My close friends know I'm terribly pessimistic and cynical. So much so that I often revel in news that seems to herald the demise of civilization. But today, I read that CO2 emissions from energy-related sources were down 7% in 2009, on top of a 3% drop in 2008, and only one-third of that decline is from the recession. See here for more.I do still believe that humankind is basically incapable of dealing with climate change in a rational way, and in the next few hundred years between 50-90% of people will die. Moreover, the damage we've already done to existing ecosystems puts human civilization up there with asteroid impacts and gamma-ray bursts in the gallery of mass extinctions.
However, this graph shows us how CO2 emissions are within our grasp as a species. We're already more than halfway to the 17% reduction from 2005 emissions in the current Senate bill, for example. We could lick this problem easily. The necessary sacrifice and work would be a tiny fraction of that required for WWII. On balance, I still don't think we'll get our shit together until it's too late--in fact, it might be already--but at least it will be trivial bonehead squabbling that hastened our demise. Sure hope I'm wrong about that.
But what a time to be alive! Our generation will be the one close enough to the drainhole to get snarled in the nasty hair clot of God Almighty.
However, this graph shows us how CO2 emissions are within our grasp as a species. We're already more than halfway to the 17% reduction from 2005 emissions in the current Senate bill, for example. We could lick this problem easily. The necessary sacrifice and work would be a tiny fraction of that required for WWII. On balance, I still don't think we'll get our shit together until it's too late--in fact, it might be already--but at least it will be trivial bonehead squabbling that hastened our demise. Sure hope I'm wrong about that.
But what a time to be alive! Our generation will be the one close enough to the drainhole to get snarled in the nasty hair clot of God Almighty.
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