Global Warming Awareness, Climate Change Awareness, and Climate Emergency Action
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Global Warming Awareness, Climate Change Awareness, and Climate Emergency Action A Survey: 1961-2020 240 highlights from reports, articles, books, etc. featuring milestones in awareness and action with in-depth looks at some key organizations bringing into focus pathways for achieving Zero Carbon ASAP (316 pages; November, 2020) Compiled and Edited by Stefan Pasti, Founder and Resource Coordinator The Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability (CPCS) Initiative www.cpcsi.org Foreword During the three to eight decades of unprecedented cultural transformation needed to achieve, and adjust to, Zero Carbon economies, it is very likely many serious blind spots will be discovered--issues which are far from being fully appreciated now, and issues which are serious enough to cripple our best efforts, if not remedied (Ex: most of us do not have a clear idea of what is necessary to achieve Zero Carbon for a town of 10,000 people.) (SP) “… there are truths which none can be free to ignore, if one is to have that wisdom thru which life can become useful. These are the truths concerning the structures of the good life, and the factual conditions by which it may be achieved….” (“General Education in a Free Society” The Harvard Committee, 1945) If many people can learn to find contentment and quality of life while consuming much less material goods and ecological services, this limiting of desires at the “root” will save much trouble trying to respond to the symptoms (of unrestrained, or unexamined desires) as they materialize worldwide. This is one of the benefits of spiritual teachings which often gets overlooked. (SP) “Were I to have the least bit of knowledge, in walking on a Great Road, it’s only going astray that I would fear. The Great Way is very level; but people greatly delight in tortuous paths.” (Lao Tzu) 2 Introduction This paper is a collection of 240 highlights from reports, articles, books, etc. on the subjects of Global Warming, Climate Change, and Climate Emergency Action. This collection was made because there is way more than enough evidence for everyone living on Planet Earth to be alarmed, and for everyone to know we need an unprecedented cultural transformation to avoid catastrophic consequences. And yet… there are still many people who are not only not helping the cultural transformation to succeed in limiting Global Warming to 1.5oC (which still can be accomplished), but actually making the problems worse. Hopefully, this paper will be helpful to educators and journalists, as part of their efforts to remove doubt about why we need to have such an unprecedented cultural transformation, and a) how much we need to be learning to so that we can be part of the solutions b) how much we need to be making best use of the knowledge and skills each one of us has c) how much we need to be on the same side, helping each other Fair Use for Educational Purposes As readers will find, the highlights from reports, articles, books, etc. include excerpts, quotes, graphs, charts, tweets, and etc.--many of which are copyrighted intellectual property. And yet there is no mention here of efforts to seek permission, from the owners of such copyrights, to use such excerpts in this paper. Why? Because due to the educational purpose of this paper (the paper is free and accessible to all who wish to read it); the emergency circumstances, and the complexity of the subject matter; and the acknowledgements made in the source references accompanying the excerpts--I believe the use made in this paper of such excerpts will likely be regarded by the copyright owners as helpful to the larger cause, rather than an infringement of their rights. For those people who wish to read more on the subject of “Fair Use”, here are two links: an overview of “fair use” by the U.S. Copyright Office, and the Wikipedia webpage for “fair use”. The Criteria for Choosing Entries for This Survey My own research into critical challenge assessments and solutions has taken place over decades, and so has my efforts at seeking out people doing similar work to explore possible collaboration. By this process, over a long period of time, I have become familiar with many of the reports, articles, books, etc. in this paper. I have also been on the Twitter Platform since 2011. I have done many careful searches through other people’s follow lists to find people I thought would be good sources to learn from; and I have made lists, which are a helpful way to focus a timeline of tweets on a specific subject area. Also, in an October-November 2013 compendium kind of appeal “Invitation Package to Possible Board of Advisors” (589 pages), I included a 28 point timeline of warnings about Global Warming, from 1988 to 2013, on pages 273-301. Each entry includes excerpts from the resource cited. For this survey, I was hoping to include some entries on the history of awareness in Global Warming and Climate Change research, many entries of articles and websites describing findings from research, and many entries describing work being done by key organizations and individuals in the area of Climate Emergency Action. Often, trying to find a good example or explanation of one topic lead to a very good example or explanation of another topic. 3 Even so, my choices have been limited as English is my only language--and I made an effort to choose sources which may already be known to many readers in the United States. In the future, if there is interest in making a more thorough survey, such researchers are welcome to use this paper as a starting point. Legal Format for Page Size There may be some awkwardness created by the use of the legal format for page size (8 1/2” X 14”); however, that choice was necessary for this low budget project… so that the imported images (graphs, charts, etc.) could fit more easily into their context. Thus, this paper may be less print-friendly, and more likely to be accessed and read online. Special Sections There are eight special sections in this paper, which were made to accommodate either multi-year subjects, or subjects which merited special attention. The eight special sections are: (which begins on) IPCC p. 40 Climate Emergency Action in Higher Education p. 66 Motor Vehicles p. 140 Emergency Relief; Displacements; Safe Water, Sanitation p. 159 Plastic Pollution--A Cautionary Tale p. 203 Gender Equality p. 246 Why Rich People Use So Much More Energy p. 248 Sunrise Movement and the Green New Deal p. 286 (Note: Multi-year sections may also occur with entries about organizations, as highlights from the organizations activities extend over a period of time.) Commentary In the “Foreword”, and by commentary in a few places in this paper, indicated by [(Commentary--SP), I have brought forward some of my own viewpoints. Specifically, I have included my view that it makes more sense to downsize and use less material goods and ecological services than to carry into the future habitats, industry, conveniences, and mobility which are not appropriate to achieving Zero Carbon, or achieving sustainability (though this is being attempted). As these subjects have been carefully thought through by many people with decades of experience in their fields, I believe it is worth repeating (from the “Foreword”), that-- During the three to eight decades of unprecedented cultural transformation needed to achieve, and adjust to, Zero Carbon economies, it is very likely many serious blind spots will be discovered--issues which are far from being fully appreciated now, and issues which are serious enough to cripple our best efforts, if not remedied (Ex: most of us do not have a clear idea of what is necessary to achieve Zero Carbon for a town of 10,000 people). Stefan Pasti Fulton, MO (USA) November 14, 2020 4 Global Warming Awareness, Climate Change Awareness, and Climate Emergency Action A Survey: 1961-2020 240 highlights from websites, reports, books, articles, etc. 1) World Population “1 billion in 1804 2 billion in 1927 (123 years later) 3 billion in 1960 (33 years later) 4 billion in 1974 (14 years later) 5 billion in 1987 (13 years later) 6 billion in 1999 (12 years later) 7 billion in 2011 (12 years later)” [From the “World Population Milestones” webpage at the website for “Information Please” (at https://www.infoplease.com/world/population/world-population-milestones ) (Source: United Nations Population Division)] 2) Measurements “Keeling Curve” (Charles David Keeling) (1961) a) “The Keeling Curve is a graph of the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere based on continuous measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory on the island of Hawaii from 1958 to the present day. The curve is named for the scientist Charles David Keeling, who started the monitoring program and supervised it until his death in 2005. “In 1961, Keeling produced data showing that carbon dioxide levels were rising steadily in what later became known as the ‘Keeling Curve’.” “The data collection started by Keeling and continued at Mauna Loa is the longest continuous record of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the world and is considered a reliable indicator of the global trend in the mid-level troposphere.” [From the Wikipedia webpage for “Charles David Keeling” (at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_David_Keeling ) (paragraphs 1, 5, and 7)] b) “Keeling's measurements showed the first significant evidence of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere. According to Dr. Naomi Oreskes, Professor of History of Science at Harvard University, the Keeling curve is one of the most important scientific works of the 20th century.