Humans are of the Earth, physically adapted to its range of climates, gravity, radiation, electro-magnetic field and composition of the atmosphere. Had there ever been a single critical issue science has conveyed, it is that altering the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere can only bear fatal consequences for nature and humanity. Dr Andrew Glikson
This scientific projection is holding true: it is estimated that, to date, some 150,000 to 400,000 people world-wide have perished each year due to direct and indirect effects of global warming1. This includes, for example, 1833 people in New Orleans, possibly up to 5000 in Puerto Rico, 6329 by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippine―the list goes on. Although these events have been documented in detail, the silence in most of the mainstream media regarding the connection between global warming on the one hand and the rising spate of hurricanes, storms and fires on the other, is deafening.
Let’s face it, the fossil fuel industry would never have been able to extract oil, gas and coal from the Earth long after the scientific consensus found that global catastrophe would be the life ending result if we did not rein in our fossil fuel emissions, without the assistance and complicity of the media and our cowardly “leaders”. Don’t believe me? Read this.
Deglaciation, extinction events, increasing temperatures that will make large swaths of the planet’s surface uninhabitable, water shortages, food shortages and mass migration of species poleward, including humans, are occasionally reported, but the critical climate change connection is simply ignored by most news outlets.
Which is what climate science has been projecting over the last 40 years or so4. The message, refused by vested interests and ignored or only paid lip service to by the political and economic powers, has also been overlooked by millions of people due to part cover-up by much of the media. Business as usual and a bread and circuses culture continue unabated. Many understand the climate message but feel powerless, voting for parties that, under false promises, end up taking little or no effective measures at reduction of carbon emissions.
In so far as there is hope a majority of people will understand global warming is transcending the very life support systems of the planet, it is when they face the rise in extreme weather events. That this to date is not the case is the responsibility of the mainstream media, since, although climate science clearly indicates the rise in carbon emissions is responsible for the rise in extreme weather events5, rarely does the media include the terms “climate change” or “global warming” in reporting these events only. By contrast, expressions such as “one in 100 or 1000 year event” are common6.
The International Digest writes:
Is there anything in international and national laws which can avert the ongoing carbon emissions? Do global and national legal systems offer any possibilities in this regard? In exploring potential restrictions on carbon emission, the following international and national laws and conventions are relevant: Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the international Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum. Such crimes are particularly odious offences in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority…”
United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Part III Article 617: states, among other: “Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life. When deprivation of life constitutes the crime of genocide, it is understood that nothing in this article shall authorize any State Party to the present Covenant to derogate in any way from any obligation assumed under the provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 17 July 1998: Article 7 Crimes against humanity “Extermination” – includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population. Australian Commonwealth and State laws regarding air quality standards: and prohibition of pollution.
I am a climate change alarmist, a proud Cassandra with my hair on fire, screaming from the rooftops that we are staring down a mass extinction event if we do not reverse this insanity today. There are not many of us that do so. Blogs such as Daily Kos, scientific climate blogs, along with a rare mainstream news outlet, consistently and relentlessly raise the issue (see Meteor Blades Spotlight on Green News, although most of those articles scroll to the bottom of the Recent List with just a couple of recommends at best. Even enlightened liberals on this site can’t be bothered it seems.) of climatic changes. At humanity’s greatest moment of peril, Donald Trump, arrives on the scene and sucks the oxygen out of the room which has robbed us of the geological time necessary to save ourselves. Shame on us, because the vast majority of us, has allowed him to achieve victory for the oligarchs by obsessing over his every word and tweet while the bodies of a changing world begin to accumulate.
There are excellent journalists that report on the climate crisis, Chris Mooney of the Washington Post comes to mind, but the media perpetuates the myth that there is a “debate” about climate science. They will hire right-wing climate deniers, along with fossil fuel whores, creating an environment where fact and reason has become a political football. Shame on them and shame on us for allowing it. Comeuppance will be inevitable as people realize that they have been lied to, and they will be very angry when finally experience the inevitable collapse of the biosphere.
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