The most beautiful apocalypse you could imagine

This week I read that “the Arctic is on fire”. It’s literally true, and visible from space, apparently. And it’s burning in a way it hasn’t for at least 10,000 years. It seems the heatwave currently scorching Europe is also melting Arctic ice in frighteningly rapid ways. And you know what? I felt almost nothing.

Greenland's icebergs.

I’m not asking to be absolved for that, but you know I’m far from alone. And that, in miniature, captures the great hopelessness of climate change: that while we might occasionally feel overwhelmed into inaction by the sheer size and seriousness of the problem, it’s probably more honest to say that, as a society, we have simply ceased to be emotionally engaged by it.

Read the story from The Age by Waleed Aly - “The most beautiful apocalypse you could imagine.”

Climate Crisis Spurs UN Call for $2.4 Trillion Fossil Fuel Shift

The world must invest $2.4 trillion in clean energy every year through 2035 and cut the use of coal-fired power to almost nothing by 2050 to avoid catastrophic damage from climate change, according to scientists convened by the United Nations.

Their report published Monday adds pressure on policymakers and businesses to step up their response to global warming, which is boosting sea levels, making storms more violent and exacerbating poverty. The atmosphere is already almost 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) hotter than it was at the start of the industrial revolution and on track to rise 3 degrees by 2100, according to the report. That’s double the pace targeted under the 2015 Paris climate agreements endorsed by almost 200 nations.

Read the story from Bloomberg - “Climate Crisis Spurs UN Call for $2.4 Trillion Fossil Fuel Shift.”