3 August 2022
According to Bill McGuire, emeritus professor of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London, blistering heatwaves, floodings, and extreme weather events are just the start. In his new book published on 28 July, “Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide“, Prof. McGuire argues that it’s too late to avoid catastrophic climate change.
The Guardian reports:
… As he makes clear in his uncompromising depiction of the coming climatic catastrophe, we have – for far too long – ignored explicit warnings that rising carbon emissions are dangerously heating the Earth. Now we are going to pay the price for our complacency in the form of storms, floods, droughts and heatwaves that will easily surpass current extremes.
The crucial point, he argues, is that there is now no chance of us avoiding a perilous, all-pervasive climate breakdown. We have passed the point of no return and can expect a future in which lethal heatwaves and temperatures in excess of 50C (120F) are common in the tropics; where summers at temperate latitudes will invariably be baking hot, and where our oceans are destined to become warm and acidic. “A child born in 2020 will face a far more hostile world that its grandparents did,” McGuire insists.
As for the claims that we have time left to bring about meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, Prof. McGuire has this to say: “I know a lot of people working in climate science who say one thing in public but a very different thing in private. In confidence, they are all much more scared about the future we face, but they won’t admit that in public. I call this climate appeasement and I believe it only makes things worse. The world needs to know how bad things are going to get before we can hope to start to tackle the crisis.”
According to estimates, the world is on course to heat up by between 2.4C and 3C. However, the Guardian’s article points out that: “Anything above 1.5C will see a world plagued by intense summer heat, extreme drought, devastating floods, reduced crop yields, rapidly melting ice sheets and surging sea levels. A rise of 2C and above will seriously threaten the stability of global society, McGuire argues.”
Prof. McGuire argues we need to adapt to the “hothouse world” that lies ahead and start taking action to try to stop material conditions from deteriorating further.
"There is now no chance of us avoiding a perilous, all-pervasive climate breakdown."
‘Soon the world will be unrecognisable’: is it still possible to prevent total climate meltdown? https://t.co/umRb4lZvLZ
— Church and State (@ChurchAndStateN) August 3, 2022
"In his new book, Bill McGuire argues it's too late to avoid catastrophic climate change."
Climate scientist says total climate breakdown is now inevitable: 'It is already a different world out there, soon it will be unrecognizable to every one of us' https://t.co/XZdVP4HlnD
— Church and State (@ChurchAndStateN) August 3, 2022
Bill McQuire – Telling the Truth about the Climate Emergency
See what three degrees of global warming looks like | The Economist
2050: what happens if we ignore the climate crisis
Climate change on trial – BBC World Service
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