While it seems there is good and bad news coming out of the COP 25 in Madrid, one does get the feeling that the world is moving to slowly on the issue of de-carbonization. To give some context to the entire issue, I have picked these four charts out of the work done by the Global Carbon Project that I think summarizes the situation.
Trump Puts Politics Before the Planet
Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris accord on climate change appears to be due to a calculated bet that his narrow electoral base will allow him to continue after 2018.
Climate Change and the Florida Keys
With a maximum altitude of 18 feet (5.5 M) above sea level and in a prime hurricane pathway, the Florida Keys are particular susceptible to climate change.
The Hottest Year Ever
While NASA predicts that 2016 will be the hottest year ever, only 22 of the 197 parties to the Paris agreement have ratified it and since the largest nations have not yet done so, these countries add up to only 1% of global emissions.
Culture and Climate Change
More than 100 years ago, an American Geographer, Ellen Churchill Sempel, put forward the idea that the natural environment has an enormous impact on people and the culture they develop. Applying Ms. Sempel’s ideas to our own time, the issue of how the world either deals with the threat of climate change or adapt to its effects will have an impact on our cultures and societies.
