What upsets me as a 28 year old is not that I’m probably doomed. It’s that my chickenshit leaders and the majority of elders (there are many elders who are good people who care and want to do things so I want to acknowledge them and not throw them under the bus) would rather do one last power grab with the steepest discount rate possible than let us fix the mess they left us. If I could just struggle for every waking moment to slow the ecological catastrophe my life would have meaning but I’m denied that and have to work multiple jobs that lack meaning to get by. The gerontocracy would do to us what Queen Agave did to Pentheus but if I point out that the gerontocracy is a problem people act like it’s always been a thing which it absolutely hasn’t. How are we supposed to mitigate predicaments if the people in charge aren’t planning to have cognition in 3 years time? The only thing that transcends these people’s greed is their cowardice, stupidity, and psychopathy.
I really appreciate the people like you. I always like to remember that if you go back in history there were always people saying stuff like “slavery was wrong” “minorities are people too” “war is a bad thing actually”. You’ll be in the minority that’s on the right side of history.
It is disturbing that even if we could extinguish all the wildfires burning around the globe, this would eventually mean that after the loss of their particulate aerosol masking effects, further global warming would ensue.
Julian, I totally agree with every word you have written and your conclusion is sound.
"Deforestation is a global catastrophe in slow motion. Despite the good intentions of many it is still accelerating, as humans continue to gnaw, like termites, at the very foundations of the Earth’s life support system – and their own future."
Unfortunately it's too late for the Boreal Forests, which probably means most of the world's other forests are doomed as well.
I don't say this to be an "asshole" or a "doomer". It is an inescapable consequence of what we have done to the Climate System and our fundamental misunderstanding of what the NH permafrost represented.
There are two things which have doomed the Boreal Forest.
1. Arctic Amplification
2. The Latitudinal Equator to Pole Temperature Gradient response to warming.
In the first case, recent papers have found that the High Arctic warms at 4x the rate of the rest of the planet. On average it has warmed +4°C since 1980. Parts of Siberia have warmed +8°C.
Which brings up point two, the LEtPTG Response to warming. This is more complex to explain but, basically the paleoclimate data indicates that when the Earth warms, HEAT flows to poles and RAPIDLY "builds up".
+4°C of overall warming is likely to cause +20°C of warming in the High Arctic.
At those rates and levels of warming, the Boreal Forest is doomed. It's already started burning and its going to burn until there are no trees left to burn.
I explain all of this in detail in several of my papers.
050 - The Earth’s Climate System - A Short Users Guide. Part 03. Permafrost Melting — The role of permafrost in the Climate System. (07/01/23)
056 - Unclothing the Emperor : Understanding “What’s Wrong” with our “Climate Paradigm” - Part 4. The PERMAFROST — is MELTING, “faster than expected”. (11/28/23)
The cascade of warming this causes will ultimately result in almost ALL of the world's forest burning away by the end of this century. There just isn't going to be time for them to adapt or migrate.
I am sure you are right, Richard. Unless, of course, Collapse intervenes and human pressure on the planet is suddenly relieved. Then things will start to go into reverse, quite quickly probably.
I also reflect that the Boreal forest must have copped a hot planet several times in the past - and been rescued by various Ice Ages, one of which we are still in, believe it or not!
Why are we also not screaming at the stupidity of human overpopulation? The forests are threatened by OUR numbers as much as factory farming and ecological destruction.
Our health clearly depends not just on our environment existing but the biodiversity it contains. My own work on supplementing our diets with wild whole foods in complex blends is showing the solutions to the diseases of nutrition. At 70 years of age, I have a metabolic age of 51. No supplements or other synthetic drugs. My quandary is that I have the way for humans to extend their healthspan and lifespan but we do not need more of us surviving for longer if our intellect is falling as quickly as a felled tree.
What upsets me as a 28 year old is not that I’m probably doomed. It’s that my chickenshit leaders and the majority of elders (there are many elders who are good people who care and want to do things so I want to acknowledge them and not throw them under the bus) would rather do one last power grab with the steepest discount rate possible than let us fix the mess they left us. If I could just struggle for every waking moment to slow the ecological catastrophe my life would have meaning but I’m denied that and have to work multiple jobs that lack meaning to get by. The gerontocracy would do to us what Queen Agave did to Pentheus but if I point out that the gerontocracy is a problem people act like it’s always been a thing which it absolutely hasn’t. How are we supposed to mitigate predicaments if the people in charge aren’t planning to have cognition in 3 years time? The only thing that transcends these people’s greed is their cowardice, stupidity, and psychopathy.
If the forests go, we go
I appreciate your work here!
As an (outsider) member of the gerontocracy, I appreciate your comments! Still fightin’ the good fight, after all these years.
I really appreciate the people like you. I always like to remember that if you go back in history there were always people saying stuff like “slavery was wrong” “minorities are people too” “war is a bad thing actually”. You’ll be in the minority that’s on the right side of history.
It is disturbing that even if we could extinguish all the wildfires burning around the globe, this would eventually mean that after the loss of their particulate aerosol masking effects, further global warming would ensue.
Julian, I totally agree with every word you have written and your conclusion is sound.
"Deforestation is a global catastrophe in slow motion. Despite the good intentions of many it is still accelerating, as humans continue to gnaw, like termites, at the very foundations of the Earth’s life support system – and their own future."
Unfortunately it's too late for the Boreal Forests, which probably means most of the world's other forests are doomed as well.
I don't say this to be an "asshole" or a "doomer". It is an inescapable consequence of what we have done to the Climate System and our fundamental misunderstanding of what the NH permafrost represented.
There are two things which have doomed the Boreal Forest.
1. Arctic Amplification
2. The Latitudinal Equator to Pole Temperature Gradient response to warming.
In the first case, recent papers have found that the High Arctic warms at 4x the rate of the rest of the planet. On average it has warmed +4°C since 1980. Parts of Siberia have warmed +8°C.
Which brings up point two, the LEtPTG Response to warming. This is more complex to explain but, basically the paleoclimate data indicates that when the Earth warms, HEAT flows to poles and RAPIDLY "builds up".
+4°C of overall warming is likely to cause +20°C of warming in the High Arctic.
At those rates and levels of warming, the Boreal Forest is doomed. It's already started burning and its going to burn until there are no trees left to burn.
I explain all of this in detail in several of my papers.
050 - The Earth’s Climate System - A Short Users Guide. Part 03. Permafrost Melting — The role of permafrost in the Climate System. (07/01/23)
https://richardcrim.substack.com/p/the-crisis-report-50
054 - Unclothing the Emperor : Understanding “What’s Wrong” with our “Climate Paradigm”. Part 3 - Latitudinal Gradient Response and Polar Amplification. (11/17/23)
https://richardcrim.substack.com/p/the-crisis-report-54
056 - Unclothing the Emperor : Understanding “What’s Wrong” with our “Climate Paradigm” - Part 4. The PERMAFROST — is MELTING, “faster than expected”. (11/28/23)
https://richardcrim.substack.com/p/the-crisis-report-56
The cascade of warming this causes will ultimately result in almost ALL of the world's forest burning away by the end of this century. There just isn't going to be time for them to adapt or migrate.
We have been VERY stupid.
I am sure you are right, Richard. Unless, of course, Collapse intervenes and human pressure on the planet is suddenly relieved. Then things will start to go into reverse, quite quickly probably.
Or a supervolcano... Campi Flegrei, for example.
I also reflect that the Boreal forest must have copped a hot planet several times in the past - and been rescued by various Ice Ages, one of which we are still in, believe it or not!
Why are we also not screaming at the stupidity of human overpopulation? The forests are threatened by OUR numbers as much as factory farming and ecological destruction.
Our health clearly depends not just on our environment existing but the biodiversity it contains. My own work on supplementing our diets with wild whole foods in complex blends is showing the solutions to the diseases of nutrition. At 70 years of age, I have a metabolic age of 51. No supplements or other synthetic drugs. My quandary is that I have the way for humans to extend their healthspan and lifespan but we do not need more of us surviving for longer if our intellect is falling as quickly as a felled tree.
https://open.substack.com/pub/cribb/p/has-the-population-bomb-exploded?r=9ktca&utm_medium=ios