Week 3 Questions: Uncertainty & Apocalypse

[deholz]

Questions for David Wallace-Wells, based on the readings.

[DNT21711]

Your work talks about the catastrophic potential of climate change. How does the increase of fake news, especially on social media, impact public perception and policy-making regarding climate change? How can we combat misinformation in this 'post-truth' era to create a more informed society? In your article "Beyond Catastrophe, A New Climate Reality is Coming Into View," you discuss emerging realities of climate change. How do you envision the role of media and journalism in shaping public perception and response to these new realities?

[timok15]

How do you consider humanity’s climate outlook at the dawn of 2024? Has your outlook improved or deteriorated? Is there a specific thing (or things) that you have observed that prompted your current outlook? How do you conceptualize the big picture surrounding humanity and the climate? Are you overall optimistic or pessimistic for the long term (i.e. the next century and beyond)?

[lubaishao]

Last summer, I traveled through several cities from Beijing, Xinjiang, to the Central Asia, and I found the heat in these places unbearable. From noon to just before sunset, I felt like I simply couldn't stay outside. If these places were to raise their temperatures by another 5% or 10%, I think they would almost become uninhabitable. And it's true that many people in the world die every year from high temperatures. So I'd like to ask the more pressing question of how many people or where in the world are going to be seriously affected by rising temperatures and rising sea levels in the next decade. How many places will suffer the same fate of rising sea levels and sinking islands as Sierra Leone again.

[miansimmons]

In your article "Beyond Catastrophe, A New Climate Change Reality is Coming into View," you talked about an incentive-based approach to decarbonization in the U.S. and how a faster path to decarbonization could translate to wealth generation around the world. When it comes to human behavior, do you think that incentives and voluntary participation are more effective than punishment (ex: carbon tax) in motivating people to tackle climate change?

[ldbauer1011]

In the article Beyond Catastrophe, A New Climate Change Reality is Coming into View, you talk about paper pledges to reduce carbon emissions made by private companies and state-owned enterprises. The term paper pledges infers the weakness and flimsiness of these pledges to reduce carbon emissions, and yet you go on to describe how these are major first steps in securing a greening world economy. Do you feel that more and firmer pledges with actionable goals are coming in the future, or will these paper pledges be enough to nudge business in the right direction?

[cbgravitt]

Many young people feel jaded towards the climate crisis because we have remarkably little impact on the problem compared to wealthy individuals, but we will feel the effects far more over our lifetimes. This is an even bigger slap in the face to less developed nations with tiny carbon footprints who will feel the effects far more catastrophically than any of those individuals. What are your thoughts on this point of view, and what are actionable steps to hold individuals (rather than governments or corporations) personally accountable?

[M-Hallikainen]

In your book you mention the dangers of climate fatalism and how falling into hopelessness, believing things are already too far gone and that doom is assured, often breeds the same sort of indifferent passivity as climate denial. However, as the realities of our changing climate grow more obvious by the day, this sort of climate fatalism has only grown more common place, especially among young people who see their lives as doomed before they can even begin. When discussing climate change, how can we capture the full extent of our dire situation without breeding this sort of passive hopelessness?

[acarch]

In your article "Beyond Catastrophe" (2022), you mention how responses to climate change have led to advances in the energy sector, such as the declining cost of renewables. You also mention how climate is shaping international competitiveness regarding green energy. Given these changes, how will climate change shape the future of labor and the workforce? What should happen, and what probably will?

[oliviaegross]

In "The Uninhabitable Earth," the threat of global warming is made to feel immense. You mention, for example, that the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change offers gold-standard assessments of the state of the planet and the likely trajectory for climate change. Why to you does it feel that majority of people do not pay attention, care for, or appear alarmed by such assessments? How can we do a better job of breaking down and discussing the seriousness of these threats in manners other than individuals seeing/feeling there effect?

[WPDolan]

In "Beyond Catastrophe" you mention that carbon capture efforts are relatively unpopular among climate activists. In addition to advancements in green energy, do you believe that investments in technologies that are strictly designed to offset climate damage are worthwhile pursuits? Do you think it is feasible for humanity to "undo" a significant portion of their long-term damage to the environment through these technologies, or do they instead shift the conversation away from taking actions that prevent these harms in the first place?

[lucyhorowitz]

Do you think it is possible that we will, in the near future, develop/discover technological advancements that will make living with even the most drastic temperature increases more comfortable? For example, drastically improved efficiency in food production that will make it possible to grow more food in smaller areas, desalinization, etc. Is it worth investing in research in these directions, or should we be focusing all of our energies on slowing the actual progression of climate change rather than taking it as inevitable and working on mitigating its effects?

[kallotey]

In Beyond Catastrophe, you write that there is “suffering and injustice for hundreds of millions of people, because the benefits of industrial activity have accumulated in parts of the world that will also be spared the worst of its consequences.” To follow up on this quote, you mention how the United States, one of the aforementioned countries that has industrialized because of colonialism and imperialism, passed a climate bill (carbon tax). Many developing nations are being watched for their carbon production because they too want to industrialize, to become wealthier as it would help alleviate many issues but also give them competitive edge in whichever geopolitical spheres they are in. How can we frame the threats of climate change to industrializing countries to not come off as hypocrites and incentivize decarbonization? What do wealthy nations have to potentially sacrifice for this?

[imilbauer]

In The Uninhabitable Earth, you noted that the UN said by 2100 we are due for about 4.5 degrees of warming (14). You also noted that the "climate is actually less sensitive to emissions than we'd thought" (15). Today, my understanding is that both of these understandings are not still true, as you speak to in Beyond Catastrophe. Projections place warming around 2-3 degrees and the climate seems more sensitive than we thought to warming. What to do feel is the best way to communicate what Hannah Ritchie calls "radical uncertainty." Obviously there is a need for action but predictive modeling can change over time. How do you encourage readers to not fall into a simplified pattern of thinking about the climate future?

[emersonlubke]

The NYT David Wallace-Wells article "Beyond Catastrophe" reminded me of a tweet I saw that essentially read "the climate apocalypse isn't going to be a sudden, singular event, it's going to be more along the lines of millions of the world's poorest people being killed by temperature extremes" and the article seemed to echo the general sentiment that the end of the world is going to come at the margins. How can we motivate people when the threat is so non-singular and spread out? It's incredibly difficult to get people to grasp conceptual threats like a 2 degree warmer world, so how can we instill a sense of urgency in everyone to motivate people to save our world?

[gabrielmoos]

In your articles, you defined climate change as this phenomenon that moves slowly, yet massively, in the sense that perturbations to our current day-to-day won’t make an impact immediately on the climate. However, data from 2020-21 suggests that large-scale human changes (like shutting down the world for a pandemic), can result in meaningful changes to global temperatures. Do you think it’s naive to assume that even amidst climate change a Western hegemonic structure remains, or is climate change the catalyst towards a BRICS-centric world? Does COVID-19’s temperature drop provide enough evidence to support a shift away from a growth-at-all-cost economy?

[Hai1218]

In your article, you discuss the shift from the ambitious 1.5-degree warming limit as a focal point in climate advocacy to a potential new phase of more realistic targets and narratives. Given this transition, what do you see as the next linguistic or conceptual evolution in climate discourse that could effectively balance the urgency of the crisis with achievable goals, while avoiding the pitfalls of either undue alarmism or complacency? Another reshaping of narrative due to change in linguistics like "global warming v. climate change"?

[summerliu1027]

In all your works, you emphasize climate change is an immense and difficult issue. When discussing climate change, how do you convey the severity of the crisis without leading to public desensitization or defeatism? Is there a particular method/rhetoric you prefer?

[maevemcguire]

Your article Beyond Catastrophe discusses the large debt of climate “reparations” up to $700 billion to climate-vulnerable nations – what role do you think major energy and large national oil companies should play in climate justice, for example, in the US? Additionally, how do you see more contemporary green technological advances, such as Carbon sequestration, green Hydrogen, and international cooperation for nuclear power being modernized?

[briannaliu]

In your article, you mention America’s astonishingly impressive response to COVID, with its development and roll-out of a new mRNA vaccine within a few months. When you think about climate change, do you think that this level of urgency can only be inspired by life-threatening crises (similar to COVID), or are you confident in America’s ability to mobilize?

[Daniela-miaut]

What is your point of view on the relationship between global inequality and climate issues? Developing countries are facing a brutal trade-off between environment and development, while their economic development is essential to the basic needs of their citizens. Also, developed countries and privileged entities have more resources to transfer environmental costs and risks to others. Do you think improving equality can be an effective (and maybe urgent) way of combating climate change?

[aaron-wineberg02]

How can attitudes in the west change surrounding developing countries and their impact to climate change? Should globalism be central to the dialogue on sustainability? Would this risk political consequences as we have observed in some US and EU circles?

[AudreyPScott]

Frequent conversations that have come up since we discussed nuclear risk earlier in this course is the applicability or inapplicability of a "countdown," Doomsday-clock like scenario in communicating the climate crisis. Of course, there's no world-ending, devastating midnight to be had here instantaneously -- but there wasn't in 1945 with the atomic bomb dropping, either. How do you reconcile some degree of optimism of our slowed trajectory to no return with the reality of our current "better" trajectory still inevitably leading to massive loss of life, human and inhuman?

[agupta818]

In your article you say, "politics of decarbonization is evolving into a politics beyond decarbonization, incorporating matters of adaptation and finance and justice (among other issues)." Why do you think there has not been a major increase in regulating large polluters who prioritize profits over pollution, especially when the lack of strict regulation is an injustice to those their carbon footprint impacts? Do you envision a shift in policy if we see another increase in global temperatures as it gets closer and closer to that 4.5 degree threshold? Is there a point of no return where a policy shift will make no impact?

[madsnewton]

In The Uninhabitable Earth, you speak a little bit about optimistic, pessimistic, and nihilistic viewpoints when it comes to climate change. It seems that a lot of younger people have more of a nihilistic viewpoint and think there isn't a lot that can be done and personal choices don't have an impact. Do you think personal choice and responsibility is important in reversing the effects of climate change? Do you think it is all contingent on government action and policy and we're helpless without it?

[mibr4601]

Many adults have a sense of imperative doom which they then spread to their children. To many, this sense of doom can be paralyzing rather than helpful as it can make people question why they should bother doing something about the climate. What should parents and the education system teach children to try and make people optimistic yet active in the climate fight?

[GreatPraxis]

You discuss the positive impact of agreements like the Paris Agreement on addressing Global Warming. Yet, these agreements rely on worldwide collaboration. What actions could be taken if a country withdraws, leading to a rise in greenhouse emissions? Is this a valid concern, and could it hinder the pursuit of more effective agreements to further enhance the prospects of mitigating global warming?

[AnikSingh1]

One of my favorite lines from your text involves the concept of comfort over despair when discussing global warming - I found it to be quite an intelligent way to create unity for these groups of people. However, it got me thinking that unity does not equal action; is there a way to push action in a larger scale that you think a higher power could exert for the greater good?

[tosinOO]

With climate change a growing threat and our understanding of its effects changing over time, how do we balance optimism brought on by technological advancement and policy shifts with existential threats posed by climate change posed by its continued existence? How do we overcome ongoing global cooperation challenges related to effective climate policies implementation?

[jamaib]

Although there has been major process in regards to our combating climate change but I wonder how much change we realistically can expect and how quickly? Given that the US itself is so divisive on the topic itself (and the US disproportionately contributes the highest CO2 emissions (per capita)) it seems that it is first necessary to unify the country under the reality that climate change is rapidly progressing and we have to take even quicker steps to combat it. Perhaps this is the wrong assumption and it will be the larger corporations and government who lead the charge in fully embracing a greener tomorrow (uninfluenced by profit or political goals).