The reality of Anthropogenic Climate Disruption (ACD) continues to outstrip our ability to model worst-case scenarios, as it is happening so much faster than was ever anticipated. Sixty-three percent of all human-generated carbon emissions have been produced in the last 25 years, but science shows us that there is a 40-year time lag between global emissions (our actions) and climate impacts (the consequences). Hence, we haven’t even begun to experience the worst of our emissions, and won’t, until at least 2054.
Since the industrial revolution began, the human species has increased the average global temperature by .85 degrees Celsius. In December 2010, the UN Environment Program predicted up to a 5 degrees Celsius increase by 2050. This is a shocking piece of information, because a 3.5 degrees Celsius increase would render the planet uninhabitable for humans due to collapsing the food chain at the level of oceanic plankton and triggering temperature extremes that would severely limit terrestrial vegetation, and hence, our ability to feed ourselves. And even higher temperature increases have been predicted.
The four life-giving aspects of the planet: Earth, Water, Air and Fire, are under assault from the ecocide that “industrial civilization” has wrought upon the globe, coming in the forms of ACD and the myriad other methods of polluting the planet.
Humans have never lived on a planet with temperatures 3.5 degrees Celsius above baseline, and many scientists believe it would be impossible to do so. An increasing number of climate change scientists now fear that our situation is already so serious, and so many self-reinforcing feedback loops are already in play, that we are in the process of causing our own extinction. Worse yet, some are convinced that it could happen far more quickly than generally believed possible – even in the course of just the next few decades.
Approximately 55 million years ago, a 5-degree Celsius increase in global temperatures occurred in only 13 years, and a scientific report published last year revealed that in the near-term, Earth’s climate will change 10 times faster than at any other moment in the last 65 million years. Science already shows that we are currently experiencing change 200 to 300 times faster than any of the previous major extinction events.
Have we already reached a point where Earth is in hospice? If so, we as a species may very well already be teetering on the threshold of our very extinction.
Most media will not report on the grave nature of our situation. But Truthout will.
In light of the severity of this crisis, Truthout is showing its commitment to honest reporting of the most important story of our time by launching Dahr Jamail’s monthly Climate Disruption Dispatches, to chronicle ongoing evidence and impacts of ACD as they have manifested around the globe for the previous 30 days. We hope that these dispatches will become a useful resource for other journalists, scientists and readers who wish to stay abreast of the latest ACD developments.
Consider this a monthly inventory of each month’s new evidence of what the Western mode of living and generating financial profits is costing Earth.
Perhaps future generations will look upon this as a log of what we witnessed being done to the planet.
“Apocalyptic” Melting Transpires in Antarctica as Earth Wraps Up a Scorching Year
Monday, December 4, 2017
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Scientists Warn of “Ecological Armageddon” Amid Waves of Heat and Climate Refugees
Monday, October 30, 2017
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Climate Disruption Could Pose “Existential Threat” By 2050
Monday, October 2, 2017
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Greenland Is Burning: Wildfires and Floods Surge Worldwide
Friday, September 01, 2017
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Scientists Warn of “Biological Annihilation” as Warming Reaches Levels Unseen for 115,000 Years
Monday, July 31, 2017
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
It’s Raining in Antarctica While Trump Slashes Climate Science Funding
Monday, July 03, 2017
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Scientists Predict There Will Be No Glaciers in the Contiguous US by 2050 — but Trump Is Stomping on the Gas Pedal
Monday, May 22, 2017
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Great Barrier Reef Reaches “Terminal Stage” as CO2 Levels Rise at Record Rate
Monday, April 24, 2017
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
As Trump’s Denialists Get to Work, the Climate Is Changing 170 Times Faster
Monday, March 27, 2017
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Viewing Trump’s Extreme Climate Denial From a Small Island Nation in Peril
Friday, February 17, 2017
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
“Unprecedented” Polar Melting Unfolds as Climate Disruption Denial Goes Wild
Monday, January 09, 2017
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
As North Pole Melts in November, Wildfires Rage Across US Well Into Winter
Monday, 12 December 2016
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Climate Disruption’s Legacy: Megadroughts, Extinctions, Obituaries for Reefs
Sunday, 06 November 2016
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Scientists Sound Alarm on Climate but US Still Toys With Skepticism
Monday, 03 October 2016
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | News Analysis
Toxic Slime Spreads Across World’s Oceans as Climate Disruption Continues Apace
Monday, 12 September 2016
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | News Analysis
The Front Lines of Climate Disruption: Alaskans Witness Collapsing Mountains, Shattered Lives
Monday, 01 August 2016
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | News Analysis
Biblical Flooding, Crocodiles in the Arctic and Warning Signs on North America’s Highest Mountain
Monday, 11 July 2016
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration Has Passed the Point of No Return
Monday, 23 May 2016
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
As Climate Disruption Advances, UN Warns: “The Future Is Happening Now”
Monday, 02 May 2016
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Climate Disruption in Overdrive: Submerged Cities and Melting That “Feeds on Itself”
Monday, 28 March 2016
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Climate Disruption’s New Record: Carbon Dioxide Levels Reach Highest Point in 15 Million Years
Monday, 29 February 2016
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Freak Storms and Butterfly Die-Offs: This Is Your Climate on Fossil Fuels
Monday, 01 February 2016
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
GOP Candidates Receive Failing Grades on Climate as 2015 Smashes Global Temperature Records
Monday, 21 December 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
COP21: Too Little, Too Late? Temperature, CO2 Thresholds Breached as Climate Disruption Intensifies
Monday, 23 November 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
More Denial, More Problems: UN Predicts Millions of Climate Refugees to Come
Monday, 02 November 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Relentless Wildfires, Water Scarcity and Marine Die-Offs: Living With Climate Disruption
Monday, 21 September 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
The World on Fire: Record-Breaking Wildfires, Greenland Melting and Earth’s Hottest Month Ever
Monday, 31 August 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
The New Climate “Normal”: Abrupt Sea Level Rise and Predictions of Civilization Collapse
Monday, 03 August 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Sixth Great Mass Extinction Event Begins; 2015 on Pace to Become Hottest Year on Record
Monday, 29 June 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
“Imminent” Collapse of the Antarctic Ice Shelf and a “New Era” in the Arctic
Monday, 01 June 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Experts Warn of “Cataclysmic” Changes as Planetary Temperatures Rise
Monday, 27 April 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Melting Accelerates in Antarctica: So Far, 2015 Is Hottest Year Yet
Tuesday, 07 April 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
The “Mega-Drought Future,” the Disappearance of Coral Reefs and the Unwillingness to Listen
Monday, 02 March 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Species Extinctions, Human Chronic Disease on the Rise, as Climate Disruption Mounts
Monday, 02 February 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
As Climate Disruption Advances, 26 Percent of Mammals Face Extinction
Tuesday, 06 January 2015
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Extinction Rate Rivals That of Dinosaurs, 2014 Likely Hottest Year Ever
Monday, 08 December 2014
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
Climate Disruption Depression and 2013 Emissions Set New Records
Monday, 17 November 2014
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
As Casualties Mount, Scientists Say Global Warming Has Been “Hugely Underestimated”
Monday, 20 October 2014
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
UN Report: Human-Caused Climate Disruption Is “Severe, Pervasive, Irreversible”
Monday, 22 September 2014
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
“Peak Water,” Methane Blowholes and Ice-Free Arctic Cruises: The Climate Crisis Deepens
Monday, 18 August 2014
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report
The Brink of Mass Extinction
Monday, 21 July 2014
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | News Analysis
Atmospheric CO2 Crosses “Ominous Threshold”
Monday, 16 June 2014
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | News Analysis
“Devastating” Impacts of Climate Change Increasing
Tuesday, 13 May 2014
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | News Analysis
Evidence of Acceleration on All Fronts of Anthropogenic Climate Disruption
Thursday, 10 April 2014
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | News Analysis
NASA Climate Predictions Show Serious Threat to Humanity
Monday, 24 March 2014
By Jessica Desvarieux, The Real News Network | Video Interview
Reporting on a World of Environmental Catastrophes – All in Just One Month
Monday, 17 March 2014
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | News Analysis
The March of Anthropogenic Climate Disruption
Monday, 24 February 2014
By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | News Analysis
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
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