We Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
The Record Disasters Impacting the U.S. and World Are Just The Beginning: We Must Mobilize Now To Prevent Irreversible Climate Damage and Set a New Course
5 Minute Read
Historic weather disasters activated by the climate-ecosystem-biodiversity (C-E-B) crises are harming families, communities, economies, and nature here in the U.S. and worldwide. Sadly, current conditions are the best we will ever experience, as extreme disasters and their damaging knock-off effects will relentlessly intensify for decades. Humanity is doing little to minimize the multiple interacting crises. A WWII-scale mass mobilization is urgently needed to prevent the worse and set society on a safe, healthy, regenerative path.
This is the message I recently got from watching a “National Emergency Briefing“ (NEB) held in the UK on what was called the “climate and nature crisis.” The NEB was not organized by the UK government. It was held by a team of leading UK climate, health, energy, economic, and national security experts to educate the public and create pressure on the government to swiftly and aggressively address the C-E-B crises. The information shared was simple to understand and powerful to hear. It quickly became clear to me that similar NEBs should be held in every state and community throughout the U.S., and in all other nations worldwide to build widespread awareness of what is happening, and pressure their governments to act.
History of the National Emergency Briefings
The first NEB was held last November at Westminster Central Hall in London to an invited audience of over 1,200 UK politicians, and leaders from business, culture, faith, sports, and the media.
The NEB was presented to “level with the public” and “combat rising disinformation” about the C-E-B crises in order to “launch a major public engagement plan and secure support for the urgent action now needed.”
The initial briefing described the implications of the accelerating climate and nature breakdown for human health, food systems, energy supplies, the economy, community safety, and national security in the UK and worldwide. It also described solutions to the C-E-B crises, and how over time they will reduce costs and significantly increase human safety, health, and wellbeing.
Since the original NEB, screenings of a 50-minute film, based on the Westminster presentation, have been held across the UK in “village halls, cinemas, faith spaces and workplaces” to inform the public about the grave dangers posed by the C-E-B crisis. The events are “bringing constituents, civic leaders, and MPs together to hear the evidence - and consider what an emergency response should look like.”
Emergency Briefings should now be organized worldwide to help regular people, as well as non-profit, business, and government leaders understand that, without a major global mobilization, the C-E-B crisis will soon disrupt every aspect of human civilization.
The Causes and Impacts of the Global C-E-B Crisis
As I write this, due to past and ongoing human use of fossil fuels, degradation of ecological systems, and depletion of biodiversity, atmospheric carbon has risen to 428.47 parts per million. This is the highest it has been in 3 million years, and the concentration of atmospheric carbon continues to rapidly rise.
One consequence is that, for three consecutive years, average global surface temperatures have risen by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 Celsius) above pre-industrial levels. This year is very likely to be the fourth with temperatures at or above 2.7 F (1.5 C).
Some of the impacts here in the U.S. include record heatwaves and wildfires that are causing mass evacuations, destroying thousands of homes, and scorching forests, grasslands, and farmland. Wildfire smoke particulate matter is also threatening human health nationwide.
Unprecedented heat and wildfires have also impacted parts of Europe. Severe drought in southern Africa has ruined harvests. China recently experienced catastrophic floods and soaring temperatures that triggered “red-level” heat and health alters and threaten food production. Numerous other record-breaking disasters are occurring worldwide.
These are just some of initial impacts we will experience. A team led by noted climate scientist Dr. James Hansen recently projected that temperatures will rise by 3.6° F (2°C) above pre-industrial levels within just a decade--by the mid-2030s or so. Increasingly more known, and multitudes of other never-before-seen damaging catastrophes, are thus certain to harm entire communities, economies, and societies.
As previously described, hotter temperatures are contributing to, and in turn being elevated by, the incessant degradation and loss of ecological systems and biodiversity worldwide. Research has found that, since the 1970s, between 66% to 85% of the world’s forests, grasslands, wetlands, oceans, and monitored wildlife populations have significantly declined or been severely altered by human actions. In North America monitored vertebrate wildlife populations have declined by about 39% since 1970. Assessments have also found that over one-third of all plant and animal species in the U.S. are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss.
For millennium ecological systems and species captured sunlight, recycled rainfall, and stored billions of tons of carbon that would otherwise have be released into the atmosphere. These critical functions are now considerably impaired.
As stated by the NEB, these are measurable physical changes. They don’t care about ideology or politics. They describe what is actually happening in our world.
Without a WWII-Like Mass Mobilization the C-E-B Crises Will Increasingly Alter Every Aspect of Human Society
The NEB speakers repeatedly emphasized that the impacts of a temperature rise close to or more than 3.6 F (2C) will have disastrous direct, as well as multiple cascading indirect impacts on society. They include relentless damage and loss of homes and other forms of shelter, and continual impairment of physical infrastructure such as transportation, power, and water systems. Food supplies will be impacted, and many systems will collapse. The physical, social, and mental health of billions of people worldwide will be increasingly impaired, and healthcare systems will be overwhelmed. All of this and more will cause economies to crumble.
The impacts of the C-E-B crisis will also threaten the safety, health, and security of communities worldwide, create political instability, and produce ungovernable states. Authoritarianism will likely continue to expand as people who project themselves as strongmen capture public support by claiming only they can solve the problems.
These and other impacts underscore the urgency of activating a mass mobilization similar to what the U.S. and UK did during WWII. Only this time the mobilization must be worldwide and fundamentally transform our energy systems, economies, and many aspects of our lifestyle into ecologically and socially safe, healthy, and regenerative systems.
Specifically, the NEB said the mass mobilization must have two primary focuses:
“Mitigation”-- which means a combination of eliminating the use of fossil fuels and adopting clean renewable energy, and widespread restoration of ecological systems and species to sequester carbon; and “Adaptation”-- which means preparing and adjusting external physical systems to withstand the impacts of the C-E-B crisis. Information about their specific recommendations can be found on their website.
I believe it is essential to add a third priority to the mass mobilization, which is to build true “Community Resilience” worldwide. This involves actively engaging residents in activities that strengthen their capacity for mental wellness and resilience to prevent and heal the social, psychological, emotional, spiritual, and related physical health impacts of the C-E-B crisis, and help everyone find positive new sources of meaning, purpose, and hope during relentless adversities.
The methods and technologies already exist to implement the three priorities. We don’t need to invest in new approaches. We just need to make the social and political commitments to implement them.
Presenters at the NEB session continually emphasized that the “costs of inaction massively outweigh the costs of action.” Inflation, for instance, would have been far lower had we decarbonized the power sector before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began, and food prices would be lower if fossil fuel-based fertilizers were eliminated from agricultural practices. The Oxford Martin School at Oxford University calculated that transitioning to a decarbonised energy system by around 2050 is expected to save the world at least $12 trillion compared to continuing our current levels of fossil fuel use.
This information underscores that the NEB is not a radical “leftists” proposal. It is a realistic call-to-action for human survival. The actual radicals are those who put their own profit, wealth, and power above the safety, health, and wellbeing of people now and all future generations, and the earth’s ecosystems that makes human life possible.
Summary: Every Community Should Hold Emergency Briefings
Every community should show the UK National Emergency Briefing film to their residents, civic, business, and government leaders. They can also develop their own locally-focused Emergency Briefing and show it to everyone. We need to quickly build public understanding of the urgency of minimizing the C-E-B crises, and for the need for a war-like mobilization to accomplish it. The NEB has the potential to help accomplish this.