[MCN] "Cautious" IPCC scientists haven't been telling it like it is : the language of global warming “doesn't capture the scale of destruction."

[Lance Olsen]

EXCERPT : Even without an 11th positive feedback from the ocean, Hothouse Earth co-author Hans Joachim Schellnhuber has said the language of global warming “doesn't capture the scale of destruction <https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/12/13/after-30-years-studying-climate-scientist-declares-ive-never-been-worried-i-am-today?>." 

Much the same concern about the language we use to describe the rise of heat had already been expressed in an assessment by Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; “For decades, we called it ‘global warming,’ an innocuous-sounding phrase invoking a gentle increase in worldwide temperatures, like turning up the thermostat in a house.

“People asked, so the climate is getting warmer. Who cares?” said Michael B. McElroy, the Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies <https://www.seas.harvard.edu/directory/mbm> at Harvard University. “And scientists are partly to blame for that because of how we’ve described climate. <https://www.seas.harvard.edu/content/from-sea-to-rising-sea-climate-change-in-america>" 

Climate science has been struggling with this issue for years.

For example, in its October 13 2006 issue, Science quoted researcher Brian O’Neill’s concern that the IPCC reports don’t convey the full range of risks; “the extreme scenarios that tend to fall out of the IPCC process may be exactly the ones we should most worry about.”

In that same issue, Science quoted Michael Schlesinger, a climate scientist at the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign. Schlesinger remarked that, “Things are happening right now with the ice sheets that were not predicted to happen until 2100. My worry is that we may have passed the window of opportunity where learning is still useful.” 

Science returned to these concerns in June, 2007, quoting climate researcher Stefan Rahmstorf’s comment that, “The IPCC has been overly cautious in not wanting to give any large number to [future] sea-level rise.” 

Reporting that “Scientists are still trying to strike a balance between their habitual caution and growing concern over uncertain but disastrous greenhouse outcomes,” Science also quoted glaciologist Robert Thomas’ remark that, “ ‘Most scientists don’t want to, but I think we need a way to explore’ the extreme end of the range of possibilities.” Thomas told Science that  scientists need “a better way” than IPCC’s consensus approach, “so we can communicate with the public without becoming scaremongers.”

END EXCERPT
https://mountainjournal.org/why-rising-temps-mean-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it <https://mountainjournal.org/why-rising-temps-mean-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it>

==--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------==                    

“We don’t need to guard [ i.e., defend/protect ourselves ]  against depression, against anger, against despair when it comes to climate change.”

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2017/07/we_are_not_alarmed_enough_about_climate_change.html <http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2017/07/we_are_not_alarmed_enough_about_climate_change.html>


==——————-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------—==

Excerpt:  "Environmental psychologist Susi Moser, also talks about the importance of acknowledging our underlying fears and distress about climate change as an important coping strategy. Moser (2012) calls it ‘the bravest thing’ – getting real, accepting reality without illusions, and accepting that better tomorrows may not come.”

https://www.isthishowyoufeel.com/blog/how-do-people-cope-with-feelings-about-climate-change-so-that-they-stay-engaged-and-take-action <https://www.isthishowyoufeel.com/blog/how-do-people-cope-with-feelings-about-climate-change-so-that-they-stay-engaged-and-take-action>


================
The heads of two major central banks have written a stark warning about the financial risks of climate change.

"If some companies and industries fail to adjust to this new world, they will fail to exist," they wrote.
The letter was co-signed by the chair of the climate-focused Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS).

Mr Carney and Mr Villeroy de Galhau describe "the catastrophic effects of climate change" <https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2019/april/open-letter-on-climate-related-financial-risks> already having an impact on the planet

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2019/april/open-letter-on-climate-related-financial-risks <https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2019/april/open-letter-on-climate-related-financial-risks>

##########################################

With Climate Losses Rising, Central Banks Push Greener Finance ... <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-17/with-climate-losses-rising-central-banks-push-greener-finance>
With Climate Losses Rising, Central Banks Push Greener Finance. By ... Report serves as roadmap to spur change by banks, regulators.

Central Banks Are Thinking Greener as Climate Change Hits Policy ... <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-02/central-banks-are-thinking-greener-as-climate-change-hits-policy>
Apr 2, 2019 - Climate change is increasingly affecting the world's central banks and their monetary policies.

Climate change challenges for central banks and financial regulators <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018NatCC...8..462C>adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018NatCC...8..462C <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018NatCC...8..462C>
by E Campiglio - ‎2018 - ‎Cited by 20 <https://scholar.google.com/scholar?rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS737US737&um=1&ie=UTF-8&lr&cites=3503031769075491609> - ‎
Related articles <https://scholar.google.com/scholar?rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS737US737&um=1&ie=UTF-8&lr&q=related:GSOniNVEnTD33M:scholar.google.com/>
Title: Climate change challenges for central banks and financial regulators. Authors: Campiglio, Emanuele; Dafermos, Yannis; Monnin, Pierre; Ryan-Collins, ...
DOI‎:‎10.1038/s41558-018-0175-0


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