Don’t Look Now - George Monbiot

George Monbiot - "Our greatest predicament
is blotted from our minds."

It is not only Donald Trump’s government that censors the discussion of climate change; it is the entire body of polite opinion. This is why, though the links are clear and obvious, the majority of news reports on Hurricane Harvey have made no mention of the human contribution.

In 2016, the United States elected a president who believes that human-driven global warming is a hoax. It was the hottest year on record, in which the US was hammered by a series of climate-related disasters. Yet the total combined coverage for the entire year on the evening and Sunday news programmes on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News amounted to 50 minutes. Our greatest predicament, the issue that will define our lives, has been blotted from our minds.

This is not an accident. But nor (with the exception of Fox News) is it likely to be a matter of policy. It reflects a deeply ingrained and scarcely conscious self-censorship. Reporters and editors ignore the subject because they have an instinct for avoiding trouble. To talk about climate breakdown (which in my view is a better term than the curiously bland labels we attach to this crisis) is to question not only Donald Trump, not only current environmental policy, not only current economic policy, but the entire political and economic system.

Read the piece by Guardian columnist, George Monbiot - “Don’t Look Now.”

Passing a 'tipping point' and turning to wide-eyed solutions

Those who understand the mechanics of earth’s climate have declared that humanity’s survival was inextricably linked to keeping carbon dioxide levels below 350 parts per million (ppm).

Once beyond that mark, the positive feedbacks became such that humans had passed what is colloquially known as the “tipping point” – that moment when mitigation opportunities had vanished and all that remained was adaptation using hitherto untried and untested processes such as carbon capture and sequestration and wide-eyed geo-engineering schemes.

The hoped for 350ppm ideal is now little more than a dream for CBS news reports that CO2 levels are now above 400ppm.

Writing in a story headed: “First time in 800 000 years: April’s CO2 levels above 400ppm”, CBS said the level was above the 400ppm level for the entire month.