And we won’t get on that path without a price on carbon. When you combine that with the fact that the low latitudes are becoming impossible places to live in, then you have the potential for the existential threat where the planet becomes ungovernable. And we will end up with sea level rise of several meters and lose our coastal cities. We will start the process of ice sheet disintegration in Antarctica, which we won’t be able to stop. When you have a system with a delayed response and amplifying feedbacks, there’s a danger you can lose control. The frequency of unusually hot summers, for example, is following right along the line that was expected. You see the increased frequency of extreme events. There’s a huge gap now between 1.5 degrees and the real world. But when I make the graph to look at emissions, they’re going up, not down. They go to these meetings, and they say these good things about the progress that we are making. The fundamental requirements are not being addressed at these COP meetings. I foolishly thought it was going to work. the World on the Greenhouse Threat.” Even scientists were not willing to say that the climate was beginning to change because of these added greenhouse gases.īut by 1992, there was the agreement that we needed to avoid dangerous human interference with the climate system. There was an article in Science magazine titled “ Hansen vs. When I testified in the late 1980s, I got a lot of blowback. Hansen, 80, is a NASA and Columbia University climate scientist, known for his global warming projections and his 1988 warning: “The greenhouse effect has been detected, and it is changing our climate now.” If you destroy the plants, if you contaminate the sea, what life is there? What’s waiting for those after us? James Hansen New York

You see these movies where there is no water and no oil - I’m sure we’ll get to that at some point. They’re not paying attention to what they’re leaving behind. They have not cared for many years and have already done damage to the system. The fault lies with the big countries, the big, developed countries. And when the fish move further away and they become scarcer, the product becomes more expensive, and that’s harmful to the community. We feed the town, but the government has done very little to help us. There’s no way to know what we’re going to find. And there’s always a risk that you don’t catch fish. Our boats were too small, so we’ve had to buy bigger boats to stay safe. We’re going 150, 200 miles out, because the winds and the currents are causing the fish to move away from the coast.Įverything is more dangerous, more expensive. Today, the fish are no longer by the shore. Before, we would go out 30, 40 miles off the coast to fish. We go out in small boats, as artisanal fishermen, and the risk is always high. I never get bored, because this is my life.īut in the past few years, everything is always changing. There’s never any noise - only the sound of the wind. Out at sea, there are never any problems. Jiménez Caipa, 63, is vice president of the Federation of Artisanal Fishermen of the Arequipa Region of southern Peru. There is no single individual or country’s dream on climate change. As responsible human beings, we must live up to what we have agreed upon. We are not meeting at COP26 to sort out our differences. The same principle can be applied to climate change. They have realized that until everyone is safe, they alone cannot be safe. Countries that can afford it are sharing their resources with the countries who cannot. Pandemics do not follow geographical boundaries. One lesson that we all must take from the pandemic is the interdependence of every human being on this planet. Unfortunately, we are in the disproportionately affected group. Climate change is happening deep down, underneath the earth where we stand.ĭespite limited resources, we have done our part very well. With climate change, the floods and landslides are not only occurring during rainy season. The whole hillside came down and buried them. Months back, we lost 10 lives to a mudslide. We have to drive up the mountain to let our children see snow. For the past three years, while I have been in office, I did not have to declare a government holiday. The first day of snow each year, they would declare a government holiday. When I was brought up in this same place, I used to throw snowballs with my friends. In the past four years, I do not remember seeing snowfall in this valley. I’m talking to you from the capital, Thimphu. The winters are getting warmer and warmer. The summers are getting hotter and hotter.

Tshering, 52, is prime minister of a carbon-negative country that is also suffering from melting glaciers and other climate-induced impacts.

Separation studio free