We cannot "Adapt" to Runaway Global Warming.
The Fossil Fuel Industry and the Republican Party claim that Global Warming is not happening. But if pressed with the scientific fact that Earth IS getting hotter, they sometimes claim “we” can “adapt” to a hotter Earth. This is very misleading. Because when most people hear the phrase “we can adapt", they assume “we” includes themselves, their children, and their grandchildren. It does not. While a few humans in general MIGHT still survive on a much hotter Earth, your children and grandchildren in particular will not.
Ponder this. As Earth heats up, extreme heat waves will become hotter than ever before with maximum temperatures in the 120Fs, 130Fs, and 140Fs. And on top of this, Earth will be more humid which will drive up the heat index into the 150Fs, 160Fs, and beyond. Does that sound adaptable to you?
Approximate Estimates for Maximum Fahrenheit
Temperatures and Heat Index on a Warming Earth
Increase
in Earth's Approximate Maximum
Average Celsius Fahrenheit Heat Wave
Temperature Temperature Heat Index
+12 C 147 F 200 F
+6 C 136F 170 F
+4 C 132F 155 F
+2 C 129F 142 F
Today, “we” are heading toward worst case scenario: Runaway Global Warming. And Earth’s average temperature will increase about +5C in as little as 85 years. Your child’s lifetime. And in this scenario, most human agriculture will collapse due to drought and extreme heat. It is also reasonable to also assume that Earths SEVEN BILLION human population will collapse as well. Killed off by famine, dehydration, extreme heat, war, or all of the above. So although there might be a few unlucky survivors on a much hotter Earth in say 2150, your great grandchildren will not be among them. It is pretty much the end of the civilization. Not as we know it, but THE END. And “We” certainly cannot “Adapt” to this.
Now the fossil fuel industry and the Republicans like to claim “we can adapt” to global warming because they want to confuse voters about what is coming if we keep doing nothing. They don’t want voters to see that the lives of their children and grandchildren are at great risk. They want voters to believe we can keep burning fossil fuels just like we always have. And the fossil fuel companies can keep getting rich just like they always have. And “nothing really bad will happen” because “we can adapt” just like we always have. But this is a lie.
Runaway Global Warming will destroy everything we know and everyone we love. The only way to ensure that ‘nothing really bad will happen’ to our kids is to contain the climate crisis. Which means we must begin a rapid phase out of fossil fuels THIS DECADE. This transition will take a decade or two, but we must start NOW. If we wait any longer, it will be too late. And if we start now we can also create a stronger economy, powered by unlimited clean renewable energy, and generate A LOT of new jobs during the transition. And oh, we get to keep our livable Earth as well. And our children and grandchildren can live long prosperous lives similar to our own. But this will only happen if governments around the world coordinate efforts to tax carbon emissions and decarbonize the global economy as quickly as possible.
And that is what the political fight about global warming is really all about. Not whether or not we leave our children a livable Earth, but whether or not we begin phasing out fossil fuels quickly. Because this will drive the fossil fuel companies out of business. FOEVER. Which is exactly what the Republican Party and the fossil fuel industry wish to prevent. So they tell everyone who will listen that we will “adapt” to a hotter Earth. And unfortunately, too many in the media don’t push back against this lie. Because the truth about “adapting” to global warming is this: We cannot adapt to Runaway Global Warming. Ever. But we can certainly adapt, and prosper in a world without fossil fuels. And we will.