With Cyclone Alfred bearing down on South East Queensland and Northern NSW it’s opportune as we enter the leadup to the 2025 federal election, to raise yet again the issue of climate change.
Sadly, the world is far off track from achieving the much-heralded target of zero net emissions by 2050, despite the fact that global production of wind and solar energy in 2024 produced 15 per cent of the world’s electric power.
The International Energy Agency calculated in 2021 that greenhouse gas emissions would need to decline 40 per cent from 34 to 21 gigatons by the end of 2023 for the world to have any chance of reaching the 2050 zero target. However, the scoreboard for those three years shows emissions went up ten per cent, (not down) reaching 37.4 gigatons.
A gigaton is one billion tons of CO2, so 37.4 gigatons equals 37,400,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide pumped into our atmosphere, trapping heat and causing planet warming.
The scientifically measured planetary temperature increase from 1900 to 2024 is between 1.1 and 1.3C, which is enough to melt polar and mountain ice sheets, causing the release of gigatons of fresh water into the world’s oceans. Scary stuff! That changes the temperature and chemistry of ocean currents and the ripple effect: bush fires, loss of marine life, cyclones etc. The list is long and gets longer by the day.
Climate change is no small matter and will see fights for territorial expansion and resources.
Our politicians set lofty goals to get our vote then fail to deliver. Both major parties have been woeful on this score, hence the 2022 federal election saw seven House of Representatives and one Senate seat, previously held by the Liberal party, swing to the teal independents.
If the major parties cannot be trusted by voters, then voters have to be realistic and vote to change things so we and the plants and the animal world on planet Earth have a future.
Sources: www.globalearthproject.org – www.ipcc.ch
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