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CLIMATE CATASTROPHE WORSE
05/02/2025
Despite the extraordinarily denial of evidence by Trump and his unhelpful withdrawal of the USA from the Paris Agreement which almost every nation supports, science (which Trump generally seems to dismiss) indicates the climate catastrophe is fast gathering pace.
- Data from the EU[1] reveal that 2024 was the hottest year on record and exceeded the 1.5oC benchmark for first time;
- Fires in Brazil burned an area of wilderness bigger than Italy in 2024 which was almost 80% more than 2023 following the worst drought ever recorded;
- These highest recorded temperatures have boosted extreme weather events such as the Los Angeles conflagrations, and the data indicate there is more and worse to come;
- The climate catastrophe is upsetting temporal patterns in nature such as migration, hibernation and plant flowering times. That will lead to ecological disfunction that could run away out of control and lead to ecosystem disorder and disruption of ecosystem services.
- Thawing permafrost in the Arctic is leading to huge releases of carbon into the atmosphere.
- An American climate change denial group called the Heartland Institute is reported as collaborating with European far right parties against environmental protection policies.
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves is putting economic growth before the commitment to net zero[2].
- The Climate and Nature Recovery private member’s Bill tabled by Dr Roz Savage MP has been blocked from progressing by Labour. Dr Savage says she will continue to work with ministers to find a way forward, but that the government should attempt to block such important legislation in the current alarming environmental circumstances beggars belief.
These are just some of the topics of serious concern that require urgent intervention.
Despite this, the UK is putting climate activists in jail for goodness’ sake – they should be lauded for trying to get the message across to governments and others like Trump who stubbornly refuse to accept what science tells us and observations show, but are under the influence of the fossil fuel lobby’s propaganda.
Betts Ecology do our best to protect nature and ecosystems services, sometimes causing disgruntlement because we leave habitats in a state that some wanting “shorn grass and lollipop trees in chocolate box landscapes” subjectively consider unkempt and unattractive instead of looking deeper into nature’s wonders. The uphill battle to save nature is made much harder when even the USA is spreading misinformation and supporting those exacerbating the climate emergency.
[1] See https://climate.copernicus.eu/global-climate-highlights
