I wonder if future generations -- assuming they survive -- will look back and call this generation:
The Golden Age of Fossil Fools ...?
Or perhaps the "Era of Hopeless Cynicism" will stamp this time of widespread Science-suppression and Half-measure societal remedies?
Photos of India's Deadly, Street-Melting Heat Wave
by Attila Nagy, gizmodo.com -- 5/27/2015
[...] Lack of rain combined with dry, hot winds from the desert state of Rajasthan are responsible for the recent heatwave say meteorologists, who don’t expect conditions to get better until the arrival of monsoon in June.
Until then, top temperatures in New Delhi, home to 23 million people, could remain around 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), according to Brahma Prakash Yadav, director of the Indian Meteorological Department. The following images depict these shocking conditions.
Heck, maybe even
the current generations -- living through the slow-motion baking of the planet -- will come up with some clever descriptors for the
willful ignorance that has gotten us here, so far ...
-- Indian fishermen catch fish in a shrunken pond in the village of Phaphamau on the outskirts of Allahabad on May 26, 2015. -- Time.com: The Death Toll From India’s Hellish Heat Wave Is Now More Than 1,800
Perhaps, Catchers of the Last Fish ... or Drillers to the Last Drop ... would capture the essence of the willful irony.
Weather Extremes Wear Climate Change's Fingerprints
Extreme heat in India, flooding in Houston, wildfires in Alberta suggest a new normal, made more chaotic by global warming.
by Katherine Bagley, InsideClimate News, insideclimatenews.org -- May 29, 2015
Communities across the globe got a sobering snapshot this week of what the future is likely to hold more of: extreme weather getting even more extreme thanks to climate change.
Historic rainfall and flooding in Texas and Oklahoma left thousands homeless and dozens of people dead. India is in the midst of a prolonged heat wave that has already claimed more than 1,800 lives. Wildfires in Alberta consumed hundreds of square miles of forest while creeping closer to Canada's tar sands, shutting down production of the carbon-intense fossil fuel.
[...]
Scientists have long balked at attributing natural disasters directly to climate change. They often conclude that global warming has made an extreme event more likely, and exacerbated the conditions that make them more damaging. Warmer ocean waters and air, for example, fuel stronger tropical storms. Heat waves or soil dried by drought -- which makes it harder for water to be absorbed when it does finally arrive -- increase the chance of devastating flooding. They also say the events are examples of what's to come. Researchers are confident climate change will cause more extremes -- more droughts, wildfires, heat waves, flooding and coastal storms, among other disasters -- over the next century.
Meanwhile, back at the drought ...
Wildfires blaze on in Alberta
Edmonton, AB, Canada / iNews880 -- May 28, 2015
While the situation is improving, Alberta isn’t out of the woods yet when it comes to wildfires.
And when and if the drought finally breaks, you'll have no place to run ...
Texas flood victim: 'It turned the living room into a gigantic washing machine'
by Holly Yan, Catherine E. Shoichet and Dave Alsup, CNN -- May 28, 2015
[...]
The torrent of brown water filled the Texas house, creating a whirlpool of chairs and tables.
"It turned the living room into a gigantic washing machine," Ernie Perez said.
His wife wondered aloud whether she should call 911.
"911 is not going to be able to get to us," he replied.
[...]
Combating climate change:
India, China ask developed nations to take the lead
by Shubhajit Roy -- Beijing; indianexpress.com -- May 16, 2015
India and China on Friday came up with a joint document on climate change and asked the developed countries to raise their pre-2020 emission reduction targets, and also honour their commitment to provide $100 billion per year by 2020 to developing countries.
The document, unveiled after the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, came as a surprise to many as both countries earlier have taken positions on climate change which were not always on the same side. The joint document comes ahead of the crucial UN climate conference in Paris later this year.
It said the two countries recognise that climate change and its adverse effects are the common concern of the mankind and one of the greatest global challenges of the 21st century, which needs to be addressed through international cooperation in the context of sustainable development.
[...]
They stressed that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol are the “most appropriate framework” for international cooperation for addressing climate change.
UNFCCC --
Pre-2020 action by countries
The United States communicated a target in the range of a 17 per cent emission reduction by 2020 compared with 2005 levels, in conformity with anticipated United States energy and climate legislation, recognizing that the final target will be reported to the secretariat in the light of the enacted legislation. In addition, the pathway set forth in pending legislation would entail a 30 per cent emission reduction by 2025 and a 42 per cent emission reduction by 2030, in line with the goal to reduce emissions by 83 per cent by 2050.
The submission of the target by the United States was made on the assumption that other Annex I Parties, as well as more advanced non-Annex I Parties, would, by 31 January 2010, associate with the Copenhagen Accord and submit mitigation actions for compilation into an information document in accordance with paragraph 4 or 5 of the Accord, as the case may be.
China communicated that it will endeavour to lower its CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45 per cent by 2020 compared with the 2005 level. It also expressed the intention to increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 15 per cent by 2020 and to increase forest coverage by 40 million ha and forest stock volume by 1.3 billion m3 by 2020 compared with the 2005 levels.
China stated that the above-mentioned autonomous domestic mitigation actions are voluntary in nature and that they will be implemented in accordance with the principles and provisions of the Convention, in particular Article 4, paragraph 7. The Party also stated that its communication is made in accordance with the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs 1(b) and 4, and Article 10, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention.
India communicated that it will endeavour to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20-25 per cent by 2020 compared with the 2005 level. It added that emissions from the agriculture sector would not form part of the assessment of its emissions intensity.
India stated that the proposed domestic actions are voluntary in nature and will not have a legally binding character. It added that these actions will be implemented in accordance with the provisions of relevant national legislation and policies, as well as the principles and provisions of the Convention, in particular Article 4, paragraph 7. Finally, it added that this information has been communicated in accordance with the provisions of Article 12, paragraphs 1(b) and 4, and Article 10, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change -- wikiwand.com
Or perhaps, just perhaps, this current generation will be hailed as the future-oriented band of global citizens, who finally stepped up to urgently transform the economy into a truly "post-industrial" one, a global economy that changed its primary focus from protecting private wealth, to the protecting of natural resource sustainability and local community livability. All across the world's untied nations.
-- Just maybe this current generation will be one day cheered as The founding members of ... The Global Age of Carbon Reduction.
Assuming, We can still dream ... and envision it -- making those Dreams Real. And then somehow managed to tweak the levers of their one-track, industrial-economic game.
... you know the one that has no pressing need for sustainability ... or widespread livability.
