Meet the Leader/Linda Lacina: We’re two years into the ‘Decade of Action’. How are we doing?

Al Gore: That’s a loaded question. Uh, let me take a step back and start by explaining why so many people are saying this decade is so crucial for climate action. Over the last couple of years we’ve heard many leaders from all around the world make pledges to achieve net zero global warming pollution emissions by 2050. And that 2050 timeline is aligned with the latest science and the goal of the historic Paris Agreement in 2015.

And if we reach net zero by 2050, we will be able to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius and the Earth’s temperatures will stop going up once we reach net zero with a lag time of as little as three to five years. But here’s the catch: the science is very clear that we will only be able to achieve that goal if we cut our current emissions in half by 2030 over the next eight years. What that means is that the actions that our leaders take right now, this year, and over the next eight years, will determine whether we’re able to keep that 2050 goal within reach.

“The impacts of the climate crisis are still increasing much faster than we have yet been able to deploy the solutions. We have the solutions. We need the policies and the political decisions and business decisions to implement them.”

— Al Gore, former US Vice President and founder of the Climate Reality Project

Article by Kenny Stancil, Common Dreams, July 19, 2022

As the United Kingdom endures its hottest day on record amid Europe’s unprecedented and ongoing heatwave, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg warned Tuesday that the worst is yet to come—unless people around the world work together to dislodge the profit-maximizing economic system that is endangering life on Earth.

“The climate crisis will continue to escalate and get worse as long as we stick our heads in the sand and prioritize profit and greed over people and planet,” said Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

“This is not ‘the new normal,’” Thunberg wrote on social media. “The climate crisis will continue to escalate and get worse as long as we stick our heads in the sand and prioritize profit and greed over people and planet. We are still sleepwalking towards the edge.”

By René Marsh and Angela Fritz, CNN, July 20, 2022

Pituffik, Greenland (CNN) ~ The water off the coast of northwest Greenland is a glass-like calm, but the puddles accumulating on the region’s icebergs are a sign that a transformation is underway higher on the ice sheet.

Several days of unusually warm weather in northern Greenland have triggered rapid melting, made visible by the rivers of meltwater rushing into the ocean. Temperatures have been running around 60 degrees Fahrenheit — 10 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year, scientists told CNN.

The amount of ice that melted in Greenland between July 15 and 17 alone — 6 billion tons of water per day — would be enough to fill 7.2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, according to data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Put another way, it was enough to cover the entire state of West Virginia with a foot of water.