Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumU.S. greenhouse gas emissions spiked in 2018 -- and it couldn't happen at a worse time
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions rose an estimated 3.4?percent in 2018, according to new research a jarring increase that comes as scientists say the world needs to be aggressively cutting its emissions to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change.
The findings, published Tuesday by the independent economic research firm Rhodium Group, mean that the United States now has a diminishing chance of meeting its pledge under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to dramatically reduce its emissions by 2025.
The findings also underscore how the worlds second-largest emitter, once a global leader in pushing for climate action, has all but abandoned efforts to mitigate the effects of a warming world. President Trump has said he plans to officially withdraw the nation from the Paris climate agreement in 2020 and in the meantime has rolled back Obama-era regulations aimed at reducing the countrys carbon emissions.
We have lost momentum. Theres no question, Rob Jackson, a Stanford University professor who studies emissions trends, said of both U.S. and global efforts to steer the world toward a more sustainable future.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-spiked-in-2018--and-it-couldnt-happen-at-a-worse-time/2019/01/07/68cff792-12d6-11e9-803c-4ef28312c8b9_story.html?utm_term=.548efccf3d97&wpisrc=al_news__alert-hse--alert-national&wpmk=1
BigmanPigman
(51,662 posts)Really, this has upset me enormously and I don't even have kids and will die within a few years so I don't have any personally direct reasons to be angry about the earth's future. This is for the animals and plants that will suffer and die due to the greed of humans.
Mickju
(1,807 posts)I'm almost 75 and won't be here for the worst of it. I have thought for a long time that the human race is a complete failure just because we still wage war and haven't figured out how to provide adequate food, clean water, decent living conditions and adequate healthcare to all our fellow humans when there are so many millionaires and billionaires who don't give a shit. But now it is clear that we have destroyed our environment beyond repair, likely causing most, if not all, life on Earth to become extinct. We don't deserve to survive.
BigmanPigman
(51,662 posts)You are reading my mind. I am a realist, not a pessimist, and this is a realistic assessment of mankind. I do not see it changing and therefore people should become extinct. Maybe some animals and plants will be able to adapt and continue without people to screw everything up. So much for human intellect. Our greed and selfishness is what is causing man's extinction.