Is It Too Late to Prevent Climate Change?

Check out this answer from Consensus:

While the challenges of preventing dangerous climate change are immense, it is not too late to act. Immediate and sustained efforts are required to mitigate the worst impacts and support vulnerable populations. By focusing on global mitigation, social and environmental justice, and community-led adaptation, we can work towards a more resilient and equitable future.

The question of whether it is too late to prevent climate change is complex and multifaceted. While some argue that the window for preventing catastrophic impacts has closed, others believe that immediate and sustained action can still mitigate the worst effects. This article explores the current state of climate change, the challenges faced by vulnerable populations, and the actions that can be taken to address this global crisis.

Current State of Climate Change

The scale and speed of action required to limit global warming are unprecedented. Claims that it is “too late” to act or that societal collapse is “inevitable” must be challenged, particularly in the context of Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS). These regions are already experiencing serious impacts from sea-level rise, but ongoing global mitigation efforts are essential to avoid further catastrophic impacts2.

Challenges Faced by Vulnerable Populations

Systemic Social Marginalization

Addressing climate change is not just about reducing carbon emissions; it also involves tackling systemic social marginalization. The global financial industry’s climate risk disclosure experiment aims to stabilize the climate-finance meta-system. However, this approach risks further marginalizing the world’s poor, who are already vulnerable to poverty, climate change impacts, and political unrest. Without a specific focus on social risk, efforts to maintain climate-finance stability may only benefit those who already enjoy global financial stability1.

Indigenous Climate Justice

For some indigenous peoples, achieving environmental justice may already be too late. The relationships between indigenous communities and other societal entities, such as governments and corporations, lack the qualities necessary for coordinated action. These qualities include consent, trust, accountability, and reciprocity. The entwinement of colonialism, capitalism, and industrialization has failed to establish these qualities, making it difficult to take urgent and just action to halt climate change3.

Actions That Can Be Taken

Global Mitigation Efforts

Despite the challenges, it is not too late to act. Global mitigation efforts must continue to avoid further catastrophic impacts. This includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, transitioning to renewable energy sources, and implementing sustainable practices across various sectors2.

Focus on Social and Environmental Justice

Efforts to combat climate change must also prioritize social and environmental justice. This involves addressing the systemic risks faced by vulnerable populations and ensuring that their interests are adequately represented in climate-finance systems. Policies should be designed to reduce social exclusion and support communities at risk1 3.

Community-Led Adaptation

Significant adaptation efforts are already being initiated by communities, particularly in PSIDS. These efforts are often led by women and youth and are informed by community values that emphasize interconnected well-being. Supporting and scaling these community-led initiatives can enhance resilience and provide valuable lessons for other regions2.

 

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Is it too late to prevent climate change?

Lisa Schipper has answered Uncertain

An expert from Oxford University in Environmental social science

From a climate science perspective; no. They look at the possibility of reducing warming following a stop to greenhouse gas emissions. But from a social scientist perspective, it is difficult to imagine that the world will actually make such a drastic change. Consider the sort of disruption that we experienced in 2020 – yes, people were willing to make changes and sacrifices, but many did so knowing/thinking that there would be a ‘return to normal’. People are not willing to give up their comforts – and for those in the majority who do not have comforts, they have little say in matters anyway. The only way we can really prevent climate change is if the entire world agrees to accept the consequences of this transformation, which would also include supporting just transitions and the millions of poor unemployed people who would really suffer during this period.

 

Is it too late to prevent climate change?

Gabriel Filippelli has answered Unlikely

An expert from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis in Geochemistry, Paleoclimatology

A certain amount of climate change has already occurred due to past emissions of carbon dioxide. But future climate can be stabilized at near current levels if we reduce emissions significantly. Additionally, even the climate change that we are currently experiencing can be reduced if we limit emissions and extract excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, either through reforesting the landscape or active carbon dioxide removal technologies.

 

Is it too late to prevent climate change?

Max Callaghan has answered Unlikely

An expert from Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change in Climate science

Climate change is already happening so we cannot prevent it from happening entirely. But the extent to which temperatures will rise is still within our control and will be a consequence of the amount of emissions we continue to produce, primarily by burning fossil fuels. 

 

Is it too late to prevent climate change?

Dennis Hartmann has answered Extremely Unlikely

An expert from University of Washington in Climatology

No. We can do a lot to reduce further global warming without reducing our quality of life.

 

Is it too late to prevent climate change?

Aysha Fleming has answered Unlikely

An expert from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Climatology, Agricultural Science, Sociology

No but we must act swiftly and decisively, especially to stop burning fossil fuels.

 

Is it too late to prevent climate change?

Roger Jones has answered Near Certain

An expert from Victoria University in Climatology, Environmental Science, Economics

Yes, change has been in full swing since the climate switched into forced state between 1957–72

 

Is it too late to prevent climate change?

Steven Sherwood has answered Unlikely

An expert from UNSW Sydney in Climatology, Atmospheric Science

It is too late to prevent any climate change, but not too late to prevent catastrophic climate change.

 

Is it too late to prevent climate change?

Gab Abramowitz has answered Likely

An expert from UNSW Sydney in Climatology, Hydrology

Anthropogenic climate change is already happening, so in a categorical sense, yes it is, but this is not a constructive question. It’s little like realising the gas stove is on and not alight, smelling the gas and then asking if it’s too late to stop gas being in the air. Just turn off the stove. The longer you leave it on the more dangerous everything becomes. A question posed this way makes it sound like because I can already smell the gas it’s too late to turn off the stove and I should just accept my impending death.

 

Is it too late to prevent climate change?

Michael Wehner has answered Near Certain

An expert from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Climatology

Duh. Are you not paying attention?

Read the IPCC AR6 report. Or the 4th US National Assessment.

You don’t have to read much, just the intros.

The world is currently at 1.1C above preindustrial temperatures. This is without question. And these reports assess the literature finding that our best estimate (a rigorous statistical term) is that human changes to composition of the atmosphere are responsible for ALL of this well observed warming. And these changes are mostly due to our usage of coal, oil and natural gas as energy.

There is no going back without significant geoengineering. And that is a wholly different issue…