Climate Armageddon might be worse than we think

There’s another book I recommend, but only if you have the stomach for it. If you suffer from apocalyptic depression, which I'll define as a feeling of hopelessness about anything that could potentially spell the end of the world, then it’s not for you. This is not to be confused with post-apocalyptic depression, which occurs when, after giving away all your possessions and saying good-bye, you realize the world is not over. I hope that made you laugh, because the rest of this blog is a real downer. 

My point is, if you get depressed about the future easily, then better not to read this book. As a sufferer of seasonal depression (it can be any season), I actually had to quit reading for a while. It also had to do with the current pandemic – I can only deal with one apocalyptic nightmare at a time. 

But as covid-19 has eased and is slowly going away (denial helps me cope) I actually finished the book. 

And oh yes, before I forget, the book is about climate change. It’s called “The Inhabitable Earth: Life After Warming” by David Wallace-Wells. The title pretty much sums up the book’s tone. If you want to know all the grisly details about Climate Armageddon, then dig in.  

Trust me, there’s a reason people are getting depressed. I’ve read books before about climate change, and none of them have made me want to run for the hills as much as this one. 

And I mean that literally. If you’ve got beachfront property, I’d suggest moving to higher ground now. Or in low-lying parts of Vancouver. 

I won’t retell everything about our grim future, but I will say that the book was a wake-up call for myself. Like most people, I live in a state of denial. This can help us stay sane, but it also prevents us from taking action. 

The parallels with the current pandemic are striking. When covid-19 first became an issue in China, we were only mildly worried. When the World Health Organization issued a dire warning to the rest of the world at the end of January, we basically ignored it. 

Until death was knocking on our door did we begin to take action. Only once we could visualize our own health at risk, did we shut everything down. For some provinces it was too late. States like Texas and Florida continue to learn the hard way. 

It’s much the same with climate change. We find it impossible to react to a world even 20 years from now, no matter how dire we’re told it will be. And this author tells it all, from best case scenario (which isn't great) to worst case scenario (we’re talking mass extinction).  

I wish I could say he presents some real options to address this problem, but optimism in this book is hard to come by. Our entire world economy is still carbon-based. Concrete production alone, which ranks as the second most carbon-intensive industry, would rank third in world emissions if it were a country. 

And emerging economies, which have no intention of curbing fossil fuel use, are the key to controlling future emissions. China has poured more concrete in three years than the U.S. has used in the entire 20th century. As much as we might blame the western world for its greenhouse gas emissions of the last 150 years, according to this author, “on the matter of climate change, China does hold nearly all the cards.” 

Meeting our Paris Climate Agreement goals by 2030 would mean China stops its vast infrastructure projects and ends its economic miracle today. That means not building 300-500 proposed coal power plants over the next decade.

Only western countries so far are flattening their emissions curve, to draw on pandemic terminology. But only flattening it – there's no major decline.

As disheartening as it is for me to say, covid-19 may be a piece of cake compared to dealing with our climate future.