what a year

[mac]

Whether you believe extreme global weather events are man-made or consider the extremes we're experiencing to be down to natural weather cycles this world in in big trouble. Climate change is obvious - big climate change. This year, 2022, may mark the point that future historians will one day look back to as the start of changes in this world so huge and significant that we can only guess at them right now.

This website is primarily about afterlife and related spiritual issues and I like to make my postings relevant to that theme. So what might the spiritual/afterlife issues be? I'll go into what I think they may be if a conversation develops.

 

[mac]

It's now autumn 2022 and over the past months extreme weather events have been evident worldwide with nowhere outside of their influences.

Although a fairly low global temperature-increase target has largely been agreed even that modest achievement would result in many more extreme changes. Many effects have already been 'baked-in' and they will happen whatever we do. Vested interests and climate change deniers pose a major risk to achieving even modest changes and the reality is that even those may not be enough.

 

[bluebird]

Honestly, I think we're done for. The only way we might get out of this would be if all industries agreed to vastly change the way they do things, in order to cease creating pollution (at least to the degree they do now), if we mostly stopped using fossil fuels, etc. I just don't see it happening, as too many industrialists/capitalists would have to change the way they conduct business, and they have already proven that they are not willing to do so. Also, making such changes would create massive alterations in the way of life of a majority of people on this planet, and I don't think they're likely to put up with that either.

My guess is that we (i.e., humanity) have maybe another 100 years on this planet, at most.

 

[mac]

Here in the UK we've just finished watching Frozen Planet II, a magnificently filmed series looking at the impact of global climate warming on the frozen, actually once-frozen, regions of this earth. The effects of warming on the ice and those who depend on it, human and animal alike, were shocking. It's a series not to be missed for anyone who takes an interest in this world and what will happen to it. At the end we're told there's still time to do what's needed to limit the average increase to 1.5 Centigrade (Celsius) degrees, the maximum it's believed this earth and us humans can cope with - but only just time.

Even if that low temperature increase could be achieved the expected changes will still be huge. And I'm not persuaded the experts are right. We don't have evidence, just theories. Worse than that, though, I'm totally pessimistic about humankind's ability to face up to and then bring about the changes needed. We struggle to create a united front about even comparatively simple domestic issues; politics and finance are always likely to be major divisive forces and those two have to be involved to provide funding for much, much more renewable energy sourcing.

Trying to get global co-operation sufficient to even begin the massively difficult changes will test humankind to its limits, I fear. A bigger fear is that it will test humankind BEYOND its capability to make the changes needed, bb. I'm inclined to agree with you that we might not have long to go.

 

[mac]

It may be just a flyer, a one-off situation, but here in the UK we're experiencing, even enjoying, a warm autumn.

It used to be that by late October we would have had a number of Atlantic storms bringing cool, wet, windy conditions for several days at a time and the north of our tiny country would likely have had some frosty mornings with cold days following.

But 2022 was a scorching, remarkably dry year and many drinking water reservoirs were down to just a third to a fourth of their usual storage capacity by mid summer. They are beginning very slowly to refill but unless we have months of steady, heavy rain in catchment areas then our reservoirs may not be fully replenished by next spring and aquifer levels are even more at risk of not being refilled.

Elsewhere in the world, especially on the continent of Africa, drought of Biblical proportions has become established in several already desperately poor countries. I expect most countries will have experienced extremes of weather and a global pattern of extremes appears to be established. In years to come historians and regular folk alike may recognise these times as the beginning of unprecedented and unpredicted worldwide changes.

Shortly after I had written the comments above it was reported in a piece in The Guardian, October 29 2022, that (quote) "In the past week the UN has released two reports showing governments have failed to reduce emissions fast enough to meet the 1.5C goal, with short-term pledges likely to raise temperatures by 2.5C."

Those reports appear to confirm my fears that there is presently not the global commitment vital if the world is not to become warmer than the lower temperature rise target. The effect on our world will be devastating.

 

[bluebird]

Agreed. We will likely increasingly see periods of alternating extreme heat (and accompanying drought) and extreme cold. My only hope is that I will be dead before it gets too bad, but I mourn for the world and everyone (human and animal) on it.

 

[mac]

I find it extremely upsetting what humankind has done and even more upsetting that it looks almost - totally? - inevitable that we won't be able to make the changes needed. I used to feel fairly positive but now I feel just-about totally negative.

Like you, bb, I hope I'll be outta here before the worst but I too mourn for everyone and every living thing that will be affected in devastating ways. If ever there were a time for a spirit guide to provide meaningful global leadership this is it.

 

[mac]

Little good news has come from the COP 27 discussions just ended. Although it's said the 1.5 degree rise is just about achievable there's great pessimism it won't happen.

The price of oil and natural gas has increased enormously since the Ukraine invasion began which has resulted in a big push to develop renewable energy sources more extensively. But doing it will take time and during that time natural gas and oil will both still be needed by many nations.