Showing posts with label The Guardian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Guardian. Show all posts

Thursday, March 14, 2024

How did Norway become the electric car superpower? Oil money, civil disobedience – and Morten from a-ha | Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars | The Guardian

"More than 90% of new cars sold in Norway are electric. And it all started with some pop stars driving around in a jerry-built Fiat Panda

I’m kneeling on the snow outside the king’s house, impersonating a 1980s heart-throb, with a man named Harald and an electric car. It’s a situation that probably needs some explanation.

Harald isn’t the king, although the king of Norway is also called Harald; we just happen to be outside the monarch’s residence, a handsome red manor. I’m in Stavanger to find out how, in a world where transport contributes about 20% of CO2 emissions, Norway came to lead the world in electric car take-up. In 2023, 82.4% of private vehicles sold in the country were electric. In January, the figure was 92.1%. The goal is to hit 100% by next year."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) ->   https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/mar/12/how-did-norway-become-the-electric-car-superpower-oil-money-civil-disobedience-and-morten-from-a-ha

Although Norway leads the world in EV uptake, its wealth is built on petroleum, which still accounts for 52% of exports. Photograph: Ryhor Bruyeu/Alamy
Although Norway leads the world in EV uptake, its wealth is built on petroleum, which still accounts for 52% of exports. Photograph: Ryhor Bruyeu/Alamy

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Cop28 deal will fail unless rich countries quit fossil fuels, says climate negotiator | Fossil fuels | The Guardian

"The credibility of the Cop28 agreement to “transition away” from fossil fuels rides on the world’s biggest historical polluters like the US, UK and Canada rethinking current plans to expand oil and gas production, according to the climate negotiator representing 135 developing countries.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Pedro Pedroso, the outgoing president of the G77 plus China bloc of developing countries, warned that the landmark deal made at last year’s climate talks in Dubai risked failing.

“We achieved some important outcomes at Cop28 but the challenge now is how we translate the deal into meaningful action for the people,” Pedroso said.

“As we speak, unless we lie to ourselves, none of the major developed countries, who are the most important historical emitters, have policies that are moving away from fossil fuels, on the contrary, they are expanding,” said Pedroso."

Continue reading the article at The Guardian (subscription may be required)

Saturday, January 20, 2024

Half of recent US inflation due to high corporate profits, report finds | Inflation | The Guardian

"A new report claims “resounding evidence” shows that high corporate profits are a main driver of ongoing inflation, and companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop.

The report, compiled by the progressive Groundwork Collaborative thinktank, found corporate profits accounted for about 53% of inflation during last year’s second and third quarters. Profits drove just 11% of price growth in the 40 years prior to the pandemic, according to the report.

Prices for consumers rose by 3.4% over the past year, but input costs for producers increased by just 1%, according to the authors’ calculations, which were based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and National Income and Products Accounts.

“Costs have come down substantially, and while corporations were quick to pass on their increased costs to consumers, they are surprisingly less quick to pass on their savings to consumers,” Liz Pancotti, a Groundwork strategic adviser and paper co-author, said."
Continue reading the article online (contribution may be required)
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/19/us-inflation-caused-by-corporate-profits

Direct link to report referenced ->

The Groundwork Collaborative thinktank found prices for consumers rose by 3.4% over the past year, but input costs for producers increased by just 1%. Illustration: The Guardian
The Groundwork Collaborative thinktank found prices for consumers rose by 3.4% over the past year, but input costs for producers increased by just 1%. Illustration: The Guardian


Friday, January 19, 2024

Supreme court hears key case that could strangle power of US federal agencies | US news | The Guardian

"The US supreme court heard arguments on Wednesday in a dispute involving a government-run program to monitor for overfishing of herring off New England’s coast that gives its conservative majority a chance to further limit the regulatory powers of federal agencies.

The justices are weighing appeals by two fishing companies of lower court rulings allowing the National Marine Fisheries Service to require commercial fishermen to help fund the program. The companies – led by New Jersey-based Loper Bright Enterprises and Rhode Island-based Relentless – have argued that Congress did not authorize the agency, part of the commerce department, to establish the program.

Arguments were ongoing.

The companies have asked the court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, to rein in or overturn a precedent established in 1984 that calls for judges to defer to federal agency interpretation of US laws deemed to be ambiguous, a doctrine called “Chevron deference”.
Continue reading the Guardian article -> (subscription maybe required)

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Human ‘behavioural crisis’ at root of climate breakdown, say scientists | Climate crisis | The Guardian

“We’ve socially engineered ourselves the way we geoengineered the planet,” says Joseph Merz, lead author of a new paper which proposes that climate breakdown is a symptom of ecological overshoot, which in turn is caused by the deliberate exploitation of human behaviour.

“We need to become mindful of the way we’re being manipulated,” says Merz, who is co-founder of the Merz Institute, an organisation that researches the systemic causes of the climate crisis and how to tackle them.

Merz and colleagues believe that most climate “solutions” proposed so far only tackle symptoms rather than the root cause of the crisis. This, they say, leads to increasing levels of the three “levers” of overshoot: consumption, waste and population.

They claim that unless demand for resources is reduced, many other innovations are just a sticking plaster. “We can deal with climate change and worsen overshoot,” says Merz. “The material footprint of renewable energy is dangerously underdiscussed. These energy farms have to be rebuilt every few decades – they’re not going to solve the bigger problem unless we tackle demand.”
Continue reading the article online at The Guardian (subscription may be required) ->  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/13/human-behavioural-crisis-at-root-of-climate-breakdown-say-scientists

A globe at a CES technology consumer show in Las Vegas this week. Climate experts claim ‘creativity and innovation are driving overconsumption’. Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
A globe at a CES technology consumer show in Las Vegas this week. Climate experts claim ‘creativity and innovation are driving overconsumption’. Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Saturday, December 9, 2023

The Guardian view on Cop28: a phase-out of fossil fuels is the only decision that makes sense | Editorial | The Guardian

"It was never really in doubt. But the first week of Cop28, which ended with a rest day on Thursday, made one crucial fact impossible to ignore: the fossil fuel industry is not planning to go quietly. Far more of its lobbyists are in the UAE than have attended UN climate talks before. One analysis counted 2,456 of them – nearly four times the number registered last year in Egypt.

The battle is hotting up over what next week’s report on progress towards the Paris goals, known as the global stocktake, will say. Fossil fuel interests – both corporate and national – are pushing hard to avoid references to the phase-out that would signal the end of their business model and vast profits. They don’t want an energy transition that leads to their demise.

Last week, the Guardian revealed that Sultan Al Jaber, who holds the Cop presidency and leads the UAE’s state oil company, recently asserted that “no science” indicates that “a phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C”. Forced on to the defensive, he later said that “the phase-down and phase-out of fossil fuel is inevitable”. But it is the nations at Cop28 that will decide, and there is no guarantee that any such pledge will appear in the final text.

One of the key battlegrounds at Cop28 is that of language: whether fossil fuels will be phased “down” or “out”. The choice is either reducing carbon energy sources or getting rid of them entirely. The latter would be preferable, but there are many other battles to be won. There will be haggling over whether a transition to a cleaner future should see fossil fuels “unabated”, with greenhouse gas emissions released directly into the atmosphere, or “abated”, where carbon capture technology and carbon offsets reduce the harm caused. The latter have so far failed to deliver promised benefits, appearing more of a risk than a solution, in enabling the necessity of replacing fossil fuels to be ducked."
Continue reading The Guardian article online -> (subscription may be required)

Monday, November 27, 2023

Electric heat costs way less than reports say, new data suggests | Technology | The Guardian

"Each year, the federal Energy Information Agency publishes a winter fuels outlook, forecasting how much households using different fuels will pay for heat from November through March. This year, it says heating-oil customers will face the steepest costs, at $1,856; followed by propane users, at $1,337; electricity users, at $1,063; and finally gas users, at just $605.

But that number doesn’t distinguish between older electric-resistance appliances, such as electric baseboard heaters and electric space heaters – which are much more expensive to run – and highly efficient electric heat pumps.

“Both run on electricity, but they’re fundamentally different machines,” said Wael Kanj, a research associate at Rewiring America. “It’s like averaging the top speed of a Power Wheels [toy car] and a Tesla.”
Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

Electric heat costs way less than reports say, new data suggests | Technology | The Guardian
Electric heat costs way less than reports say, new data suggests | Technology | The Guardian

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

The jet set: 200 celebrities’ aircraft have flown for combined total of 11 years since 2022 | Travel and transport | The Guardian

"Private jets belonging to 200 celebrities, CEOs, oligarchs and billionaires have spent a combined total of 11 years in the air since the start of 2022.

The carbon footprint of all those flights – a jaw-dropping 44,739 journeys – would be the equivalent of the total emissions of almost 40,000 Britons.

The Guardian used public data to track flights by private aircraft owned by celebrities and businesspeople including Elon Musk, the Rolling Stones, the Murdoch family and Kylie Jenner over 21 months.

The figures track the almost 300 jets belonging to those on the list and find that they emitted an estimated 415,518 tonnes of CO2."
Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe requied)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/21/the-jet-set-200-celebrities-aircraft-have-flown-for-combined-total-of-11-years-since-2022



From left; Rupert Murdoch, Mick Jagger and Lawrence Stroll. Illustration: Guardian Design
From left; Rupert Murdoch, Mick Jagger and Lawrence Stroll. Illustration: Guardian Design

Monday, October 16, 2023

“In reality, they amount to another corporate scam"

"The US Department of Energy has selected seven projects for a $7bn program to launch the development and production of hydrogen fuel, the White House announced on Friday.

The Biden administration says the program will constitute a major boost to the country’s nascent clean hydrogen industry, helping it achieve its climate goals. But many climate advocates are skeptical that it will actually help reduce emissions.

Unlike coal, oil and gas, when burned, hydrogen does not produce greenhouse gas emissions. It can be produced using carbon-free energy, but roughly 96% of it is currently derived from planet-heating fossil fuels – something the Biden administration hopes to change.

“With this historic investment, the Biden-Harris administration is laying the foundation for a new, American-led industry that will propel the global clean energy transition,” said Jennifer Granholm, the secretary of energy, in a statement."
Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required) 

A 2021 Toyota Prius that runs on a hydrogen fuel cell on display at the Denver auto show on 17 September 2021. Photograph: David Zalubowski/AP
A 2021 Toyota Prius that runs on a hydrogen fuel cell on display at the Denver auto show on 17 September 2021. Photograph: David Zalubowski/AP

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Two articles, two different locations, indicate a return to paper (long print news & paper fliers)

"In a digital age of 24-hour rolling news, newspapers worldwide are investing resources in their online editions. But a US publisher has gone back in time by launching a print-only broadsheet in the style of a 19th-century newspaper.

Called County Highway, it is responding to a demand from readers for in-depth stories and writing that needs time to savour. It will not have an internet edition.

Focusing primarily on the US and publishing every two months, it has a format partly inspired by Charles Dickens and other 19th-century authors whose stories were serialised in journals. It will include serialised books from its own new publishing house – an independent company that is taking on the conglomerates that dominate the industry.

“People read differently on the printed page than they do on a screen,” said the newspaper’s editor, David Samuels. “The printed page is an immersive experience without constant distractions or the spectre of other people’s responses on social media. It’s a much more enriching and human experience.”
Continue reading the article online -> (subscription may be required)
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/oct/01/americas-new-print-only-newspaper-county-highway-reinvents-the-art-of-reading-slowly

County Highway is designed to look like a 19th-century newspaper.
County Highway is designed to look like a 19th-century newspaper.


"Billy Markowitz knows there aren’t many people into “cardistry,” the art of shuffling, tossing, and manipulating playing cards in impressive ways.
 
But if you’re searching for fellow fans of the niche hobby, targeting the throngs of college kids, artists, and creatives who pass through Cambridge and Somerville daily is a good place to start.

So when it came time to promote his new monthly “cardistry” meetups, that’s where he headed.

And he knew just how to get their attention: paper fliers."
Continue reading the article online -> (subscription may be required)

Boston-area artists, businesses, promoters, and event planners are still relying on an old-standby: paper fliers.DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF
Boston-area artists, businesses, promoters, and event planners are still relying on an old-standby: paper fliers.DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF

Thursday, September 28, 2023

The Guardian: Dispelling a myth on homelessness and cash gifts

"In 2002, the then San Francisco supervisor Gavin Newsom proposed legislation to cut welfare assistance to nearly 3,000 homeless people living in the city from $395 a month to $59 a month, and divert the budgetary savings toward shelters and other services. It was promoted with the name “Care Not Cash”.

Newsom’s campaign tied the unconditional payments to drug and alcohol abuse. As the San Francisco voter’s guide spelled out: “[H]omeless people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol end up spending their welfare checks on their addictions instead of meeting their basic needs.” The framing worked. The measure passed with nearly 60% of the vote, and Newsom used the publicity to propel his political career to San Francisco mayor and, ultimately, California governor.

Newsom’s framing was just a different iteration of an old message: it doesn’t help to give poor people money. As that thinking goes, the unhoused, Ronald Reagan’s “welfare queens” and those with substance abuse issues will just waste it.

The results of a new study in Vancouver, Canada, test this stereotype. Through its New Leaf Project, the charitable organization Foundations for Social Change gave people who have been homeless for less than two years a one-time deposit of $7,500 in Canadian dollars (about US$5,600). They also received coaching and workshops about spending. Other groups received the money and workshops with no coaching, while some received the training but no cash and no resources at all."
Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

The Guardian: "Doubts about whether heat pumps work well in subzero conditions shown to be unfounded, say researchers"

"Heat pumps are more than twice as efficient as fossil fuel heating systems in cold temperatures, research shows.

Even at temperatures approaching -30C, heat pumps outperform oil and gas heating systems, according to the research from Oxford University and the Regulatory Assistance Project thinktank.

Heat pump uptake is rising in many countries as fossil fuel energy prices have soared following the invasion of Ukraine and as governments seek to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

But the UK has lagged far behind. France, for instance, installs 10 times as many heat pumps as the UK, where many people are unfamiliar with them and doubts about their efficacy have been widely publicised. Reports have spread that they do not work well in low temperatures despite their increasing use in Scandinavia and other cold climates."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

Sunday, August 20, 2023

The Guardian: "Gone in two transfers: the email scam that cost Australian homebuyers their life savings"

"Simon Elvins and his wife were excited – they had spent 10 years saving for their first home and they had finally got there. The New South Wales man had just been sent an invoice from his conveyancer, asking him to pay the first lot of his home deposit for a property in the Blue Mountains.

In two transactions on 5 and 8 May, he sent the money and waited. After a few days, he had not heard back, so he emailed the conveyancers.

After a back and forth with the conveyancers and the real estate agent over five days, they worked out what had happened – but it was too late. Scammers had intercepted the email, changed the account details on the invoice and stolen his deposit.

With two quick transfers, Elvins lost $274,311.57."
Continue reading the article (subscription may be required)
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/20/australian-email-payment-redirection-scam

Simon Elvins and his wife had spent 10 years saving for a deposit for their new home in the Blue Mountains only to lose nearly $250,000 to a payment redirection scam. Photograph: Dean Sewell/Oculi
Simon Elvins and his wife had spent 10 years saving for a deposit for their new home in the Blue Mountains only to lose nearly $250,000 to a payment redirection scam. Photograph: Dean Sewell/Oculi


Saturday, August 19, 2023

The Guardian: 2 articles on PFAS

Drinking water of millions of Americans contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’

"Drinking water consumed by millions of Americans from hundreds of communities spread across the United States is contaminated with dangerous levels of toxic chemicals, according to testing data released on Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The data shows that drinking water systems serving small towns to large cities – from tiny Collegeville, Pennsylvania, to Fresno, California – contain measurable levels of so-called “forever chemicals”, a family of durable compounds long used in a variety of commercial products but that are now known to be harmful.

The water of as many as 26 million Americans is contaminated, according to an analysis of the new EPA data performed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a Washington DC-based non-profit."
Continue reading online (subscription maybe required)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/17/pfas-us-drinking-water-contaminated-forever-chemicals-epa

New data shows that about one-in-10 drinking water systems contain the two most notoriously dangerous forever chemicals. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
New data shows that about one-in-10 drinking water systems contain the two most notoriously dangerous forever chemicals. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

EPA’s new definition of PFAS could omit thousands of ‘forever chemicals’
"The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) office responsible for protecting the public from toxic substances has changed how it defines PFAS for a second time since 2021, a move critics say they fear will exclude thousands of “forever chemicals” from regulation and largely benefit industry.

Instead of using a clear definition of what constitutes a PFAS, the agency’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics plans to take a “case-by-case” approach that allows it to be more flexible in determining which chemicals should be subjected to regulations.
Equipment used to test for PFAS in drinking water.

Among other uses for the compounds, the EPA appears to be excluding some chemicals in pharmaceuticals and pesticides that are generally defined as PFAS, current and former EPA officials say, and the shift comes amid fierce industry opposition to proposed limits on the chemicals."
Continue reading online (subscription maybe required)

The Guardian: "Revealed: WHO aspartame safety panel linked to alleged Coca-Cola front group"

"Guideline on Diet Coke ingredient by consultants tied to industry is ‘obvious conflict of interest’ and ‘not credible’, report says"
"In May, the World Health Organization issued an alarming report that declared widely used non-sugar sweeteners like aspartame are likely ineffective for weight loss, and long term consumption may increase the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality in adults.

A few months later, WHO declared aspartame, a key ingredient in Diet Coke, to be a “possible carcinogen”, then quickly issued a third report that seemed to contradict its previous findings – people could continue consuming the product at levels determined to be safe decades ago, before new science cited by WHO raised health concerns.

That contradiction stems from beverage industry corruption of the review process by consultants tied to an alleged Coca-Cola front group, the public health advocacy group US Right-To-Know said in a recent report."
Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/aug/17/who-panel-aspartame-diet-coke-guidelines

‘Because of this conflict of interest, conclusions about aspartame are not credible, and the public should not rely on them,’ US Right-To-Know’s executive director says. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
‘Because of this conflict of interest, conclusions about aspartame are not credible, and the public should not rely on them,’ US Right-To-Know’s executive director says. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Monday, August 7, 2023

The Guardian: "Back to the stone age: the sustainable building material we’ve all been waiting for…"

"It’s strong, plentiful and fireproof, as well as beautiful, yet stone has long been supplanted in the building industry by energy-consuming steel, concrete and brick. A trio of advocates for this age-old material say it’s time for a rethink

Imagine a building material that is beautiful, strong, plentiful, durable and fireproof, whose use requires low levels of energy and low emissions of greenhouse gases. It is one of the most ancient known to humanity, the stuff of dolmens and temples and cathedrals and Cotswolds cottages, but also one whose sustainability makes it well-suited to the future. Such a material, according to a growing body of opinion in the world of construction, is among us. It’s called stone.

Last week I sat in the roof garden of a hefty pile of masonry in central London, talking to three advocates of this magnificent substance: engineer Steve Webb, Pierre Bidaud of the Rutland-based Stonemasonry Company and architect Amin Taha. My initial request, driven by a journalistic preference for highlighting individuals, had been to meet Taha alone, but he pointed out that their work is a collaboration of different disciplines. The building on top of which we met is their joint creation: the six-storey, five-year-old Clerkenwell block where Taha has his office and his home."
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/aug/06/back-to-the-stone-age-the-sustainable-building-material-weve-all-been-waiting-for-amin-taha-groupwork-webb-yates-the-stonemasonry-company

Everyday luxury: affordable housing near Palma, Mallorca, built by Balearic social housing institute Ibavi, constructed from load‑bearing stone quarried locally. Photograph: José Hevia
Everyday luxury: affordable housing near Palma, Mallorca, built by Balearic social housing institute Ibavi, constructed from load‑bearing stone quarried locally. Photograph: José Hevia

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

8 things the world must do to avoid the worst of #ClimateCrisis

Prof. Peter Strachan (@ProfStrachan) tweeted on Tue, Aug 01, 2023:
Eight things the world must do to avoid the worst of #ClimateCrisis
1. Stop methane emissions
2. Stop deforestation
3. Restore degraded land
4. Change what we eat
5. Go #RenewableEnergy
6. Use energy more efficiently
7. Stop burning #FossilFuels
8. #ActNow
 
Read more about the steps and actions required ->   https://t.co/8wNURqsLfL
The IPCC updated report referenced ->  https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/

Shared from Twitter -> https://twitter.com/ProfStrachan/status/1686449318507462675

Wind turbines on a snowfield in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images
Wind turbines on a snowfield in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

Saturday, July 29, 2023

Tick borne disease creates meat allergy; raises need for reminders on tick bite prevention steps

"Up to 450,000 Americans may have been affected by a potentially life-threatening red meat allergy caused by ticks as many doctors remain unaware of what it is or how to treat it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In new reports released on Thursday, the CDC found that between 96,000 and 450,000 Americans since 2010 may have been affected by alpha-gal syndrome. The syndrome, also known as a red meat allergy or tick-bite meat allergy, stems from alpha-gal, a sugar molecule not naturally present in humans. Instead, it is found in meat including pork, beef, rabbit, lamb and venison, as well as products made from mammals including gelatin and milk products.

“Because the diagnosis of alpha-gal syndrome requires a positive diagnostic test and a clinical exam, and some individuals with alpha-gal syndrome may not get tested, it is estimated that as many as 450,000 people might have been affected by AGS in the United States,” the CDC said, adding. “Of those aware of AGS, knowledge about diagnosis and management is low.”
Continue reading at The Guardian (subscription maybe required) ->

Other news outlet's provide coverage as well


Original report from CDC ->

Franklin's Health Director Cathleen Liberty talks about ticks and insect borne diseases in this podcast ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/05/fm-271-franklin-health-director.html

From 2017 to 2021, there was an annual increase in positive AGS test results across the country, the CDC report said. Photograph: Jason Ondreicka/Alamy
From 2017 to 2021, there was an annual increase in positive AGS test results across the country, the CDC report said. Photograph: Jason Ondreicka/Alamy

Thursday, July 27, 2023

The Guardian: "We can’t afford to be climate doomers"

"Stanford engineering professor and renewable energy expert Mark Z Jacobson tweeted the other day, “Given that scientists who study 100% renewable energy systems are unanimous that it can be done why do we hear daily on twitter and everywhere else by those who don’t study such systems that it can’t be done?” 
A significant percentage of the general public speaks of climate change with a strange combination of confidence and defeatism: confidence in positions often based on inaccurate or outdated or maybe no information; defeatism about what we can do to make a livable future. 
Maybe they just get their facts from other doom evangelists, who flourish on the internet, no matter how much reputable scientists demonstrate their errors."
Continue reading the article in The Guardian (subscription maybe required)


‘They’re surrendering in advance and inspiring others to do the same.’ Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Sopa Images/Shutterstock
‘They’re surrendering in advance and inspiring others to do the same.’ Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Sopa Images/Shutterstock

Monday, July 24, 2023

The Guardian: "Why aren’t we more scared of the climate crisis? It’s complicated"

"The emotional response to the climate crisis – even if we feel fearful during an episode of wildfire smoke or flooding – is similar to what many people who live in war zones may experience, Lickel said. While at first, the threat of bombs and attacks are imminent and extremely frightening, eventually those who remain in these areas adapt somewhat to a life in which the threat becomes just another thing to deal with daily. “If they’re not escalating or the nature of the threat’s not changing,” Lickel said, “it is to be expected that the felt emotion is going to go down.”

Though the climate crisis is altering our planet rapidly on a geologic time scale, on a human one, changes are happening relatively slowly. That means that even if we see record-setting temperatures or experience our first indoors-due-to-smoke-days, those occurrences will become a new normal within the timespan of our lives. “I’m skeptical that there is going to be an event that’s going to catalyze us more than any of the things that have already happened,” Lickel said."
Continue reading The Guardian article online (subscription maybe required) ->
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/22/climate-crisis-fear-psychology

Psychologists say we aren’t designed to remain in a high state of fear for long. Photograph: John Locher/AP
Psychologists say we aren’t designed to remain in a high state of fear for long. Photograph: John Locher/AP