It is now probably too late to stop climate change.
It was not too late to stop it 10 years ago. We could have succeeded if there had not been massive political resistance to stopping it. Somewhere between then and now, we probably have passed a tipping point or two. Methane is being released from the seas and the Tundras. Forests, which were supposedly too wet to burn are burning. The Antarctic ice shelf is breaking up. Land ice is melting in Greenland. The Northwest Passage is becoming navigable. Towns and cities are without water supplies.
While we cannot stop change, disruption and chaos, we still have the option of making the results even worse, or holding the worse at bay. We also have the option of preparing for the worse, so we can deal with it as best we may, and diminish the damage. This is the best we can now aim for: mitigation and preparation.
Currently the East Coast of Australia is on fire. One of the reasons for the extent of the Bushfires is because Right Wing governments decided climate change was impossible or would not have an effect for years. They cut back experienced staff, and refused to prepare. They still seem to be holding back on helping firefighters. Even now they are trying to blame the extent and ferocity of the fires on anything other than climate change, and they are still arguing that we should increase emissions because it is profitable.
This is a classic example of how not to face a problem. They have walled themselves up. They cannot admit they were mistaken, and that they need to change. They have either never been able to propose a solution or wanted to propose a solution, and so politicised the problem so as to make doing nothing look righteous.
The Labor opposition is not much better, with their leader explicitly declaring the party in favour of coal exports as they make some money and we might as well make it. Neither of the main parties seems up to the challenge, although at least Labor might admit there is a problem. So, expecting the parties to change in time to stop total disaster, is almost certainly futile.
People who want to survive in a relatively stable society have got to keep fighting for us to prepare for the worse and to diminish the possibility of the worse, and they will have to fight inside and outside the political parties. Otherwise life will become extremely difficult, and keep getting harder and more unpredictable.
We may no longer be able to stop climate change, but we can prepare for it, and try to stop making it even worse. Hence a active climate movement is still necessary, and perhaps more necessary than ever.
Tags: climate change, politics, social action
Climate, technology and chaos Blog 
Leave a comment