Eco Blog - St. George's Berlin

Fiona Harvey (Guardian, 3 April 2022) ( LINK )  writes: "Scientists fear that their last-ditch climate warnings are going unheeded amid international turmoil caused by the war in Ukraine, and soaring energy prices." The report makes it clear that time is running out. Urgent action is needed in order to prevent further climate deterioration. The previous report garnered little attention, perhaps because it came out just as the invasion of Ukraine began, and there is little hope that this report will get greater attention. The substance of this report grows out of "thousands of scientific papers from the last seven years" and is yet one more indication that the scientific community sees a very serious crisis for the planet. Nonetheless it appears that neither policymakers nor the general public find scientific data sufficiently persuasive to take steps that would make the rich a little less comfortable, even if famine, flood, and death from hea...

The crisis in Ukraine is serious, but the climate crisis is at least as serious for the long-term survival of life on this planet. The news on the climate front is not good. Right now the earth is warming at both ends. "Startling heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles are causing alarm among climate scientists, who have warned the “unprecedented” events could signal faster and abrupt climate breakdown." (Harvey, Guardian, 20 March 2022)  ( LINK ) The concern is that this "unprecedented" double warming could lead to even more dramatic changes that are virtually irreversible in our lifetimes. The risk of an attack by a foreign tank army is easy to understand because it is physical, and has historical precedent, and can be seen in movies or in photographs in leading newspapers. The risks of climate change are virtually invisible,  except in the form of its consequences: flash floods or violent storms. Climate change kills by causing intolerable temperature rises that direc...

 War is no more climate-friendly than human-friendly. That is probably so obvious that it hardly needs saying. Tanks, missiles and planes carrying bombs are not fuel-efficient. Bombs pollute as well as kill. War can also distract people from important climate goals. Nonetheless there is some positive news.  "The climate crisis and where our energy comes from has been a major talking point of the war in Ukraine and our [the UK] government has started an urgent review of our reliance on Russian gas and energy. This is yet another sign that our over-reliance on fossil fuels is leading us to ruin. We must rapidly transition to clean, sustainable renewable energy so fossil fuels are no longer used as chess-pieces in war." ( Pat Venditti on behalf of Greenpeace UK, email 02 March 2022.)  At the pro-Ukrainian rally in the Berlin Tiergarten today, speakers talked about taking action  by efforts to insulate buildings, to reduce fuel consumption, and to act on the need es...

 "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of Heaven ... But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation."  (Luke, 6, 17-26) By the standards of the planet, everyone in our congregation is rich. We do not go hungry, we have little to weep about, we are mostly not hated. But our happy situation builds on the exploitation of resources that are pumping carbon into the atmosphere that will eventually make life unsustainable for millions who die from heat or from drought or from floods. We sit in our (somewhat) heated church in good clothes in a safe and comfortable city filled with riches of art and culture, and for an hour on a Sunday morning we feel sorry for the less advantaged. I do too, while confessing  that I am part of the problem that is threatening the planet.  No single person can prevent climate change, but we can take collective responsibility and  make a few steps to keep the situation from becoming worse. Fiona H...

More statistics about heat last year keep coming in.  In "Climate crisis: last seven years the hottest on record, 2021 data shows" ( Guardian,  10 January 2021) ( LINK )  Damian Carrington wrote: "the  European climate agency Copernicus, also found carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached record levels..." Details are telling: "The average CO2 levels in 2021 reached a new record of 414 parts per million in 2021 – before the Industrial Revolution and large scale burning of fossil fuels the level was 280ppm." Increased heat is the obvious consequence: "Europe suffered its hottest summer on record and broke its maximum temperature record in Sicily with 48.8C..."  People die at temperatures like that. Other consequences include flooding because of changing rain patterns. Northern China was unusually  wet last year: " Floods in July in Henan province caused hundreds of deaths." The floods in Germany were notable and unusual too. Many people ...

In a recent Guardian article (7 January 2022  LINK ) Bibi van der Zee reports that:  "More than 400 weather stations around the world beat their all-time highest temperature records in 2021, according to a climatologist who has been compiling weather records for over 30 years." Also: "Ten national temperature records were broken or equalled in 2021, including the highest ever reliably measured on Earth." And: "Meanwhile, 2022 has begun with a number of records already shattered in the UK and the US in the first few days of the year." This is not good news for the climate crisis. What may be even worse news is that 2021 is only part of a string of hot years and may well not be the hottest year ever, even if it ends up in the top five or six. The trend is upward, and it is far from clear that governments or citizens are taking the steps necessary to limit t in he increase. The question is: what can individuals and organizations do, even if governments are no...

 In a Guardian article on 7 December 2021, called " The richest 10% produce about half of greenhouse gas emissions. They should pay to fix the climate." ( LINK )    Lucas Chancel  wrote: " Let’s first look at the facts: 10% of the world’s population are responsible for about half of all greenhouse gas emissions, while the bottom half of the world contributes just 12% of all emissions. "  It is not just a matter of countries, though: " in Europe, the poorest half emits about five tonnes per person, while the richest 10% emit about 30 tonnes – a gap of six to one." The real issue is indirect emissions, those that come from things people buy and from investments people make. Many of the current measures, while valuable, do not address these broader problems. In addition countries could "establish individual carbon rights, similar to the schemes that some countries use to manage scarce environmental resources such as water. Such an approach has consequen...