In this article by Eric Holthaus in Rolling Stone:The Point of No Return: Climate Change Nightmares Are Already Here
The worst predicted impacts of climate change are starting to happen — and much faster than climate scientists expected
If ever you doubted the possibility that the human species is a failure in evolution the evidence is becoming overwhelming. Read on below and I'll explain.
The climate scientists are part of our fragmented system of knowledge gathering and processing. We all know that they have been isolated from the mainstream of human discourse for some time. They keep telling us what is happening and it really seems to be incomprehensible to most people. Let's review salient points in t5his message and then discuss the implications.
Hansen's new study also shows how complicated and unpredictable climate change can be. Even as global ocean temperatures rise to their highest levels in recorded history, some parts of the ocean, near where ice is melting exceptionally fast, are actually cooling, slowing ocean circulation currents and sending weather patterns into a frenzy. Sure enough, a persistently cold patch of ocean is starting to show up just south of Greenland, exactly where previous experimental predictions of a sudden surge of freshwater from melting ice expected it to be. Michael Mann, another prominent climate scientist, recently said of the unexpectedly sudden Atlantic slowdown, "This is yet another example of where observations suggest that climate model predictions may be too conservative when it comes to the pace at which certain aspects of climate change are proceeding."
Information like this should trigger a strong response in an intelligent species. Yet the information is compartmentalized and fails to be incorporated in the many discussions of political theater we hear over and over again. There is a deeper message here and cognitive science is pointing to it more and more frequently.
If the shortcomings of human species ability to adapt to information about its surroundings is being revealed by this unfolding crisis, we are clearly not going to be able to cope. Let's look a little further into the disconnect between what we are learning and our inability to respond adequately:
As you might expect, having tickets to the front row of a global environmental catastrophe is taking an increasingly emotional toll on scientists, and in some cases pushing them toward advocacy. Of the two dozen or so scientists I interviewed for this piece, virtually all drifted into apocalyptic language at some point.
I feel like I need to shout my response to this. Take a step back and look at our situation. WAKE UP! We are being told the facts about our demise and we stare into the headlights.
Meanwhile read the multitude of diaries, news articles, etc. about a population treating their situation like theater. Elections, debates, congressional ineptness, etc. etc. It is time to wake up. It is well past time.
There is a growing body of existential evidence that the human species is in a suicidal mode and can't get out. Ironically among the brightest of us we have a very vocal component singing praises to the human mind and its achievements. Nonsense I say! If we were anywhere close to understanding the obvious state we are in we would be working day and night to stop the madness.
Bring on the usual comments about your doubts about how bad a state we are in. To me they are evidence for the case I am making.
12:43 PM PT: Thanks for the rec listing