The “natural cycles” crowd confuses me because. How the fuck does this look natural to you
The Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum is the closest analogue to what is happening today. It was a temperature rise of 5–8 °C… over 5,000 years. 0.01∘C a decade. We’re ‘officially’ warming at like, 0.2 a decade. It was caused by a massive carbon injection into the atmosphere, the equivalent of 11k to 26k gigatons. (though the source is debated)
This was a slow process.
We, on the other hand, have released 2,650 Gt in the span of 175 years. 0.00000385% of Earth’s history and 0.058% of our history. 3.5% of our recorded history.
We have risen global temperatures 1.5 degrees in that timespan. Most of that since the 1970’s (after we exploded our numbers.)
Since about 1979, the Arctic has warmed nearly 4× (four times) faster than the global average.
Over half of all CO2 emissions since 1751 occurred after 1988 or the last 30 years.
But yeah, natural cycles and all that.
Yeah, it’s “natural” in the sense that we are a part of the Earth and caused it. Not natural, otherwise.
We have been in a sixth mass extinction event for the past 50 years. Global wildlife populations have plummeted by an average of 73% in just 50 years, from 1970 to 2020. Why does this matter? Because we are also a part of nature and wildlife, and we rely on biodiversity. Estimates suggest that between 150 to 200 species disappear daily, a rate thousands of times higher than the natural background extinction rate. The way we’re going, it’s only a matter of time before we join the party from our own hubris and stupidity.
