Global warming appears to have shifted into a faster gear. After removing the effects of El Niño, volcanic eruptions, and solar cycles, researchers found that the planet has warmed at roughly 0.35°C per decade over the past ten years, compared with just under 0.2°C per decade from 1970 to 2015. The acceleration, which becomes visible around 2013 to 2015, appeared across five major global temperature datasets with more than 98% statistical certainty.
Unfortunately the problem with global warming is that it happens very slowly over time. Scientists were warning us of the impacts of global warming for at least a decade but we have somehow prioritized the short term gains and now we and our children will bear the fruits of our negligence.
They’ve been warning us with some urgency since at least the 1970s. There were concerns published about it in the late 19th century. By the early 1990s the warnings were loud and clear for everyone to hear.
There were cartoons about it in the 1900s, people had an idea about it pretty early on when rivers stopped freezing suddenly.
Yes, this makes us even more ignorant. At some point in the past I was kind of hopeful we as united humanity can overcome this problem, like with the ozone layer hole, but then these individualistic policies started to sweep over the world and people started to care about other problems more.
We needed to bring out pitchforks and torches to dethrone the ultra wealthy like… 30 years ago.