WLBOTT R&D has been looking into the current state of climate change science and mitigation recently.
Some take-aways:
- an incredibly complex topic, with many of the best scientists and engineers in the world working on the problem
- there almost certainly won’t be one single solution, but will require a broad range of changes
- it’s real and it’s happening. One researcher made the insightful comment: the same percentage of scientists who don’t believe in man-made climate change is about the same percentage of scientists who don’t believe in evolution. You can draw your own conclusions here.
- there are some seriously bad actors who are either willfully ignorant or refuse to take action for political, monetary, or purely misanthropic reasons.
- the past state is well defined. The current state is fairly well defined and under intense scrutiny. The future state predictions vary wildly.
All tables and charts are linked to the host source. I tried to use mainstream sources for data.
How We Got Here
Basically, it boils down to how many people we’ve had, have, and will have on planet earth, how much energy they use per person, and how that energy is generated.
The historical population chart is fascinating. It screams, “something’s got to give”.
Per Capita Energy Usage
Along with population growth, the daily per capita consumption of energy has grown exponentially. No surprise here – hunter-gatherers used energy for food and camp fires. Modern man uses energy for transportation, agriculture, construction, mining, lighting, heating and cooling, all kinds of appliances…
The per capita energy consumption has grown by almost a factor of 3 in the past 50 years.
The per capita energy consumption is strongly correlated to the wealth of the country.
Not all energy generation / consumption is based on fossil fuels. This varies greatly from country. Some energy is generated by hydro, geothermal, renewable sources, and nuclear.
(chart reordered to display select countries)
The Heating Trend is Undeniable
2023 is predicted to be the hottest year on record.
So How’d We Get Here?
As the industrial age commenced, we fueled development by burning fossil fuels – carbon that had laid dormant for millions of years. We traveled more. We bought more stuff. As countries became prosperous, we ate more meat.
The biggest national contributors….
Interesting Aside: Electrical Consumption in the US
Interesting flattening (and some years of decline) in the recent decade.
A huge part of that due to cost effective reduced energy lightening.
Agriculture and Meat Consumption
How much of our agricultural production goes to cattle feed….
Food selection directly impacts the carbon footprint. Beef is the worst contributor. For example, it 10x the carbon footprint of chicken.
Are We Doomed?
Depends on who you ask and where you live.
A long time ago, I saw a 60-Minutes style show reporting on how the Mafia was taking over the hazardous waste disposal business. They’d load up really toxic waste, charge a huge disposal fee, then simply dump it at the nearest out-of-the-way place. The reporter asks the investigator, “This stuff is incredibly toxic! Surely they are aware of that and wouldn’t do it, right?” She looks him in the eye and says, “These are the same people selling heroin to school kids.”
Anyhow, there’s a lot of bad info about climate change. It’s used for political points, it’s become part of our late stage capitalism, and bad guys are trying to make money.
There’s a web site that analyzes climate change articles and evaluates the scientific validity of their claims:
Conclusion
Some practical suggestions:
- pray – we can’t tell you if anyone is listening to your prayers (except maybe Alexa?), but it will keep your heart engaged
- consider reducing your beef consumption, or even consider a vegetarian / vegan diet
- don’t tolerate fools: climate deniers of all stripes should have no voice in the debate, and should be viewed with great suspicion
- stay educated, and reflect upon the economic systems that have led us to this point
- these problems will ultimately have to be solved on a national and global level – support research, policies and politicians that understand what’s going on
- it is almost impossible to address climate change without first world folks accepting some sacrifices. Economic sacrifices in the form of higher food and energy prices, higher taxes. Societal and national sacrifices in the form of accepting (possibly hundreds of millions) refugees, aid to the hardest hit countries facing drought, flooding, famine, and political unrest.