MARCH 1, 2024
If you knew what I know,
you’d be terrified too
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| Record-breaking wildfires burn in Texas on February 27, 2024. Photo courtesy of Miguel Lira at Booker Grocery Cafe & Catering in Canadian, Texas. |
Last month was the planet’s hottest February on record, marking the ninth month in a row that global records were surpassed, according to new data from Copernicus, the European Union’s climate monitoring service.
It’s yet another grim climate change milestone, as the long-term impacts of human-caused global warming are given a boost by El Niño, a natural climate fluctuation.
Are you frightened by climate change? Do you worry about what sort of
world we are bequeathing to our children and grandchildren?
In the words
of science writer and author of “The Uninhabitable Earth” David
Wallace-Wells, “No matter how well informed you are, you are surely not alarmed
enough.”
February was 1.77 degrees Celsius warmer than the average February in pre-industrial times, Copernicus found, and it capped off the hottest 12-month period in recorded history, at 1.56 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
“February joins the long streak of records of the last few months. As remarkable as this might appear, it is not really surprising as the continuous warming of the climate system inevitably leads to new temperature extremes,” Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus, said in a statement.
I would put it
even more strongly.
If the
fracturing of our once stable climate doesn’t terrify you, then you don’t fully
understand it. The reality is that, as far as we know, and in the natural
course of events, our world has never — in its entire history — heated up as
rapidly as it is doing now. Nor have greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere
ever seen such a precipitous hike.
Think about
that for a moment. We’re experiencing, in our lifetimes, a heating episode that
is probably unique in the last 4.6 billion years.
Average global air temperature in February
for each year since 1940
 |
While those of
us working in the climate science field know the true picture, and understand
the implications for our world, most others do not. And this is a problem — a
big one. After all, we can’t act effectively to tackle a crisis if we don’t
know its full depth and extent.
What’s happening to our world scares the hell out of me, but if I
shout the brutal, unvarnished truth from the rooftops, will this really
galvanize you and others into fighting for the planet and your children’s
futures?
- Essay author, Bill McGuire
Or will it leave you frozen like a rabbit in headlights, convinced that all is lost? It is an absolutely critical question.
With
politicians and corporations unable or unwilling to take action rapidly enough
to stymie emissions as the science demands, all we as climate scientists are
left with is to seek to rouse the public to try and force through — via the
ballot box and consumer choices — the enormous changes required to curb global
heating.
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| An iceberg floats past houses on Disko Bay, Greenland, during unseasonably warm weather on July 30, 2019. |
But would
telling it like it is do the trick, or would the burden of truth be too much to
bear?
A major
psychological study, published by the scientific journal Lancet
Planetary Health in 2021, found that most 16–25 year olds in 10
countries across the globe were moderately to extremely worried about climate
change, but more than half felt overwhelmed and powerless to act. It would seem
reasonable to argue, on this basis, that painting an even worse picture
wouldn’t help. But if this is the case, does it mean we shouldn’t provide
people with the full facts if they are too scary? Surely not.
In fact, this
isn’t a matter of scaring or not scaring people, but of informing them. As a
climate scientist, it is my duty to tell you about what is happening to our
world, whether it engenders fear or not.
A failure to do
this will mean that the public is left ignorant of the true extent of the
climate emergency, which in turn can only hinder engagement and action.
This is already becoming a
problem, with many commentators on the right of the political spectrum, along
with some climate scientists, denigrating as “doomers” anyone flagging the
worst outcomes of global heating. Such climate “appeasement” is increasingly taking the place of
denial and could be an even greater driver of inertia than fear, as it plays
down the enormity of the problem — and as an inevitable consequence, the
urgency of action.
The truth is that people can take
being scared if they know there is still hope and that they can do something to
make things better, or at least stop things getting worse.
A 2022 study by researchers from the University of Bath
in the UK found that scary images of wildfires and other climate-related
catastrophes around the world were particularly effective at cultivating climate
anxiety, defined by the American Psychological Association as the chronic
fear of environmental doom. Rather than leading to inaction, however, the study
showed that this could be a motivating force that spurred the sample of UK
adults to adopt measures that helped to reduce emissions.
Critically, the authors of the
study observed that the reality of climate change has to be communicated
without inducing a feeling of hopelessness — and this is the key.
One of the ways of doing this is
to encourage collective action. Many people have said to me that they feel
isolated or that as individuals, they don’t think they can make a worthwhile
difference.
My answer is always to join a
group of like-minded people and to work with them to drive institutional and
systemic change. In every case, this has had a galvanizing effect, replacing
hopelessness with hope; inertia with action.
The bottom line is that many
things in life are scary or worrying, from going to the dentist to noticing a
potential sign of cancer, but ignoring them almost invariably results in
something far worse happening down the line.
Climate change is no different.
Everyone has the right to know the facts — scary or not — so as to provide the
opportunity to act based upon the reality of what we are doing to our planet,
and not on some sanitized version.
Rather than leading to inaction, I believe this could be transformative.
- Author: Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical & climate hazards at University College London and author of “Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide.”
RELATED ARTICLE
The planet just shattered heat
records for the ninth month in a row
Enjoy looking through my Library
Terry’s “Good Living” Guide:
Avoid the 3 PsBsSs
Processed Foods, Phthalates, Plastics;
Beef, Butter, Breads;
you’ll be feeling better in no time!
Avoid the 3 F’s
misinformation, fear, anger and hate!
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