{"id":75,"date":"2024-07-25T09:22:22","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T09:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/?page_id=75"},"modified":"2026-05-10T07:25:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T07:25:24","slug":"are-we-doing-enough-to-slow-climate-warming","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/?page_id=75","title":{"rendered":"Are we slowing Climate Change?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No, we are making climate change worse!<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
 <\/span><\/b><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

A survey of the world’s top climate scientists in 2024, conducted by Englland’s Gardian newspaper, shown below, found that 50% of them expected the world’s average temperature by 2100 to rise by 3\u00ba C (5.4\u00ba F) and 80% expected them continue to rise by at least 2.5\u00ba C (4.5\u00ba F)1<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Scientists<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately. the most recent climate models are showing more warming than the average of the above survey \u2014 2.5C to 5.0C by mid- or late- 2000’s.<\/strong><\/em> (However all the models have been erring on the high side of actual temperatures.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone agrees, but….<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Everyone agrees that electrification, even with fossil fuels, creates less greenhouse gas than direct \u00a0combustion. \u00a0Everyone agrees that solar, wind, and nuclear power generation reduce the use of fossil fuels. \u00a0And almost everyone agrees that it would be best to slow and eventually stop climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, we are not limiting climate change.\u00a0<\/strong> In fact, we are going backwards. <\/strong> In 2024, CO2 emissions for the last 12 months increased by the biggest amount ever \u2014 as measured at the top of Mona Loa in Hawaii and elsewhere. And, the global lower atmosphere temperature this year, as measured by satellite, is above any previous level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The increase has been \u00a0largely due to energy use growth in the big emitting nations: \u00a0China and India, which has more than cancelled the very small savings in Europe and the United States. \u00a0Actual European savings are less than publicized \u2014 one reason being the wood pellet scam<\/a>, and another being that wind and solar energy savings are a very small portion of total energy use.<\/em> In the United States, CO2 emissions have declined in the last couple of years, but only by about 1\/2 percent.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(For a nation by nation update on the fossil fuel use for electricity, see this site: https:\/\/ember-climate.org\/countries-and-regions\/<\/a> To look at the examples of those European nations who strongly support green energy see my page: Some climate progress is better than none \u2014 Denmark and Germany<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, what do we plan to do in the years immediately ahead? We plan to expand data centers and Internet technologies \u00a0that consume huge amounts of energy for gaming, socializing, commerce, artificial intelligence or creating e-money. We will provide more energy to increase the amount of food, to desalinate water, and to provide additional robotics and mechanization, to increase air conditioning. While we will spend a fortune researching advanced geothermal and fusion technologies that we know, if effective, will be too late and too expensive, we are hardly investing in existing technology. We will continue to install a some amount of wind, solar and biomass rather than nuclear, even though we know they cannot end more than a fraction of fossil fuel use; and we will increase the production of wood chips, thus actually increasing warming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the individual level, many of us \u00a0will urge our politicians to do something.\u00a0 <\/span>Yet many of us will jet across our country or the world for vacations, weddings, hiking, or even environmental conferences. \u00a0We will add electrical appliances,\u00a0 and \u00a0if we can afford to, upgrade to larger homes and apartments, build more homes, and then heat, cool, and furnish them. \u00a0<\/span>If we can afford to, we will buy expensive electric automobiles with big batteries, that many of us wil not use sufficiently to pay back the battery\u2019s environmental impact \u2014 while we may well use a large, powerful gas guzzler for road trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energy Growth in the United States, China and India, among other nations, more than cancels, any saving made elsewhere.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

China, in 2023, used almost twice the energy of the United States \u2014 more than a quarter of the earth\u2019s total, and India used more than one-half as much energy as the USA.\u00a0 <\/span>China\u2019s energy use grew at 6.6% (a doubling time of 11 years, but its use of fossil fuels is at last levelling out due to a huge solar program).\u00a0 <\/span>India\u2019s fossil fulle use grew at 5.1% (a doubling time of 14 years). The United States is again expanding energy use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electricity only provides one-tenth of all energy.  <\/span>Of this wind and solar now provide about 14% \u2014 that is, presently wind and solar provide 1.4% of all world energy, while nuclear provides 10% of electrical power or 1% of all energy.<\/span>2<\/a><\/sup> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human nature is acquisitive \u2014 and people strongly oppose having things taken away. Therefore, drastic measures are unlikely. Climate warming will continue and our descendants will suffer the consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given this disappointing assessment, what are we to do?  Some progress in stopping warming is better than none.  And, there are other good reasons for a country to transition from fossil fuels. We should save oil and gas reserves for making chemicals and materials. We should attain energy independence without degrading the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What must we do to slow global warming?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

  1. (Source: https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/article\/2024\/may\/08\/world-scientists-climate-failure-survey-global-temperature<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. (Sources: https:\/\/yearbook.enerdata.net\/total-energy\/world-consumption-statistics.html. <\/a> https:\/\/world-nuclear.org\/information-library\/current-and-future-generation\/nuclear-power-in-the-world-today#:~:text=Nuclear%20energy%20now%20provides%20about,of%20the%20total%20in%202020).https:\/\/yearbook.enerdata.net\/renewables\/wind-solar-share-electricity-production.html. <\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    No, we are making climate change worse!   A survey of the world’s top climate scientists in 2024, conducted by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"(Source: https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/article\/2024\/may\/08\/world-scientists-climate-failure-survey-global-temperature<\/a>\",\"id\":\"37f18f56-5ff9-422b-97ed-ad8246bab94e\"},{\"content\":\"(Sources: https:\/\/yearbook.enerdata.net\/total-energy\/world-consumption-statistics.html. <\/a> https:\/\/world-nuclear.org\/information-library\/current-and-future-generation\/nuclear-power-in-the-world-today#:~:text=Nuclear%20energy%20now%20provides%20about,of%20the%20total%20in%202020).https:\/\/yearbook.enerdata.net\/renewables\/wind-solar-share-electricity-production.html. <\/a>\",\"id\":\"dc1a189f-5561-4ae2-a9f3-48228abf61ff\"}]"},"class_list":["post-75","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":754,"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75\/revisions\/754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climate-reality.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}