#WeAreFucked

Major feature from The Guardian today: We're headed for, "irreversable climate breakdown." Yet another #wearefucked moment.

For 50 years I've been watching the climate issue evolve into a catastrophe. First joining a science focussed environment club in high school (1972), run by the best science teacher I ever had, where we discussed the impacts of carbon gasses (CO2 and methane) on the atmosphere and how sewage in waterways released enough methane to warm the planet by a degree. Science knew this stuff well enough 50 years ago that it was already in high school extracurriculars. 50 years ago. When we could have easily prevented it if the politicians had cared. They clearly still don't.

Later, in my 20s, I campaigned as rank and file in the fight to save Tasmania's wild rivers. I re-read the Erlich's book, "The Population Bomb." (I fist read it at 9 but it kind of didn't sink in back then.) I watched the early signs of coral bleaching in the news, even before reporters said so, I knew the scientists suspected it to be down CO2 based warming. I took up cycling as transport, a hard choice to make as a pub musician and audio guy, but it kept my van off the road when it wasn't needed, and I still use cycling to this day. (Come on, people, it's 5x more energy efficient than walking, give it a try.)

In my 30s and 40s I was working in the national broadcaster's Hobart newsroom, and I've witnessed news stories about every one of the Erlichs' predictions come true. A refugee crisis, peak oil, resource wars (disguised as "The War On Terrorism"), continued riding my bicycle for "greenhouse reasons." I've also witnessed each greenhouse/global warming/climate crisis milestone, from CSIRO media releases to the NOAA official who tweeted, "#wearefucked." They quickly withdrew the tweet, but I remember it. I also remember the science that prompted the tweet was the international research findings about seafloor and tundra methane thaws contributing to runaway global heating.

In my 50s and, recently, 60s, I've watched politicians praise half-arsed, inadequate targets, all of which had been enough 30 years before, but are nowhere near enough, now. These trogloditic knuckle draggers in our parliaments and capitals have sold out to the greedy in ways that will drown or burn the needy before anybody else.

"Yeah, tell us what you really think, Steve." I know right. But the solution is simple. So simple, even I don't entirely practice what I preach...
Live Simply.

Update:

Earlier, I was appalled to not see a story on this on the ABC News' landing page. The ABC's story seems to have sunk without a trace, relegated to "Environment" (and 3 stories down on that page), while The Guardian has somewhat pinned their story to the landing page. However, the ABC story has more detail and background. Jeez, Aunty, surely you guys have a "pin" button in the story post tool, at least one the subbies can activate? For fucks sake, this is the future of the planet. Wouldn't have sunk so quickly in the days of the journos I did sound for there, would have had follows for at least 24 hours. Have the culture warriors taken over?