Global warming’s impact on the planet is surprising climate scientists with its vigor and tenacity and distinct overt danger, climbing the proverbial wall of worry much faster than anybody dreamed possible. Will November 2024 make a difference in how it impacts life on the planet?
“A distinguished international team of scientists on Tuesday issued the starkest warning yet that human activity is pushing Earth into a climate crisis that could threaten the lives of up to 6 billion people this century, stating candidly: ‘We are afraid of the uncharted territory that we have now entered.” (Source: ‘We Are Afraid’: Scientists Issue New Warning As World Enters ‘Uncharted Climate Territory,’ Forbes, October 24, 2023.
And, according to António Guterres, UN Secretary-General: “I am here to sound the alarm. The world must wake up. We are on the edge of an abyss and moving in the wrong direction.”
Democrats vs. Republicans re Climate Change: It is not an exaggeration to say climate change makes the U.S. election a life-or-death affair because the climate system is stretched out as far as possible on the verge of major breakdowns. It is very vulnerable. In that regard, whichever U.S. party is elected this fall can make a difference in the dangers of a climate system and ecosystems that are already tipsy and threatening life.
Political party differences on climate mitigation measures and climate change are wide enough to drive a Mack truck thru.
According to the Economic Policy Institute: “The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) finally gave the U.S. a real climate change policy.” It is the hallmark of President Biden’s administration and endorsed as future policy by presidential candidate VP Kamala Harris. IRA is constructive climate policy and positive for new employment opportunities.
In contrast, “Donald Trump is vowing to dismantle the heart of Joe Biden’s governing legacy – the effort to spend more than $1 trillion on a pro-climate reshaping of the American economy.” As president he withdrew U.S. participation in the Paris ’15 climate agreement. (Source: Trump vs. Biden’s Historic Climate Agenda, Politico, July 27, 2024)
From the viewpoint of almost every climate scientist alive today, global warming is not a nonsense issue as described by Republican candidates that brush it aside as a “hoax” whilst these same candidates accept millions in rightwing and fossil fuel funding, plus oodles of dark money not reported. These are bribes designed to sabotage renewable energy.
The Wet Bulb Temperature Danger Looms Large
Climate change has many assorted avenues for disruption and/or destruction of life that are powered by unrelenting forces of fossil fuel-generated greenhouse gases (CO2) that trap planetary heat, and like a typical home oven, turns up the heat enough to cook whatever is inside. In the case of humans, it’s called the Wet Bulb Temperature. It’s a surefire killer.
Humans lose 80% of body heat through sweating. When both humidity and heat combined are too high, sweating becomes harder and harder until impossible to shed heat at which point too much internal heat cooks human organs.
“In the US, the National Weather Service (NWS) cites that heat has been the deadliest form of extreme weather over the last decade. But many researchers believe current counts of heat illnesses death are vastly underestimated. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, there is little to no accurate tracking of heat deaths. In 2022, a groundbreaking study found that approximately 70,000 people died in Europe due to the summer’s extreme heat. Europe is considered the fastest warming inhabited continent, and many countries lack common cooling mechanisms, such as air conditioning, in older buildings.” (Source: Scientists and Experts Can Help Prepare for Record Shattering Heatwaves, International Science Reserve, August 5, 2024)
“If the body cannot cool down it will eventually overheat, triggering respiratory and cardiovascular issues and even death. If the victim cannot quickly find another way to cool off then the wet-bulb effect kills within six hours, according to a landmark study in 2010, reports Reuters.” (Source: the Wet Bulb Set to Kill Hundreds of Thousands of People if Temperatures and Humidity Continue to Rise, bne Intellinews, April 22, 2024)
For example, several regions of SE Asia and the Middle East are at high risk, but “Mali in Africa is even worse, where temperatures have rocketed to over 48C (118F) and where one hospital has reported hundreds of deaths as a result of the extreme heat. The problem is only set to get worse, according to some estimates around 3bn people will find themselves living in countries that have become uninhabitable by 2070, say scientists due to rising temperatures,” Ibid.
Excessive planetary heat is a generational concern that has no perceived end in sight because the ingredients for increasing planetary heat have been turned on full blast. It’s all about fossil fuel emissions like CO2 bursting into the atmosphere like never before, trapping planetary heat, as the world warms up to unprecedented levels of 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial for 12-months running for the first time in human history. Thus, crossing a major barrier into impending danger zones.
Can politics make a difference and save lives?
President Biden’s IRA strives to do just that on the domestic front by injecting billions into renewable energy, plus, according to foreign policy sources, passage of the Inflation Reduction Act spurred ahead China’s renewables program. See: China’s Lightning-Fast Renewable Triumphs: https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/26/chinas-lightning-fast-renewable-triumphs/
In opposition to Democratic climate mitigation measures, a Washington Post article explains: How a Republican Election Sweep Could Transform U.S. Climate Policy d/d July 18, 2024, “President Biden’s signature environmental actions could be reversed if the GOP takes control of the House, Senate and White House. The EPA and other agencies could see their budgets slashed. Defunding or dismantling federal agencies focused on the environment. Slashing regulations aimed at combating climate change and cutting deadly air pollution. Boosting the use of fossil fuels.”
November’s election offers two clear choices: (1) mitigation of climate change by Democrats or (2) Republicans enhancing CO2 global warming emissions, axing climate fixit policies already legislated, and sledgehammering renewables.
What’ll it be?
Robert Hunziker is a journalist from Los Angeles
