The Year of the Pig commences as extreme weather rages

The Year of the Pig commences as extreme weather of the worst kind ravages the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of the world.
Extremes in Australia: After a record-breaking week, Australia is copping two extreme ends of the weather spectrum – as major flooding hits Queensland’s far north and Tasmania suffers through devastating bushfires. And the hottest summer on record in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. This is just one weather report.
Mongabay reports: Every year since 1977 has seen above-average global temperatures, making 2018 the 42nd consecutive year that was warmer than it would have been if not for man-made climate change. Nine of the 10 hottest years ever recorded have now occurred since 2005, and the past five years have been the five hottest. 2018’s average global temperatures rank behind just 2016, the warmest year on record, 2015, the second warmest, and 2017, the third warmest. What else?
Climate Network News: Here is a climate forecast that climate scientists, meteorologists, politicians, voters and even climate sceptics can check: the next five years will be warm, and will probably help to complete the hottest decade ever. They will on a global average be at least 1°C higher than the average temperature of the planet 200 years ago, before the accelerating combustion of fossil fuels. There’s more.
And North America Freezes! “High impact weather” has gripped much of the world so far this year, the UN weather agency, WMO, reported, with “dangerous and extreme cold in North America, record high heat and wildfires in Australia, heavy rains in parts of South America, and heavy snow on the Alps and Himalayas. The UN/WMO reports.
Coming up trumps with Truffles! Can we achieve a future Life on Earth to satisfactorily accommodate humankind, as well all the animals and plants we need? I’m thinking about any connections there could be which link the common Pig with People, Planet and Profit, the triple bottom line conjured up by John Elkington. And we came up with “Truffles”! For a light reflection on a worrying problem, read on.
It might be the beginning of the Year of the Pig, but’s let’s see where we are at the end. We’re not likely to see any significant improvements even if we changed our ways overnight. Even if carbon emissions stopped completely right now, as the oceans catch up with the atmosphere, the Earth’s temperature would rise by another .6 degrees C. Scientists refer to this as committed warming. So don’t let anyone tell you we have 12 years to fix things. Or even five. We have to start taking much more action right now.
Ken Hickson, Managing Editor, ABC Carbon Express.
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