The main purpose of this ongoing blog 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).😉
Main Topic: Will Of The People…Climate Mitigation Now Has Worldwide Support
Dear Diary. President Joe Biden and other world leaders would not be giving the green light on climate initiatives if the people they led weren’t supportive. We may complain about government, but what’s great about living in this day and age is that most countries…save for Russia, China, and a few others…don’t rule by fiat, or the “king’s decree.” If executives don’t implement items that are the will of the people, or are at least in the people’s best interest, they soon will be voted out, committing political suicide. We do see autocracy trying to take hold in many nations during this time, but I’m confident that as we move deeper into the 2020s democracy will take better root and grow. The bottom line here is that worldwide more and more people have government working for them to improve their lives and not vice a versa, like what occurred with the feudal system of the middle ages.
I’m pleased to see that fossil fuel interests are now cornered. Any would be autocratic ruling like Trump who wants our energy system to remain as it was during the 20th century will reap the headwinds of public disapproval. The following article from NBC should give all reading more hope that we can change before it’s too late:
Public backs climate change action across the globe, massive U.N. poll finds
Covering 50 countries, the U.N. survey found most people support renewable energy, forest protection and electric vehicles.
Thousands of school students and protesters march during a climate strike rally in Sydney, Australia, 2019.Jenny Evans / Getty Images fileJan. 27, 2021, 4:25 AM PSTBy Adela Suliman
LONDON — The biggest global survey of its kind has found that almost two thirds of people believe climate change remains a global emergency, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The Peoples’ Climate Vote, published Wednesday, conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Oxford, surveyed 1.2 million people across 50 countries.
In total, 64 percent of respondents agreed that climate change represented a pressing emergency. The survey also found a distinct age divide, with the majority of young people more concerned about climate change.
“The results of the survey clearly illustrate that urgent climate action has broad support amongst people around the globe,” UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner, said in a statement.
“But more than that, the poll reveals how people want their policymakers to tackle the crisis,” he said.
By taking an unconventional approach and reaching out via mobile gaming websites and apps, the survey found 70 percent of young people called climate change a global emergency compared to 58 percent of adults aged over 60.
Since 2018, millions of students from New Zealand to New York have been striking and demonstrating to demand global action on climate change.
The Fridays for Future movement, which began as a lone demonstration by Swedish teen Greta Thunberg, quickly mushroomed, with millions of students taking to the streets to push climate change to the top of the agenda of world leaders.
In many participating countries, the survey was the first large-scale opinion poll ever conducted on the issue.
In Britain, making companies pay for pollution had high support while the majority of those asked in the United States backed renewable energy sources.
Investing in green jobs and more climate-friendly farming techniques were popular in Indonesia and Egypt, the survey found, but fewer people overall elsewhere supported plant-based diets.
“The Peoples’ Climate Vote has delivered a treasure trove of data on public opinion that we’ve never seen before,” said Professor Stephen Fisher from the University of Oxford. “Recognition of the climate emergency is much more widespread than previously thought.”
On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned leaders that the world was not only facing a Covid-19 emergency but also “existential threats” to climate and biodiversity.
In a speech to the World Economic Forum’s virtual Davos Agenda meeting, he said one crisis could inform the other, urging Covid-19 recovery plans to also help “end our war against nature, avert climate catastrophe and restore our planet.”
In the U.S. — the world’s second largest carbon emitter after China — hours after President Joe Biden was sworn into office, America rejoined the global climate pact signed in Paris in 2015. Biden also cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline permit, symbolizing a shift away from fossil fuels.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Adela SulimanAdela Suliman is a London-based reporter for NBC News Digital.
Also:
Here is some more weather and climate 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.
Now here are some of today’s articles and notes on the horrid COVID-19 pandemic:
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Guy Walton…”The Climate Guy”