Friday November 29th… Dear Diary. The main purpose of this ongoing post will be to track United States extreme or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials)😉
We all know that in order to put a big dent (but just a dent) in the climate crisis everything needs to be electrified, and all remainung fossil fuels must be left in the ground in order for civilization as we know it to continue. Even if somehow someway humanity manages this feat in the near future some scientists think that the world has gotten so warm that nine out of fifteen tipping point factors may already be tipping:
Today is “traditional” Black Friday in the United States kicking off a frantic holiday season of shopping after Thanksgiving. In some instances stores opened on Thanksgiving Day, which is a trend started during the mid 2010s, with managers not taking into account some employee’s wishes to be with friends and family. Amazon and other big mail order companies are taking an increasingly big bite out of traditional retailer’s markets and are using a lot of energy and resource intensive packaging to get their products into consumer’s hands. Each consecutive holiday season is judged by how much more money is spent. Heaven forbid that sales slip in our capitalistic society.
In such a world of rampant, encouraged consumerism in which more energy is used for travel and package delivery, what are climate activists to do except throw up their hands? One of my social media correspondents, Jake, does make some great points:
So, should we refrain from buying gifts for our loved ones during the holidays? Maybe not if we can buy things that are not so energy intensive to make or get, but one would have to do a lot of research and planning to get these greener items. Would it be best to have simple holiday get togethers and dinners if all involved come to the understanding that taking a stand against consumerism can be a gift to each other and for the Earth? You bet.
Gradually I hope that anything made and distributed can be done in a carbon neutral manner, but I have great doubts that change can be widely implemented before it is too late for the climate. Humanity simply lacks the will power and sense of collective sacrifice as of 2019. I’d like to hear more on this topic from you, the reader. I’ll add any comments on this “inconvenient truth” to today’s post.
Here is more climate and weather news from Friday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article.)
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Guy Walton- “The Climate Guy”