which side I’m on. I’m an old-school environmentalist, coming of age in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. More environmental f&%kery happened during my youth and more meaningful environmental policy was enacted in my youth than at any time or any place in modern industrial civilization’s history. When I hear the youth of today complain about […]
Okay, the ‘world’ will go on. Planet X is not going to come crashing into Earth anytime soon, scattering debris into a new asteroid belt. And yes, eventually the planet will heal itself of the human virus (Homo Ecophagus), and life will go on in some form after humans have consumated their planetary extinction event. I’m using ‘end of the […]
A wide-ranging conversation, including the history and evolution of Earth Day and a robust Q/A session. Enjoy!
It was a great honor to be a guest on this show, aptly titled “Chaos in the Climate Casino.” Thank you to everyone at the Climate Emergency Forum for this opportunity.
Inspired by Sam Mitchell of Collapse Chronicles, here is my “Ain’t Gonna’ Happen” list, also known as AGH. This list arose from the almost daily onslaught of “we must”, “we should”, “we have to”, “if only we” and “if we don’t” aspirational rhetoric that floods mass media, climate journalism and social networks. This list is also inspired by Michael Dowd’s […]
My third appearance on ‘Santa Barbara Talks’ with Josh Molina. We started off talking about the extreme rain event that was happening that very moment, but quickly went off-topic into a deep and at times unexpected discussion about doomerism and the near-term fate of humanity and all life on this planet. Josh is one of my favorite interviewers, and we […]
Do you want to get frustrated by climate scientists? Just ask them what the current level of global surface warming is above the IPCC 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline. In response, you’ll hear numbers ranging from 1.0°C up to about 1.3°C, depending on your source. The lack of rigor and consistency in reporting this all-important number is crazy-making. But this singular value […]
Thanks! Shame on NOAA for not making that clear.
My first article addresses this question. See "the third mistake" and it's fix.
This is confusing to me. Pre-industrial the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere was about 280ppm. But there was significant…
Complete cessation of burning fossil fuels is on the far side of Net Zero, and we're making very little progress…
Hi, Eliot. Thank you for this discussion. My big takeaway is 1.5 by 2027ish, 2.0 by 2035, and 2.5 by…
Thanks for this. The big nugget of clarity I got from this was the example of what reducing emissions 7%…
I think that must be someone else. My writing about climate issues is all on this site.
Fair question. Here are all the greenhouse gases with historical concentrations and projected out until 2500. https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/13/3571/2020/