The Climate Brink 2024 wrap up
Happy New Year to all our readers! In our 101st post and the final post of 2024, Zeke and Andy talk about climate change in 2024 and what to expect in 2025.
Let us know in the comments what you think the biggest climate news in 2024 was and your predictions for 2025.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the readers and subscribers of The Climate Brink!
Other stuff that’s interesting
This is the report Zeke mentioned about powering data centers primarily with renewable energy.
A primer on energy and power: This post from the Construction Physics substack is a great introduction to these important physics concepts.
What is electromagnetic radiation? Most people hear “radiation” and get worried. Don’t. This post from the Energy Resource Dynamics substack talks about this important and misunderstood concept.
As we mentioned in the video, there’s a huge amount of great reporting on the looming insurance catastrophe. For example, the Houston Chronicle has put together a terrific series, which are linked here.
Want to know more about sea level rise? Read this terrific article from the WaPo.
Thanks for providing a format where you share your knowledge and people can ask questions and share ideas. It's like attending a graduate seminar without being in graduate school! You make climate change science and solutions accessible and understandable in real time.
I share a lot of the same feelings and concerns about the Trump administration. I have dialed back my consumption of news and media sites, especially those that focus on politics. I agree with Zeke that we need to keep the big picture in mind about the finite tenure and impact of the Trump administration. and maybe look for areas where the left and right can agree, e.g., advanced nuclear energy, Gen III+ and Gen IV reactors. I will continue to think globally and act locally and support the efforts of the New Mexico legislators that take climate change seriously.
I agree with Andy about how unbelievable it is that we are still fighting climate change denial and skepticism. What is amazing to me is how many times this past year, I heard reference to 500-year, 1000-year, or 2000-year weather events, e.g., flooding in North Carolina and New Mexico. As Kate Marvel suggests, I am tired of screaming into the void. I appreciate your efforts to moderate and limit the amount of misinformation and disinformation in the comment section.
As for significant climate science achievements in the last year, I would have to include the efforts to create a robust estimate of the earth's GMST over the last 485 million years, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk3705 . To me, understanding our past and the correlation between GMST and CO2 and timescales involved relative to the rate at which man has increased the level of atmospheric CO2 in 100 - 200 years is key to getting people to appreciate the seriousness and reality of climate change.
Thanks to all the team at The Climate Brink for the great work done!
I believe the most important climate news of 2024 is the following:
Although ENSO has swung toward La Niña, the global average temperature has continued to rise, setting a new record.
Even if reaching + 1.6 °C this year does not mean formally breaking the Paris Agreement, in practice it will possibly never go below + 1.5 °C again.
Most importantly, the world continues to do business as usual, as if nothing serious is happening.