Noted Climate Scientist; "Fifth National Climate Assessment is this: There has been genuine progress, too."
While acknowledging the bad news, the US Fifth National Climate Assessment has good news too.
The New York Times recently published an op-ed by Dr. Kate Marvel, who is a climate scientist at Project Drawdown (an environmental nonprofit) and was a lead author on the US Fifth National Climate Assessment. This report had a positive tone that is important to note:
Our report, which was released on Tuesday, contains more dire warnings. There are plenty of new reasons for despair. Thanks to recent scientific advances, we can now link climate change to specific extreme weather disasters, and we have a better understanding of how the feedback loops in the climate system can make warming even worse. We can also now more confidently forecast catastrophic outcomes if global emissions continue on their current trajectory. But to me, the most surprising new finding in the Fifth National Climate Assessment is this: There has been genuine progress, too. … But as we wrote the report, I learned other, even more mind-boggling numbers. In the last decade, the cost of wind energy has declined by 70 percent and solar has declined 90 percent. Renewables now make up 80 percent of new electricity generation capacity. Our country’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling, even as our G.D.P. and population grow.
(Image - Carl Recine/Reuters via article)
As well as the positive message on renewable energy, Dr. Marvel then goes on to list some of the positive findings in the report including;
There a politicians now who campaign - and win - on a climate message.
The US Government under Biden passed federal climate legislation.
There is lots of local, state and tribal level action on climate in the US.
Past climate reports have had an effect in galvanising some of this climate action.
This lead to this key point:
The reason is that now, we have a better story to tell. The evidence is clear: Responding to climate change will not only create a better world for our children and grandchildren, but it will also make the world better for us right now.
So there’s a number of positives here, up to and including that this got posted in one of the most cited news outlets on the planet.
Oh and cherry on the top - the op-ed was gifted by a NYT subscriber - so we can all read it from the other side of the paywall. Thanks to that person!