Science concerned about Record Breaking Temperatures

July 2023 is bringing record breaking temperatures to North America even as we deal with smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning across Canada. At a time when we need drastic action to change our economic system and adapt our communities, the Liberal government continues to “subsidize Big Oil and praise Big Oil for their wonderful contribution to the building of their so-called green economy,” says Green Party deputy leader Jonathan Pedneault.

Reduced Visibility

One of the main drivers of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, like coal, oil and gas. The fires that are destroying the homes, livelihoods and health of Canadians are intrinsically linked to the continued expansion of oil and gas production, said Canadian climate activist Tzeporah Berman in a phone interview with Canada’s National Observer. (Bulowski & Brown, 2023)

Burning Fossil Fuel

Dmitry Zhdannikov, Ron Bousso, and Shadia Nasralla report for Reuters from Vienna that climate activists and some investors have placed pressure on oil and gas producers to shift their portfolios towards zero-carbon renewable energy to tackle global warming.

But record profits from oil and gas last year and relatively low returns from renewable energy prompted some investors to demand companies renew their focus on oil and gas to raise profits.

Companies, such as Shell and BP, have slowed plans to reduce fossil fuels output.

In an interview with the BBC published on Thursday, Shell CEO Wael Sawan said cutting oil and gas production would be “dangerous and irresponsible,” given the likely impact on prices when inflation is already high.

Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the United Nation’s climate change body (UNFCCC), in turn described Sawan’s comments as “irresponsible” at the OPEC event, according to a source present.

The burning of fossil fuels accounts for the majority of planet-warming emissions, which scientists say need to be reduced to net zero by 2050 to avoid the most extreme effects of climate change. (Zhdannikov, et al., 2023)

Research shows heat domes, wildfires and vanishing polar ice are the symptoms; unabated greenhouse gas emissions are the cause.

Bob Berwyn, an Austria-based reporter who has covered climate science and international climate policy for more than a decade, reports for Inside Climate News that June 2023 may be remembered as the start of a big change in the climate system, with many key global indicators flashing red warning lights amid signs that some systems are tipping toward a new state from which they may not recover. Included in this article are comments from scientists that use technical language that communicates efficiently to other scientists the details that highlight their concern about our warming planet.

• Earth’s critical reflective polar ice caps
• early warning of tipping points towards different weather or sea ice or fire regimes
• shifting into the warm El Niño phase
• “I expect a step change to higher global mean temperatures starting this year,”
• next year will be the warmest on record, either 1.4 or 1.5C above pre-industrial.” “I expect it then to oscillate about that value and not come down again,”
• record-high carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, he said, adding that the rate of increase is as high as it has ever been and continues to accelerate.
• negative Antarctic sea ice anomaly has continued to widen
• what appears to be another resonance event,” he said, referencing research that shows how the warming climate favors planetary atmospheric wave patterns that “can give rise to persistent summer weather extremes.
• the hypothesis that changes in the Arctic can lead to a wavier jet stream that can trap heat domes in place.
• could be a symptom of disruption to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, a critical part of the global climate system that transports cold and warm ocean water between the poles.
• that global energy imbalance, building steadily since the start of the fossil-fueled industrial age, is the best measure of how humans have affected the climate
• “It is not global temperature that matters but Earth’s energy imbalance. (Berwyn & Green, 2023)

When our financial transactions become too complicated, we trust the accountants to keep our books. The medical diagnosis we attend to for health reflects our trust in the science and practice of health care. The need to mitigate the effects of global warming by reduction of emissions from oil and gas is underlined by the concerns of scientists about the consequences of the changes in the scientific parameters that impact the energy response of the Earth that is so critical to the life of species in the biosphere. It is past time to heed their advice!

References

Berwyn, B., & Green, A. (2023, July 4). June Extremes Suggest Parts of the Climate System Are Reaching Tipping Points. Inside Climate News. Retrieved July 6, 2023, from https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04072023/june-extremes-climate-tipping-points/ 

Bulowski, N., & Brown, V. (2023, July 6). If you're not terrified, 'you're not paying attention': Politicians, activist urge action amid record-breaking temperatures. National Observer. Retrieved July 6, 2023, from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/07/06/news/if-youre-not-terrified-youre-not-paying-attention-politicians-activist-urge-action 

Zhdannikov,, D., Bousso, R., & Nasralla, S. (2023, July 6). Oil bosses urge governments to tackle demand, not supply, in bid to cut emissions. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 6, 2023, from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/article-oil-bosses-urge-governments-to-tackle-demand-not-supply-in-bid-to-cut/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter 

CST and Papal Positions

Tony Annett's book Cathonomics explores how Catholic tradition can create a more just economy. The encyclicals published during the papacies of recent decades offer a view of economic activity in relation with the pursuit of the common good.

Better world

The rise of neo-liberal attitudes to economic development in recent decades has created a paradigm that threatens the priority of striving for the common good.

John Paul II incorrect as neo-liberal

John Paul II was concerned about some aspects of market ideology.

JPII concern about markets

Profit seeking, self interest and accumulation in the market were concerns of Pope Benedict.

Benedict's concern about profit seeking

Pope Francis identifies a technocratic paradigm that cannibalizes economic and political life.

Pope Francis identifies a technocratic paradigm

From 1978 to 2023, encyclical publications from the Vatican have presented the case for concern about the effect on the common good of the dominant economic policies of our time.

References

Annett, A. M. (2022). Cathonomics: How Catholic Tradition Can Create a More Just Economy. Georgetown University Press.

Health effects of inequality, bootstrap individualism and high-octane opportunism

The dangers to the physical and mental health of our children and grandchildren due to the warming of the planet invite consideration of the moral issues involved in supporting further activity by industries with high GHG emissions.

Sea Level rise

Susan Ormiston & Mia Sheldon of CBC News note that there is a saying among climate scientists that "what happens in the North doesn't stay in the North," meaning big changes in this region will affect the rest of Canada as well. Mean temperatures in the Western Arctic have increased a staggering 3.4 degrees Celsius since the 1960s.

To put that in perspective, the goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change that Canada signed is to ensure global temperatures rise no more than an average of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Scientists predict that worldwide warming greater than that could trigger potentially disastrous changes to weather patterns and ocean levels.1

Investigators at the YEARS Project reveal that Exxon knew about the dangers of climate change in the 1970s, according to internal company documents.

This date agrees with the research done by Bill McKibben and published in his book “Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?”

Rylan Higgins offers the opinion that petroleum industry jobs are only a good living if you prepare for the bust, which always comes.

 In short, it's pretty brutal, pretty unforgiving. Chews you up, spits you out.
And I'm talking about people who have devoted their entire lives to it.
It's not a surprise. The power at the top is global, immense and hell-bent on squeezing every penny out of the labour that goes into producing oil and gas. The industry has long been one based on inequality, bootstrap individualism and high-octane opportunism...And let's not forget just how opportunistic and contradictory the powerful people in the industry are. When times are good, they argue that government needs to get out of the way, that progress should not be impeded by labour or environmental regulations.
Consider, however, the fact that oil and gas are extracted on land secured from indigenous people with the help of the government.
And what about the government subsidies from which the industry benefits? When the boom ends, industry enthusiasts are quick to fault the government for not prioritizing the sector's recovery.
There are a lot of good reasons to transition away from this industry.
It will be critical to consider the workers and families in the industry as we do so. The next economic arrangement should put workers, families and the environment first — and investors and corporate bigwigs last.
In short, we'd be better off without oil and gas, and I'd bet there are plenty of workers and families who'd love an economy based on more stable, just and environmentally friendly industries....3

Sean Craig writes on a report in the Lancet that wildfires, disease, food scarcity are what scientists predict in a grim century for Canada. The Lancet Countdown global report focuses, in particular, on burdens infants and children will face in the coming decades.

Researchers determined that, as they age into adolescence, the impact of air pollution will worsen for current infants and children if current trends continue. As they enter adulthood, extreme-weather events will intensify and become more common. For example, 152 out of 196 countries saw an increase in people exposed to wildfires in the past 15 years. They said Canada is not doing enough to mitigate these potential harms.
"Canada is not on track: in 2016, total Canadian GHG emissions were 704 (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent), an increase of more than 100 metric tons since 1990," the report reads. "Policies and measures currently under development but not yet implemented are forecast to reduce national emissions to 592 metric tons by 2030, 79 metric tons above Canada’s 2030 target... a goal which is itself too weak to represent a fair contribution by Canada to the emissions reductions necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement."4

The planet is warming. That warming is caused by GHG emissions. Our climate scientists and health care professionals understand that there are significant consequences for our life.

Profits over the Planet

The efforts of big oil have focused mostly on profits over the planet and the health of people.

References

1	(2019, June 19). How climate change is thawing the 'glue that holds the ... - CBC. Retrieved November 13, 2019, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/the-national-permafrost-thaw-inuvik-tuktoyaktuk-1.5179842
2	(2019, August 23). War On Our Future - YouTube. Retrieved November 15, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmB1tUgTXBErWp0_RlyZPvrVAE2i0cTkN
3	(2019, November 15). 'It's pretty brutal, pretty unforgiving': Why the West should move .... Retrieved November 15, 2019, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-rylan-higgins-oil-patch-1.5358248
4	(2019, November 13). Wildfires, disease, food scarcity: scientists predict a grim century. Retrieved November 14, 2019, from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/11/13/news/wildfires-disease-food-scarcity-scientists-predict-grim-century-canada