[Vision2020] 7-19-23 The Guardian. on NASA's James Hansen : ‘We are damned fools’: scientist who sounded climate alarm in 80s warns of worse to come

[Ted Moffett]

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We often encounter assertions that adaptation to anthropogenic global
warming is feasible to avoid large scale catastrophe for humanity, allowing
continued significant greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use that it
is argued are economically necessary for global development and overall
human well being.  However, what is sometimes not given due consideration
in this adaptation strategy is the speed at which human behavior is
changing the climate.  Some assessments of this rate of climate change
indicate a rate ten times faster than the climate shift during the PETM
(Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum). a hyperthermal event about 56 millions
years ago.  This very rapid rate of climate change renders adaptation of
human culture, technological systems and ecosystems a very difficult
proposal.  Advocating adaptation as a primary strategy is
questionable insofar as it can justify public avoidance of the rapid
"emergency" reductions in greenhouse gas emissions necessary to address
global warming.

Quote below from National Geographic website article below:

*Earth Hasn't Heated Up This Fast Since the Dinosaurs' End*

"The carbon emissions rate is ten times greater today than during the
prehistoric hot period that is the closest precedent for today's greenhouse
warming."
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/160321-climate-change-petm-global-warming-carbon-emission-rate#:~:text=The%20carbon%20emissions%20rate%20is,carbon%20stores%20into%20the%20atmosphere
.
---------------------------------
James Hansen, who testified to Congress on global heating in 1988, says
world is approaching a ‘new climate frontier’

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/19/climate-crisis-james-hansen-scientist-warning#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThere's%20a%20lot%20more%20in,we%20knew%20it%20was%20coming.%E2%80%9D

Text below from the Guardian article at website above mentioned in the
subject heading:

Previous shifts in the climate, spurred by greenhouse gases or changes in
the Earth’s orbit, have caused changes to unfold over thousands of years.
But as heatwaves strafe
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/17/longer-hotter-heatwaves-driven-turbo-charged-climate-change-scientists>
populations
unused to extreme temperatures, forests burn
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/17/wildfire-smoke-canada-us-air-quality>
and
marine life struggles to cope with soaring ocean heat
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/19/marine-heatwave-uk-irish-coasts-threat-oysters-fish-high-temperatures>,
the current upward spike is occurring at a pace not seen since the
extinction of the dinosaurs 65m years ago.

“It’s not just the magnitude of change, it’s the rate of change that’s an
issue,” said Ellen Thomas, a Yale University scientist who studies climate
over geologic timescales. “We have highways and railroads that are set in
place, our infrastructure can’t move. Almost all my colleagues have said
that, in hindsight, we have underestimated the consequences. Things are
moving faster than we thought, which is not good.”
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