When Greta came to Paris →

This week—which may go down in history in France for several reasons—Greta came to Paris to speak at parliament.

Before she got here, the right-wing Les Républicains party decided to shit a brick. Julien Aubert—a deputy from the Vaucluse region—said:

I respect freedom of thought…, but don’t count on me to be applauding the short-wearing prophetess.

As for his colleague Julien Larrivé, he provided us with this gem for the ages:

To fight climate change intelligently, we don’t need apocalyptic gurus, but scientific progress and political courage.

This double dose of douchebaggery had of course nothing to do with both of them being candidates for president of Les Républicains.

They insinuated it was abnormal for a 16-year old Swedish non-scientist be invited to talk in the chambers of parliament about climate change. Which, to be fair, does sound a bit silly.

But in fact Greta—and the scientists she came with—spoke in a conference room in a totally different building.

I was starting to feel a bit sorry for her before she even arrived. That she’d have to stand in front of low quality adults like these. That is, if they even showed up.

And then Greta came to Paris and kicked some ass and it was totally awesome. Up on the podium, she said:

Some people decided not to come to this meeting. It does not matter. After all, we are only children, you do not have to listen to us. On the other hand, you have the duty to listen to scientists, and that's all we ask you: unite behind the scientists.

Boooooom!

We, the children, are accused of being alarmists, but have you even read the latest IPCC report? Or maybe you simply are not mature enough to state things as they are? Page 108. Everything is there. We have only eight and a half years old before we have used up our carbon credit. And because we are the only ones who dare to say it, we have become the bad guys. But has the IPCC report been hidden from you? The Paris Agreement too?

In. Your. Face!

In response, the presidency passed a message to her via the Ministry of Ecology:

Thank you so much. Don’t give up. Keep protesting. You give us the hope for action.

A short time later, when asked about this, Greta replied:

You haven’t even understood what we’re doing. Instead of thanking us, do something!

By now, I had realised that there was no need to be sorry for Greta. She fights back like Mohammed Ali. It kept me chuckling all afternoon, despite the arrival of the second heatwave of the year. It got to 37°C in Paris on Monday.

Then, that same afternoon, the lower chamber of the French parliament voted to ratify CETA—the free trade agreement between the EU and Canada—seen as a catastrophe by ecologists.

Yesterday, it got to 38°C in Paris. Today, we expect 42°C (108°F), which would been the highest temperature ever recorded in Paris.

The chuckling is already over.

Murmurings of a transport "Carbon Charge" in the UK →

Air passengers may have to pay an extra “carbon charge” on flights as part of a government initiative to reduce CO2 emissions and tackle the climate crisis.

So far, I’m following.

Passengers could choose to pay more for travel tickets, which would then be used to offset greenhouse gas emissions. Or the scheme could work on an “opt-out” basis and also be applied to trains, buses and ferries.

Looks like there are one or two details to iron out. Good to see it in the news again though. Hopefully followed by action, like in France.

Dutch judge orders government to take climate action →

We may not have to wait for the politicians to save us – the lawyers may step in instead. In the first successful case of its kind, a judge in the Hague has ruled that the Dutch government’s stance on climate change is illegal and has ordered them to take action to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a hefty 25% within five years.

This appears to be an important development, and sets a precedent in Europe, at least.

Lawyers say the precedent it sets could trigger similar cases all around the world. Already, in Belgium, 8,000 citizens are preparing for a similar court case, with others pointing to another possible lawsuit in Norway. Although the case is only binding within the Netherlands, lawyers say that it will inspire lawyers and judges considering similar cases in many other countries.

How important?

“It is remarkable,” said James Thornton, chief executive of environmental law organisation ClientEarth. “A major sophisticated European court has broken through a political and psychological threshold. For the first time a court has ordered the government to protect its citizens from climate change.”

So, could it happen in the US?

Unfortunately for climate change campaigners in the US, the constitution does not hold the same protections for citizens’ environmental rights and it is this separation of powers that has prevented similar cases taking hold in the US, says Michael Gerrard of Columbia Law School.

Translation: Nope.

Los Angeles looks likely to develop big solar →

This month, officials in Los Angeles, California, are expected to approve a deal that would make solar power cheaper than ever while also addressing its chief flaw: It works only when the sun shines. The deal calls for a huge solar farm backed up by one of the world's largest batteries. It would provide 7% of the city's electricity beginning in 2023 at a cost of 1.997 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the solar power and 1.3 cents per kWh for the battery. That's cheaper than any power generated with fossil fuel.

Also:

As if on cue, last week a major U.S. coal company—West Virginia–based Revelation Energy LLC—filed for bankruptcy, the second in as many weeks.

This seems like a double-whammy of good news, but I’d love to have a better understanding of the environmental impact of building massive batteries and multitudes of solar panels before jumping for joy.

It's the end of the world as they know it →

“Scientists are talking about an intense mix of emotions right now,” says Christine Arena, executive producer of the docuseries Let Science Speak, which featured climate researchers speaking out against efforts to silence or ignore science. “There’s deep grief and anxiety for what’s being lost, followed by rage at continued political inaction, and finally hope that we can indeed solve this challenge. There are definitely tears and trembling voices. They know this deep truth: They are on the front lines of contending with the fear, anger, and perhaps even panic the rest of us will have to deal with.”

And:

Put another way, climate scientists often resemble Sarah Connor of the Terminator franchise, who knows of a looming catastrophe but must struggle to function in a world that does not comprehend what is coming and, worse, largely ignores the warnings of those who do. “An accurate representation” of the Connor comparison, one scientist darkly notes, “would have more crying and wine.”

Reminds me of the rising panic that can appear out of nowhere after a quick glance at the Near Term Human Extinction Evidence Group’s Facebook feed. It would be an understatement to say that humans aren’t wired to deal with slow-moving clusterfucks like this.

France surprises everyone - including the French - with a new tax on flights →

When the airlines’ share prices drop 3-5% afterwards, you know it means something. This tax needs to double in 2021 and double again in 2022. Then we’re talking.

And check out the fantabulous doublespeak from Air France in response (translated from French by Google Translate):

Air France describes the government's announcement as "incomprehensible". "This new tax would strongly penalize the competitiveness of Air France, while the company needs to strengthen its investment capacity to accelerate the reduction of its environmental footprint, particularly in the context of the renewal of its fleet," responded the French company.

Try to repeat that three times in a row after a couple of beers.

Massive reforestation and massive deforestation: parallel worlds →

This was a weird week for forests and the climate. Two big stories dominated the headlines.

In Science (paywalled — summary here and here) researchers calculated how many CO2 emissions could be cancelled out by reforesting the earth.

In a parallel world, scary articles described the pace of deforestation in the Amazon — one football pitch a minute (see also: one football pitch a second worldwide).

My first impression was of a total absence of crosstalk between the two. This turned out to be false: see, e.g., here and here.

So what is it that bothered me?

Mostly the false hope embedded in the Science article. Like that feeling you get when someone is hiding behind a chair in a slasher movie and the dude with the sharp knife is in the middle of the room, sniffing for human.

False hope is a very strong “do nothing” motivator for members of society not ready to accept that their lifestyle is unsustainable.

[[And since when did the football field become an international unit of measurement? I feel this would be a good PhD project.]]

KLM suggests flying less →

This reminds me of the time McDonald’s France suggested kids shouldn’t eat there more than once a week.

It’s all part of KLM’s new “Fly Responsibly” campaign, which includes a website with information on its commitment to sustainable fuel and practices. A short video poses three questions to customers: Do meetings always have to take place face-to-face? Could you take the train instead? And could you contribute by compensating your CO2 emissions or packing light? “We all have to fly every now and again,” it concludes. “But next time, think about flying responsibly.”

“Flying responsibly” is oxymoronic.

What climate scientists do at home to save the planet →

Some of these people cottoned on to what we’re doing to the planet years ago. I feel like a late arrival to a fairly scary party.

I gave up flying in 2004. I’d just published a paper looking at the carbon emissions that come from climate scientists like me attending conferences, which academics do a lot. It would have been hypocritical for me to flag up flying as the major part of my carbon footprint, and then carry on doing it.

And:

I feel I need to be somewhere where I’m growing my own food, living in an eco-house, trying to live off-grid. It would give me some security; I don’t feel secure where I live in Cambridge at the moment – I’m concerned by thoughts like, “What would happen if I turned the tap on and there was no water?”. On our current trajectory, cities will not necessarily be safe places in the future – possibly within my own lifetime, certainly within my children’s.

And yet, I am surrounded by people who have not even started to get dressed for that party.

Hope is contagious →

That Greta kid is something else.

In Sweden, the most common argument that we shouldn’t act is that we are such a small country with only 10 million inhabitants – we should focus more on helping other countries. That is so incredibly frustrating, because why should we argue about who or what needs to change first? Why not take the leading role?

The photos with the two of them together must be a trick because Alexandria is in the US, and Greta the Swede refuses to fly.

Meanwhile, in Oregon →

On the run with a spare pair of undies.

One by one, Oregon’s 11 Senate Republicans fled their state with little more than spare underwear and their passports. They disappeared into Idaho cabins and motels with canned goods and at least one burner phone. They parked borrowed cars outside hideaways to throw off anyone on their trails.

Democrats swiftly sent state troopers after their missing colleagues. They shared outlaw posters on the internet, pleading to the public for help. “Wanted: fugitives from justice (and their jobs!),” the signs read, accompanied by a lineup of photographs of the Republicans. “Have you seen these people?”

Fun and games (and guns), but the planet is not amused.

44.3°C →

It got to 44.3°C (111.7°F) in Carpentras today, the hottest temperature ever recorded in France.

UPDATE: A little later, it hit 45.1°C (113.2°F) in Villevieille.

UPDATE: 45.9°C (114.6°F) in Gallargues-le-Montueux. This is 1.8°C hotter than any temperature ever recorded before in France. The old record was 44.1°C in 2003.

Manure self-ignites →

How hot was it today in Europe? This hot:

Firefighters in Spain are battling a major wildfire that probably started after a heap of manure self-ignited amid the intense European heat wave. 

Around 10,000 acres of forest and other vegetation were affected by the blaze near Tarragona in the country's north-east, according to the Catalan regional government.

Authorities said the fire likely began when an "improperly managed" pile of manure self-combusted in the heat, causing sparks.

Tomorrow may also see the hottest temperature ever recorded in France. Fun times.

Endlings →

You can almost taste the sadness in the word.

When animals die out, the last survivor is called an endling. It is a word of soft beauty, heartbreaking solitude, and chilling finality. The title was borne by Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island tortoise, after which George the snail was named. It unites Martha the passenger pigeon, Benjamin the thylacine, and Booming Ben the heath hen. It will eventually describe either Najin or Fatu, the two last northern white rhinos—both female, neither pregnant.

Endlings are avatars of loss. In the midst of Earth’s sixth mass extinction, these singular creatures embody the crisis facing our dwindling fauna—and our failure to avert it. By the time a species is down to its endling, it is functionally extinct. Caring for an endling can nonetheless serve as a final act of defiance, or perhaps contrition. Small wonder that the custodians of endlings often get very attached to them.