2021

I am going to take some time off with my family so this will be my last post in 2021.  I’ll list some recent news at the end, as usual, but I want to reflect and share some thoughts about this past year in order that we grasp how much and how quickly our circumstances have changed, are changing and will continue to change at an even faster pace.

After decades of warnings from scientists and climate change advocates and the news media, climate change did NOT register as an important issue in the 2018 midterm elections.  By 2020 that had changed dramatically.  And now it has burst forth as a “hot” topic for world leaders, governments and businesses.  It is terrifying and so very sad what it took to make this happen.  But the weather and weather related events since 2018 have made clear to the general worldwide public that drastic action to thwart catastrophe is imperative because some limited (compared to what is coming) catastrophe has already arrived.  The devastating tornados of the last few days IN DECEMBER has made this epiphany obvious.

Think about all the historic climate events: wild fires, massive rain events and subsequent flooding and associated landslides, droughts, melting ice and permafrost, shifts in ocean currents, corral reef bleaching, the number and intensity of hurricanes and tornados, crippling heat waves, species extinction, increasing pandemics, insect infestations carrying tropical diseases further north over borders.  

Thank goodness that our society is gearing up a response in all the arenas on which I report.  Think about just what’s happened this past year.  The following is a brief summary (not intended to be fully inclusive) of most of the items upon which I report off the top of my head.

 

My favorite topic, transportation.  The speed of conversion to an all electric sector is increasing exponentially.  More and more major automotive manufacturers are committing to 100% EV production with sooner and sooner time horizons and are putting their R&D and investment dollars behind this.  And innovation in fossil free air and sea travel is ramping up as well.

Energy.  The move to a fossil free energy sector likewise is beyond any forecasters’ aggressive estimates as the cost of renewable energy per kilowatt hour plummets.  New pipeline and ports to export fossil fuels are being turned back at every stage.  And “stranded assets” is becoming an increasingly recognized awareness and concern as well it should be.  The FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) is increasingly turning away from a grid reliant on fossil fuels in favor of preparing for renewable energy.

Business, Finance and Insurance.  All three of these industries are recognizing the risk to their business models and are beginning and increasingly altering how they do business to prepare for the risk that fossil fuel investments face and the cost of climate change.  Insurance prices and availability is increasingly becoming problematic with huge implications for real estate and fossil fuel projects.  

Health.  There is increasing data of the effects of extreme weather on peoples’ health.  Extreme heat is literally killing people who have to work outdoors and reducing productivity.  There is increasing recognition of extreme heat on food production, the spread of disease, violence and mental health amongst other consequences.  

Geopolitics.  Extreme heat and flooding is creating an increasing number of climate refugees.  We see it at the Polish boarder much less our own southern boarder.  This phenomenon is only starting to be felt as it becomes harder and harder for people to live in places like the Middle East due to temperatures in the 130s and the consequent consequences.  Internal and external conflict will only increase.

 

As I read back what I have just written it sounds like all gloom and doom.  But actually I am heartened by the worldwide awakening that is spurring reaction.  While we may not be able to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees centigrade, much less 2 degrees, we are increasingly moving more rapidly to thwart the relentless rise.  If we can figure out a way to actually suck heat trapping elements out of the atmosphere in a massive and economically way, we may just have a chance to maintain some sense of an earth which we recognize and in which we know how to function.

We can count on 2022 continuing to bring a mixed bag of climate horror but also remarkable and dramatic progress on solutions and adaptation.  And I am hopeful that I will be able to report on these developments for another year with increasing optimism that our worldwide efforts will be promising and effective.

Meanwhile, let’s all appreciate the world we still currently have even as it is changing right before our very eyes.  And let’s be grateful for our families and friends during this festive season.  Happy holidays and New Year and I’ll see you in 2022.  

 

Without highlighting any essential portions of the articles, here are some current headlines and links if you care to get the details.  

 

N.M. preps for future shortages on Pecos River

https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/09/nm-preps-for-future-shortages-on-pecos-river-284068

 

‘Hawaii has more snow than Denver? WTF?’

‘Hawaii has more snow than Denver? WTF?’

 

Flood insurance costs rise in areas once deemed lower risk

https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/09/flood-insurance-costs-rise-in-areas-once-deemed-lower-risk-284070

 

Wildfires broke records around the world in 2021

https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/07/wildfires-broke-records-around-the-world-in-2021-283977

 

A Slow-Motion Climate Disaster: The Spread of Barren Land

 

Hydrogen airplane enters race for carbon-free travel

https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2021/12/06/hydrogen-airplane-enters-race-for-carbon-free-travel-283914_1

State climate action raced forward in 2021