Fifty Years of Global Warming

Introduction

I spent a couple of years writing a blog on climate change called Planet Restart, the idea being we needed to push the "restart" button to begin a new way of thinking about how we should be living on the planet. I did it for my children and grandchildren because I knew in my bones that the climate was changing, and I wanted them to understand how this would affect every decision they would make.

I started out with a sense of foreboding and hope, but not a lot of knowledge. I ended up at the crossroads of doom and gloom, knowing a whole lot more than I wanted to.

Simply put, if the science is correct, then it is already too late … too late to prevent a rise in average global temperatures that will bring with it serious consequences … too late to avoid the displacement of millions of people due to rising tides and shifting rainfall patterns and increasingly erratic growing seasons … too late to avoid the economic and social upheavals that will inevitably ensue.

These 65 essays reflect my personal journey to understand the three modern-day horsemen of the apocalypse who stalk mankind: climate change, peak oil, and population growth. What I found was not reassuring. But don’t take my word for any of this. Learn about the issues and make up your own mind.

If you come to the same conclusions I did, then you really need to start thinking about how to prepare your children and grandchildren for a world that will be very different from the one they see around them today … a world as challenging as anything that mankind has ever faced.

Why Climate Change Is A Tough Sell in America

October 2009 – With apologies to David Letterman, I offer up my top 10 reasons why climate change is a tough sell in America.

Climate change is not breaking news. We Americans have grown addicted to stories that sweep over us like a giant wave. Climate change creeps in with the tide.

Climate change is not easy to understand. Weather is what you see out the window today. Climate change is computer models trying to guess what you will see out the window 30 years from now.

Climate change is not easy to explain. Weather is Al Roker. Climate change is Al Gore.

There is no single plan to rally supporters around. Pretty much everyone agrees that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced. But which ones, by how much and how soon, through what methods … these are all topics of intense debate.

The pain is here and now; the gain is off in the distant future. Doing something about climate change will cost billions of dollars right now. The ultimate benefit will be a more livable planet 30, 50, 100 years from now. That’s asking for a lot to be taken on faith.

The human brain is not wired to think in terms of centuries. We pretty much live in the moment. Somewhere between the here-and-now and 100 years from now, we just stop listening.

Future shock rocks. We are being bounced from one crisis to the next like a ping-pong ball in a room full of mouse-traps. Sooner or later, we just reach the point where we just want to pull back into our shells and stop listening.

Resistance is not always futile. Controlling greenhouse gas emissions will cost big business some big bucks. If they can avoid or mitigate that future expense by financing extensive (dis)information campaigns, why not do it? Spending millions today beats spending billions tomorrow. It’s not like the average politician is looking for a reason to believe.

The political process is exhausted. The battle over health care reform has given the political process a severe case of battle fatigue. It remains to be seen how much fight is left in both parties as they try to confront an issue as complicated and contentious as energy reform.

Nation-states suck at solving global problems. The world is a bunch of teenagers who have been sent to their rooms. Each room is a nation-state with a big sign on the door that says, "You are not the boss of me." Collective action does not come naturally or easily at this stage in our geopolitical development.