Climate Change, the latest perspective

The climate of the world is changing more rapidly than was predicted just a few years ago. A selection of must watches on climate change, the latest perspective should begin with a previous blog. A great video by Sir David Attenborough in 2019, set the scene on climate change at that time. David Attenborough and Johann Rockstrom have made a new movie in 2021 with altered predictions. In only 2 years, science has measured more rapid changes in the earth system, than was predicted. In order to come close to the limits set by the Paris agreement in 2015, more action is required immediately.

The new data, now available:

• has significantly reduced the reaction time, 2030 rather than 2050
• the scale of the necessary changes which have to be made, has increased, we have run out of time
• interactions with other planetary boundaries, which we have exceeded, are having a more significant effect on climate change.

The goals set in the Paris Agreement were signed off by all the countries in the world. The USA then withdrew but signed back on under the new administration. This is available on Netflix and called “Breaking Boundaries: The Science of our Planet 2021”. You must be subscribed to Netflix, to watch the movie (It is not available yet elsewhere).

Planetary boundaries and tipping points

Johann Rockstrom and co-workers came up with the idea of the earths boundaries and tipping points 10 years ago. Since then the idea has caught on around the world. Many scientist have done a huge amount of work in refining and measuring where the boundaries are. In 2020 Johann Rockstrom presented the present situation on the boundaries in a TED talk in 2020, “The countdown”. An excellent presentation of the current situation. The planetary boundaries are the basis of the video documentaries above, and many other talks and videos.

The whole idea of planetary boundaries was extended to the economic situation by Kate Raworth. She presented a simple explanation of donut economics in a Ted talk in 2018. This idea, of donut economics, is been extended and Kate Raworth, Johann Rockstrom and David Attenborough are now all working together, with many others, to outline where we need to go, especially the new normal that the world has to move to. The Covid 19 epidemic, which is part of climate change, has at least focussed our attention on a new normal that the planet has to return to. We cannot go back to the old normal as few of us may even survive that.

There are many other talks, videos and presentations on the future as regards climate change, latest perspective and planetary boundaries. These are a selection that should be watched by everyone. We are all in this together, and we have all in some way and another been affected. In the near future, never mind future generations, we will all be severely affected by these issues. Each and every one us can and must make a contribution to the problem before it ends up as a catastrophe from which we may not recover.

Technology and knowledge of what to do

The good thing is that we do have the technology and the knowledge to stabilise the world for the future. BUT we are fast running out of time to get the major changes done. As Johann Rockstrom, Kate Raworth, David Attenborough and many others are now saying, we have very little time left. By 2030, only 8 years away, we have to have brought these changes to scale or it may be too late.

Normally it takes decades to bring new technologies to scale, Covid 19 has shown us that we are capable of changing to something new and adapting to a crisis very rapidly if we have to. Climate change is already happening, the disaster has already started, most people have accepted it, especially the youth. The leaders of the world need to listen to the scientists, declare this a disaster, and put into action the numerous plans and multi pronged aspects that are needed to return the biosphere back to a stable situation that will remain sustainable for our future on the planet.

Some of the most interesting videos to come out lately are as follows:

WaterBear | The Breakdown Episode 3: Climate Crisis: Nine Years Left to Avoid Disaster This gives a little of the history and stresses that the time to react is less than 9 years. The Paris agreement of 2015 was great, but it was only a commitment, which most countries are behind on any enforceable plans to achieve the objectives of the Paris agreement. The latest G7 meeting got no further than agreeing to the 2015 commitment, other than recognising that it is much more urgent now. All hopes are now on COP 26 in Glasgow at the end of the year.

A great documentary, the most successful ever, available on YouTube Our Planet: Our Business. – YouTube There is a wide selection of many other videos and talks, most of which I have watched or participated with. The above are my selection of must see videos on climate change, latest perspective.