The 7 Stages of Climate Awareness
Recorded September 26, 2022
Climate change is often described as one of the single most important and existential issues of our time - that there is no greater threat to humanity. While the effects of climate on our ecosystems and wildlife is one of my greatest concerns, it does not tell the whole story.
On this weeks Frankly, I highlight (what was in my case) Seven Stages of Climate Awareness – from recognizing ‘there is an environment’ to understanding that the systems dynamics of the human economy implies a much different choreography of societal response than is currently being advertised and pursued. Global warming is becoming more obvious to more people, but the interventions look quite different at Stage 7 than Stage 4. It is unlikely we’ll find ‘solutions’ without first understanding the dynamics at its core.
00:34 - Climate change
02:23 - The Crying Indian - Keep America Beautiful Ad
02:58 - Environmental processes on Earth
03:05 - How climate has changed in the past
03:30 - CO2 connection to the climate
04:04 - ⅔ of greenhouse gasses we emit comes from the burning of fossil fuels
04:18 - Carbon Isotopes
04:35 - Exxon knew about climate change 40 years ago
05:15 - We use 100 billion barrel of oil equivalents per year, equaling 500 billion human workers
06:05 - Our economy is 1000x bigger than it was 500 years ago
06:26 - We are drawing down these hydrocarbons millions of times faster than it was sequestered
06:45 - Decline rates of global oil fields approaching 6% per year
07:35 - We are adding renewable to a growing energy supply that requires more energy
07:54 - Materials that need to be mined for renewables
09:08 - Growing GDP is tethered 99% to energy consumption
09:32 - We try to replicate the emotional states of our ancestors
10:51 - Worst climate scenarios
11:30 - Germany restarting coal
11:55 - Italy and Sweden elections
