“Rate of Change. Rate of Change. Rate of Change.” Let’s All Sing Together.

Max Bearak’s August 2, 2024 New York Times‘ article with photographs by Nanna Heitmann “Inside the Petrostate [Azerbaijan] Hosting This Year’s Global Climate Negotiations [COP29]” was informative, and many of the 123 comments were interesting, funny, or revealing, but nowhere did I see the main issue now which is “Rate of Change. Rate of Change. Rate of Change.” In other words, the “Rate of [Climate] Change” in a rational world would change COP negotiations at COP29 and COP30, to phaseout fossil fuels sooner rather than later, as the world’s top scientists/researchers note costs will rise exponentially. But so far it’s painfully obvious this COP process has not been rational.

Regarding Bearak noting “But [COP28] also alluded to the role of gas as a ‘transitional fuel,’” I like climate scientist Kevin Anderson’s response: “Natural gas — methane — is a transition fuel [ . . . ] to 4ºC.” Here is a short reminder of what a 4ºC Earth looks like, plus a chart for those more visually-oriented.