What Will the Planet Look Like in 2050 if We Don't Stop Climate Change? | Amanpour and Company

If there's a silver lining to the climate crisis, it's visible in the skies above China. The dramatic slowdown in manufacturing and driving has caused a reduction in carbon emissions and an improvement in China's air quality. Someone who has dedicated her life to climate change policy is Christiana Figueres, architect of the 2015 Paris Agreement. In her new book "The Future We Choose," she urges us to harness our technological, political, and economic potential to create long-term solutions. In the face of the very real threat climate change poses to our planet, Figueres tells contributor Sheelah Kolhatkar why she doesn’t lose hope.
Originally aired on March 9, 2020.
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Amanpour and Company features wide-ranging, in-depth conversations with global thought leaders and cultural influencers on the issues and trends impacting the world each day, from politics, business and technology to arts, science and sports. Christiane Amanpour leads the conversation on global and domestic news from London with contributions by prominent journalists Walter Isaacson, Michel Martin, Alicia Menendez and Hari Sreenivasan from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City.
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[@JaseboMonkeyRex]

I love this woman's hope and positivity.... I just don't share it given the mendacity of the world's leaders, the power of the corporations, and growing religious extremism.... But I do agree we need to fight. We can't allow our pessimistic attitudes to stop us from even trying!!

[@davidlafleche1142]

Man cannot cause "Climate Change," nor can man prevent "Climate Change." Besides, if this liar were really concerned about "Climate Change," then she would demand severe punishment for China's pollution.

[@jimwatchyyc]

@@davidlafleche1142 What nonsense! Luckily, you are in an ever increasing minority.

[@scottgraver6792]

The only real religion on this planet is green. I they can eat their money.

[@doobidoo095]

CO2 at 0.04% is a 2,500th of the atmosphere. That means to warm the climate by just 1"C carbon dioxide molecules must capture 2500"C of heat energy. That is bonkers. It also breaks all the laws of thermodynamics. Methane at 0.00017% is a 600,000th of the atmosphere so it's even more bonkers. However, the climate is changing. This is because of deliberate geoengineering programmes, in particular ozone thinning away from the poles. Though largely unreported ozone thinning effect is directly observable, this summer you can see a unnaturally bright sun just as we did last year. Under these conditions the pain felt when looking at the sun is not only from the increase in visible light but the much larger increase in infrared. (Look up at the sky and you will see a range of geoengineering operations in progress, these include chemtrail induced cloud or hazing, ripple patterns caused by HAARP installations, bizarre and unnatural cloud formations). Climate change is a programme to force change in accordance with the implementation of Agenda 21 /2030. Current events demonstrate this transition is well underway and will involve massive population cull through injected nanotech (re transhumanist programme). Agenda 21 also sees the permanent loss of all property rights with the introduction of universal basic income (ref NESARA/GESARA) and has/is being promoted by The World Economic Forum. 'You will own nothing and you will be happy' WEF In a depopulated world the surviving brainwashed and controlled population will be confined to mega cities. Carbon limits will be used to restrict consumption and liberty. Meanwhile the re-greened wilderness will be the exclusive playground of the ultra rich elite posing as conservationists. The CO2 hoax amounts to the theft of the world and the enslavement of humanity by a parasitic few. Welcome to the future! _________ I have included a debunking of 'accumulated heat' as it is so often used to explain how trace elements, so called 'greenhouse gasses', can warm the planet. Accumulated heat whilst sounding a reasonable explanation of how heat can build up is rather nothing more than gobbledygook. In fact it shows those using such arguments do not even understand what heat is. When we measure temperature we are measuring the heat energy a thing is losing. In short heat is a measurement of flow, the transfer of heat energy and this will always be in the direction towards the colder. For this reason a thing can never 'accumulate heat' in the way those advocating CO2 climate change describe. The temperature of a body is the measure of heat output, it can never be greater than the measure of heat input. Output = input. When a thing is warmed it is heated to an equivalent of the heat input. If this input is not maintained it will cool. Those that propose that heat can build up to be hotter than the total measure of heat input at a given time either do not understand what heat is or are being deliberately misleading. To illustrate, an object being heated by a flame can never become hotter than that flame, it's temperature cannot rise inexorably to the temperature of the sun for instance. Heat cannot be accumulated. When we think about it common sense tells us this must be the case. NASA and even Nobel Prize winning physicists have expounded 'accumulated heat' as the explanation how CO2 is able to warm the atmosphere. They claim that over hundreds of years CO2 has captured heat energy and this heat has 'accumulated' to produce a serious warming effect. As I have just explained, this is totally impossible and fundamentally violates all the laws of thermodynamics. That respected scientists should support such uneducated, unthinking nonsense is disturbing and only reflects that in terms of being able to think clearly about a subject they have no facility or inclination. These are the Dark Ages of science. Belief has outweighed logic or any critical thought. It tells us that we should not unquestioningly accept anything we are told, that experts can be fools. (NB: be aware of attempts to discard thermodynamics by talking about biology. Eg. 'It only takes a drop of arsenic to kill a person.' This would be somewhat desperate, muddled thinking. Clearly biological processes based on the reaction of a cell are not the same as the laws of physics/thermodynamics).

[@scottgraver6792]

@@doobidoo095 :)

[@markschuette3770]

this is not just about humans ! its about all the other life that we depend upon, make this planet amazing, and that makes our lives worth living.

[@michellebeckstrom6110]

you have a perception that, sadly, many don't have

[@BogoEN]

This 100%.

[@johnwang9914]

Over the past fifty years, ocean fish stock has declined by 90%. Over the same timeframe, we've gone from 30 species of tigers to the current 3. As far as other species are concerned, we've already been in a mass extinction scenario for decades.

[@livthedream5885]

John wang. 😢. So true.

[@markschuette3770]

@@johnwang9914 WOW this should be front page news! thanks

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

"We did everything we could" would be BS. That statement is really saying "We did what we could without causing us discomfort" Doing what is necessary means discomfort, restrictions, going without unnecessary consumption, regenerative lifestyles, etc. etc.

[@alistairmaleficent8776]

What depresses me is, when you talk to young people, there is absolutely zero tolerance for the idea that their lifestyles must change in order to save the planet. Even those who are radically Leftist just want to blame the billionaires and ignore any possibility that their own behavior may factor into the sustainability of the biosphere. I agree that the billionaires are to blame, but so are we. We wantonly consume all of the bullshit that they feed us, and they wouldn't exist if we didn't. Get mad at Jeff Bezos, but realize that the only way to get rid of him and save the planet is to stop buying stupid consumer bullshit from him.

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

@@alistairmaleficent8776 exactly! I always bite back at those people. They blame the billionaires yet constantly buying the billionaires useless crap and trying to get "rich"! They blame the politicians yet they are the ones that vote in con artists that promise them riches.

[@alistairmaleficent8776]

@@ecocentrichomestead6783 Yea.. most of them are urban or suburban, and it's difficult for them to imagine a lifestyle that's less affluent than the one they grew up in. It's just ironic that they seem to worship the noble Working Class, without ever actually having had to deal with the material conditions of that class. They think we're going to be able to raise all working class people to the standard of living that upper-class liberals enjoy, and somehow they don't understand that that is completely unsustainable for the planet. The solution is not going to be in raising everyone up to the neoliberal lifestyle, but in bringing that lifestyle back down to a sustainable level. This is not to say, of course, that people in poverty should just deal with it; we definitely need to address that as well, but I think most people in poverty just want to not have to live a strictly subsistence lifestyle. They're not trying to become millionaires; they just don't want a system that conspires to keep them living so precariously that any unplanned expenditure, like a medical issue, is catastrophic.

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

@@alistairmaleficent8776 WRT poverty, it depends on ones definition of poverty. In the developed countries, rich, poor, middle class is a relative thing. You are rich if most people are less financially secure than you are. Ie. it's not how much you have but how much you have relative to everyone else that lives around you! That is an extremely unsustainable attitude! My definition of poverty is when you can't obtain the resources to have: 1. a comfortable home that protects you from natures elements 2. food to maintain a healthy weight and nutrition level 3. health care when the inevitable health issues arise. Countries like Canada and the USA can easily eliminate poverty, within their borders, with the stroke of a pen. I get $600/mth Canadian, but I do have those three necessities. So I tell people, "I'm not poor, I just don't have any money!"

[@alistairmaleficent8776]

@@ecocentrichomestead6783 Agreed, but I would add perhaps a couple of things to my wishlist: the ability to obtain education, and to pursue creative outlets connected to that. I don't think it's enough to just allow people to live without worrying about their basic human needs. We have more than enough economic output to allow people to thrive intellectually if they so choose. The upshot of this of course is also that with higher and higher levels of access to education, we ensure that our collective ability to overcome existential crises as a species increases. We can only go so far on the backs of an elite core of technicians before we run across a problem that's going to require more brainpower to solve. Whether that's climate change or the rise of General Artificial Intelligence or new pandemics (or all three, probably), we're in a massively better position to deal with them if more of the populace rises out of intellectual poverty. And of course I just think people are happier too if they have the ability to understand the world more accurately and feel that they have a better ability to interact with it and create with it in meaningful ways. Then also there's the guarantee of increasing political instability if we don't at least try to help people become more informed and to think more critically.

[@patriciamasterson4721]

My next birthday will be 80. Most of my life living sustainably. Studying biodynamic agriculture. World change must be accelerated. 😲👵💜

[@christinearmington]

Blessings 🕊😇🥰

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

Actually, no one alive today is living sustainably. The second we rely on fossil fuels, in becomes unsustainable. Now, if we took 4 million years to burn the fossil fuels we burned in the past 100 years, it might be sustainable!

[@denisdaly1708]

best wishes.

[@intreoo]

Happy birthday in advance!

[@stephengleve9815]

Those who care are powerless and those that don't own shares.

[@johnwang9914]

Only in that it will take all of our efforts to make a difference. We may be individually be powerless but it is only in getting more people to care that there would be the power to make a difference.

[@aob4214]

100% and concisely put. A perfect phrase to some of what’s happening and what isn’t happening. And destroyed who says that she is 50% sure that something will be done that’s not good enough the world is done by billionaires and governments are ruled by dead interests so another words were fucked

[@alfredotto7525]

I wonder what it will take for the whole of humanity to realize just how precarious of a situation we are in.

[@TheSateef]

never, just look at covid vaccines, people would rather die that admit they are wrong

[@rightround1940]

> When it affects them directly, some climate change deniers will probably scapegoat a group they feel threatened by. The others will not have lived long enough to see their error.

[@lostpony4885]

Extinction might get our attention whoops too late.

[@mikeryan7213]

So have you given up carbon? Have you stopped using air conditioning? Stopped flying? Stopped using automobiles? Stopped wasting food?

[@alfredotto7525]

@@mikeryan7213 while I haven't given those things up. I am still carbon negative. I have a cattle farm and I use regenerative ag. Practices. I would be on solar, but it is not readily available here. I would do it myself but I know just enough about it electricity to get myself killed. When Oklahoma moves out of the nineteenth century I will be getting it.

[@Hili24pur]

She is so right , but her time line is off . Its going to come much quicker .

[@fabiengerard8142]

Once a chain reaction begins, it won’t stop nor even getting any slower. That’s what some very serious scientists have already been naming for decades the « abrupt collapse »… Nobody listened.

[@scottgraver6792]

It has already started. We should have done all this 20yrs ago. Now it is too late to do anything worth stopping what is coming.

[@helentaylor7132]

@@scottgraver6792 Yes, it's late, but that's no excuse to not try! If all individuals, like you and me, do what they can where they are in their daily choices, it does make a difference collectively. Even a small difference is better than none. Saying it's too late is just an excuse to do nothing.

[@scottgraver6792]

@@helentaylor7132 You are absolutely right All those thing would have been great 20yrs ago. At this point we are seeing the tip of the iceberg. I belonged to the 350 club back in the 80s. Talked about this to everyone and they all said I was crazy. I am now 64 and don't see my crazy now. I see what climatologists have been telling us for years. Anything we do now is just a band aid on a bullet hole. You really need to do your research better. Try checking out co2.earth. I am a Naturist I follow the ways of the planet not the way of humans. This is a global problem and will continue to worsen as time goes on. What is happening here in America is happening all over the globe. My children and grandkids will curse me for what condition i have left this place. But then they called me crazy also.

[@johnwang9914]

Well the window to take significant action is now and even with the promises from political leaders, our efforts will not be enough as well as being too late. The path we're on even if we tried to do what's needed will likely lead to the desperation of geo-engineering and active atmospheric CO₂ capture. We have educational films from 1958 ("The Unchained Goddess") that mentioned global warming and we hardly did anything since then. I just see everyone expecting engineers to do something at great cost and risks as we wait too long to do anything effective.

[@evadd2]

Thank you, Ms Figueres. I'm a high school teacher and gets harder every day and year to stand up in front of the students and keep acting like it isn't an existential threat. Thank you for your passion.

[@michaelnice93]

🤮

[@remcovanek2]

@@michaelnice93 not nice

[@meowyimeow]

Stop acting then! Your students will be middle-aged adults by 2050. We need the young people to get on board because previous generations have messed up.

[@evadd2]

@@meowyimeow What I'm referring to is acknowledging other things as important. I already emphasize my concerns around climate change as the most important thing in their present and future.

[@KM-pm6qe]

We all need to stop pretending there isn’t the equivalent of an asteroid heading straight for earth.

[@yongy2000]

The universe will just continue without missing a beat if humanity didn't exist.

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

Very true. The concern is not about the universe, the galaxy, the solar system, or even earth. In reality, the concern is not about life on earth. Because if we (humans) don't exist, we have no reason to care if anything else exists. The true concern is the pain and hardship we are inflicting on humanity. It has now become evident and will continue to get worst each year.

[@lindellbohannon5849]

You are so right. Makes one humble when I think about it.

[@livthedream5885]

EcoCentric Homestead. I don’t know if you meant your comment to sound as it does-as if only human life is valuable or worthwhile. But… we live in a web of interdependent relations with all of life on this planet. Our extinction will not make other life left on the planet less worthwhile simply because we aren’t here to enjoy (and abuse and exploit) it. I am only sad that our ecocidal tendencies are taking so much other life with us into this destruction.

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

@@livthedream5885 what I meant to convey was that, as humans, our concern is the continuation of the human species. Each species fights for its own survival. Wolves care about wolves Bears care about bears Rabbits care about rabbits. The Climate change discussion is about human survival. Not about wither anything else will go on.

[@livthedream5885]

With all due respect, the discussion is about all of it. The majority of humans may care only about humans, and even only for themselves and their direct kinfolk. (Remember there are tensions between individual, kinship, tribal, and finally species wide competition for resources and fitness.). However if we are to claim some “difference” from other animals based on ability to reason ethics and morals, then our concern must exceed our own species. I know many humans who feel as I do regarding this. I don’t think being hyper reductionist makes a person smart.

[@tieflingcorpse9817]

you dont even need to ask a scientist to see the effects anymore. like just look outside at this point

[@elizabethbennet4791]

bingo

[@DLFfitness1]

When life gets tough, people turn to fantasy.

[@T1tusCr0w]

Its the human way. I mean we invented god. Then money, then made money god.Ans then Financialisation became the priesthood with economists as cardinal’s. All of this to get a resource we essentially invented. Only resources are real and entropy of them as we use them. Everything else is just a bedtime story.

[@tomjohn8733]

This was very optimistic, however, One of the problems is we have a capitalistic system that profits from disasters, those first responders, who get paid to rescue others and a law enforcement organization that protect those in power and land lords (Lords!!} to evict people who can’t afford the rents that keep rising as the real estate keep increasing the value of the land, and taxes which gives landlords the excuse to increase the rents…

[@donrayjay]

“We won’t be able to move down the street without putting a mask on” - this woman is a prophet!

[@user-jq2wg6vk4p]

It won’t be for disease. It will be from air quality. They will be much more complicated than Pisces of cloth.

[@LarryCleveland]

It's happening now. It's been happening on a certain level. Millions have died from pollution alone. We are in a slow cooker with the hands of greed and envy turning up the heat.

[@nicolatesla5786]

Actually its more then that. Humans have a Carbon foot print and it starts the day you wear diapers in the hospital to the day you are placed in a casket or cremated. I did a estimate based on 20k bls of carbon the Average American produces and its about 1.2 million bls of carbon emissions. What does it look like on a yearly basis kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXeXn6Rmm9irnqM

[@firefighterps2]

Mother nature may take care of the fifty percent reduction of polluters necesary to achieve this goal!

[@joshspry1]

This is the moment our species will ascend or will die

[@jankelsey9738]

You’re exactly right. There is no middle ground in this instance. Either we mature as a species really damn fast, or we literally end our existence on this planet.

[@bloodybonescomic]

There is a tiny minority of humans who understand. But the vast majority cannot or will not become educated. Our odds of extreme evolution are impossible.

[@jankelsey9738]

@@bloodybonescomic I’m going to hold onto some hope that whatever higher power one believes in doesn’t want widespread natural destruction and societal collapse, and that a rapid evolution is at least possible, however personally I’m not hopeful there will be a drastic change without extreme human suffering.

[@lostpony4885]

That moment is 50 years behind us. We chose badly.

[@KM-pm6qe]

Best comment.

[@nathangant7636]

The predicted amounts of atmospheric CO2 may be reaching 1000ppm by 2100, at current 2.22% yearly increases of carbon emissions from human activity: CO2 level = 280*( 1+exp(0.0222(year-2052)) ) assuming the growth rate is constant at 2.22%. This equation is accurate from beginning of Industrial Age to current, although exponential nature of curve isn’t really starting to show up until after year x = 1880AD with f(x) = 280 ppm of atmospheric CO2 (approx). It really starts to take off around 2030AD. Ten years from now. Everything is baked into the cake at this point. No way to put all the CO2 emissions being dumped into atmosphere back into the ground before the worst effects begin to take over. Overheated planet, flooded coasts, loss of traditional agricultural outputs, mass starvation and regional conflicts related to all of above, etc. Even more important is the fact that as much as 75-80% of the Earth's oxygen is coming from the ocean: phytoplankton, microalgae, etc. The ocean covers about ¾ of the planet while on land, all the plants and trees on land produce about 25% of the oxygen. This is the 20% solution yet I applaud anyone and everyone who are planting more trees on land. Unfortunately once plant life dies off in the ocean due to degassing and anoxic conditions developing in the seas, it will soon cause a substantial drop in oxygen on the entire surface of the planet. And an unavoidable mass extinction of all complex life on Earth. Protecting the planet must be focused on the oceans as much as on land.

[@myplan8166]

After you told the story, your last sentence is some kind of a bad joke. But i am with you. You are totally right.

[@clutchcargo2419]

Canada has much more intelligent broadcasting than the US. Thank god we can get their broadcasting in the US. Thank you Canada !

[@jthompson6189]

Given our meaningful change will require us to fundamentally change how we live, no electricity, transportation and growing our own food, there is such a low chance we will change. The humans capable of that change will not survive because of the huge numbers unwilling.

[@elliott8175]

Electricity isn't an issue if the source is renewable. Also, we _do_ grow our own food. It's less resource intensive to use large industrial farms than to grow food in your backyard - even if the farms are on the other side of the world (emissions caused by shipping isn't as much as you'd think, and is nothing compared to inefficient farming in your backyard). But yeah, to switch to renewables is going to require world-wide governmental focus (at least for the big countries). I'm not optimistic either.

[@1suitcasesal]

People are not going to give up their cars and hamburgers. We're doomed.

[@tieflingcorpse9817]

i mean companies are more at fault for global warming

[@1suitcasesal]

Soft butch tiefling, we all have responsibility in this. I'm not saying that you are right but it's possible that you are. Even if you are the question is, how long do you want to live? How long do you want to live a reasonably healthy normal life? How long do you want to have clean drinkable water? What will the quality of your life really be like with 400,000,000 water refugees traveling the planet in search of water? What about the possible water wars that may come? How will those effect your life and freedom and happiness? The time for blame is not now. The time for each and everyone one of us to act and change and adapt is right now, today. Next week, next month, next year might be too late.

[@1suitcasesal]

Dr. Eugene R Livingston III I know it's all over. I knew it 20 years ago. I told my family to move or stay where there plenty of water. I live in the southwest in the middle of nowhere. It is next to million acre cattle ranches. I see what is happening by living out here. The mismanagement and overgrazing of cattle is destroying the earth. When grass is grazed down to dirt it creates a cycle where the aqufirs cannot refill. The earth and sky cannot work together to bring rain. With no water wildlife cannot survive. I feel like I am out here seeing all of this while even 20 miles away in town and of course in all the big cities people just go about there daily lives as if nothing has changed. I feel helpless to tell them what is happening. They probably would not believe me. I don't think humans can accept the truth and maybe they do not realize what actions they need to take. Thank you for your response to my comment.

[@baassiia]

Due to covid many companies switch to work from home. It's great for family life, lower our costs and commuting time. In addition we are reducing ours cars from 2 to 1 - no need for more ;)

[@mroudemus410]

My daughter is seventeen and she is so worried that she will not be able to see her thirties. I keep watching everything unraveling in the wrong direction because governments cannot work together for the common good. What do I tell her? I cannot hide the fact that I am worried myself and feel so sad that together, all humans, let this happen to our beautiful world. Amazing words for Figueres.

[@carlawright2010]

😥

[@jthompson6189]

My kids are younger and I worry what their life will look like. We live in northern Canada, so the "green" zone as the earth warms. But, given how many displaced people there will be, resource shortages and countries hoarding world destroying nukes, the future really looks bleek. Will my kids be able to have a wedding? Buy a house? Start a family? I doubt it. I envy the climate change deniers, sounds like blissful ignorance. Give me the blue pill.

[@sdmakeupandentertainment]

Rest assured things are going to implode before that so you'll be able to see it too. It's going to happen much much sooner than even the most staunch climate scientists are warning about. ⚠️

[@stephenvanwoert2447]

Optimism about the future, setting goals without action, is merely dreaming and wishful thinking. That's the Paris Agreement. Where's the action? Greta Thunberg and her generation are calling for action, not optimism. This woman is a dreamer. There will be 2 billion more people on the planet by 2050, with their demand on resources. They will want to live like the "rich countries." Is this factored in?

[@allanpowell7208]

It would be a sorry state when the little girl and her followers are acted upon. They are silly children you adult smokejack.

[@kirstinstrand6292]

This woman is fulfilling some self created role. Who is she? I must be misjudging her.

[@alistairmaleficent8776]

@Geoffrey Harris Uh.. you do realize the United States is not the only country that exists, right?

[@frankponcherello4983]

The Paris agreement, what a joke! We pay millions if not billions in order to do what? Increase our deficit rather than using that money for helping people in this country rather than giving it away so some politician can feel good about his role in saving the planet, oh boy...we are so gullible.

[@rightround1940]

@@frankponcherello4983 < How much money does the military industrial complex siphon off taxpayers for the forever wars?

[@cynicalfairy]

I first learned about the greenhouse effect and global warming in 7th grade; that was back in 1997. I have no hope honestly.

[@Eric-ye5yz]

2016 will be year people remember as the year the USA went into reverse, china will take the lead and the USA will be too late, but it will be trying to catch up but getting further behind.

[@citizenschallengeYT]

@@Eric-ye5yz For me it was 1969 when I entered high school, fifty years, that's insane. WE KNEW! WE KNEW!, we really did have a chance then, we knew everything we needed to and yes god dammit the fundamentals of Climate Science were settled and nothing of any significance has changed since the 80. Understanding has gotten sharper, more focus, but it still the same story It's The Atmospheric Insulation Stupid!!! Everything else is moving heat around and cascading consequences. All of the many "uncertainties" were, are Chump Change compared to what was understood and settled by the end of the '80 at the latest - but we were all too busy partying while our leaders continued with their self-serving disconnected from Earth's physical reality power games. Hang on, the ride is going to start getting rough. The terrifying thing is that this is simply the beginning, we ain't seen nothing yet. p.s. confrontingsciencecontrarians.blogspot.com/2019/12/diary-rhetorical-jujutsu-caseinpoint.html

[@SteelFisher]

I was 8 years old in 1988 when when we exceeded probable safe level of 350ppm CO2. I'm 40 now. When Gore lost in 2000 I knew we were screwed. The political and media environment has only got worse since then.

[@Eric-ye5yz]

@@citizenschallengeYT …. You had a head start on me, it was 8 or 10 years ago I started taking serious notice of what was happening in the world of climate change. In my young days I could not imagine such a huge atmosphere filling with CO2 and other pollutants.

[@MrMirville]

@@Eric-ye5yz For me the emergency is not climate change it is the total destruction of the USA to carry out as fast as possible with all means of destruction available to mankind even if that means doubling the CO2 for that specific operation.

[@jb-fp2vs]

go see the glaciers in Canada she has never even seen the melted glaciers in Europe the ski areas that where covered with plastic to stop them from melting it is already toooo late

[@sweettony9359]

I watched most of this video before I had to stop. She is saying that either everything is going to go to shit or everything is going to be great. Yes, if we continue the way we are today it will go to shit. No question. But just making strides in the right direction is not going to help. If your stove is on 10 the water boils. If you turn it down to 7 it s STILL pretty f*cking hot. Are we shooting for mere survival of the species at this point? Say we do most everything that needs to be done to survive. Where does that leave us? It leaves us on 7. A dystopian nightmare and THAT is not going to be a place anyone will want to be. No, we need drastic measures right NOW! This is the time to panic, not write dreamy books and laugh about the good times to come because, well, "We are smart, positive people with technology." I expected much, much more from this "expert".

[@thepandaman]

I guess it's a fine line in pushing some people into nihilism and despair if they repeatedly get told the world is going to be a dystopian nightmare, vs providing hope (if only a fool's hope). Personally I prefer being told the cold, harsh truth that we're pretty screwed already, it's just a matter of how screwed. But different people react in different ways. If you live in a democracy, politicians can only go as fast as they can bring the people along with them - or they just get voted out next term. So you might achieve 4-5 years of the necessarily strict measures, and then u-turn when people revolt against it and elect the party promising to repeal all those measures.

[@os2171]

Man, we the scientist, we do our job, taking data, analyzing an publishing… the vast majority of the citizens of the world, and in particular the citizens of the industrialized world specifically the US, China and Europe are not only responsible but guilty of their greedy and lazy way of life… picking up fascist politicians to keep their way of life!

[@TukozAki]

To @Sweet Tony assertion I'd say: Going from 7 to 5 and then lower still, is a totaly different life -- for the *next* generation -- than going from 10 to 8 and then lower.

[@lostpony4885]

Its hard to watch. When she got to only a few cars and vined climbing up the walls that sounds nice because the people are gone. We are a scourge and life will begin to recover when we've gone. If theres any left.

[@coolworx]

It's been too late since the 90's. Feedback loops were tripped 30 years ago.

[@DavidMartin-ms6fc]

Exactly everyone keeps talking about 2050, 2080 etc…we’re screwed now…our species will be long gone by 2050

[@geoengr3]

It's also hard to believe the leadership in USA has known about this danger since the Johnson administration. 😱

[@elizabethbennet4791]

@@DavidMartin-ms6fc nooooo

[@mtn1793]

The only feedback loop tripped 30 years ago was the one for petro greed.

[@TheSateef]

@@DavidMartin-ms6fc not gone, but definitely hurting

[@USMCCGAGNG]

Listen to older people. They’ve seen the changes and can tell you how fast things are going to hell.

[@johnely5050]

If half of the world's population planted two trees, small or large that would be a great help to the planet. My wife and I have planted over 300 trees on our 1 acre property and another 400 other plants.

[@scottwhite7789]

I think governments need to start tearing down old unused buildings and rip up any concrete or pavement that is essentially sitting unused for many decades. These areas that are unused and unwanted should be made into green spaces. Put plant life there, trees, grass, flowers etc. There's too much bloody cement!

[@Matira269]

@@scottwhite7789 I like where you are going, but with human populations increasing exponentially, I believe that even more construction will follow.

[@Azamat421]

Fuck no

[@misterguts]

How ever bad things looked in March of 2020, they look even worse a year and a half later.

[@johnwang9914]

50/50, she's far more optimistic than I. The choice is between the two futures but the weighting of the chances are not equal and worsens with every moment.

[@koteek8657]

Yes we can make positive change and prevent this disaster, but the power to make that change is in the hands of people who care more about dollar signs.

[@Jeremy-WC]

Straws and thinking oil executives will do the right thing? Her description of 2050 is incredibly optimistic. Everything that is necessary? Collapse the economy, ration everything, population control, ending 95% of global trade. Even with all that as a starter we have to get really lucky that there is not to many consequences from whatever geo engineering we attempt and that the feedback loops occurring in the ocean and permafrost stabilize as there is no tech fix for them.

[@benjamincasteillo3233]

"I've been a psychotherapist for over 25 years, and when I ponder our response to Climate Change, I find that it is not a deficit of affect (feeling) in people that creates apathy. People aren't apathetic when it comes to climate change! What keeps people from responding is a surplus of affect/feeling that is too overwhelming to meet without capable support. Climate change denial/apathy (on a personal level) is a skillful response to protect the psyche from getting overwhelmed. But, together we can (and must ) meet our excess of grief...our lives depend on it." Jonathan Gustin, founder of Purpose Guides Institute

[@vallee7966]

It’s far too late for any effective response.

[@benjamincasteillo3233]

@@vallee7966 pretty good belief to justify carelessness and selfisness

[@vallee7966]

@@benjamincasteillo3233 I agree. Except that personally, I’m not, but then, I don’t need to explain anything at all to you. Telling us we can still “work together” is ridiculously naive & fantasy thinking. Look around you. Tell me what you see.

[@benjamincasteillo3233]

@@vallee7966 I see that we do not know how to work together, and that we are in vital need to learn. I see that we are blind to what tears us apart, and that opening our eyes is a first mandatory step.

[@vallee7966]

@@benjamincasteillo3233 I’m sorry to tell you that we are OUT OF TIME. We’re further apart than ever before. We’ve been warned since before the 1980s.

[@tapuit1]

Profound, certainly the last 2 minutes of this interview

[@alexhosten1508]

The opinion that we are fucked should not stop you from doing everything you can. That doesn't mean that that isn't the correct opinion.

[@TsukimiTube]

Very similar to Kristin Leo’s “my morning routine in 2050” video. We have the power to change this future. Go vegan, buy less stuff, reduce plastic, save water etc. Everyone can do something , but the problem is, most people aren’t doing anything... We can’t leave it to the leaders!!

[@michellebeckstrom6110]

I effing hate plastic and the proliferation of it everywhere but the bulk of the burden about it has been unwittilngly transferred to the ave. consumer. Companies that sell stuff in unneeded plastic NEED TO STOP. Hemp should be explored more as well as other bio-degradable materials.

[@openworld595]

50 - 50. No your thinking the super rich and government are up to the task at hand. More like 30 - 70

[@trumpetbo1731]

No 50/50 becuase if we collectively do something then we can make a change

[@MrMirville]

@@trumpetbo1731 Collective bodies never carry out right decisions. Big collective bodies always act like lynch mobs : killing the most innocent and most intelligent.

[@mtn1793]

@@MrMirville Thats the psychopaths that claw their way to the top of a mob. The collective that FDR put together was astonishing.

[@kirstinstrand6292]

5/95. Who thinks Government Policy is effective re Climate Change? Furthermore, World Leaders DO NOT discuss such Realities with competing Countries.

[@kirstinstrand6292]

Stop FANTASIZING.

[@larrytaylor693]

One year ago today we are seeing a one in a thousand years heat/ drought over the western United States it's just the start of summer record breaking temps are now

[@psikeyhackr6914]

As long as you allow economists to ignore the Depreciation of durable consumer goods and the depreciation of the garbage then you have not done everything you could.

[@helenpatterson3858]

I love watching the girl (woman) doing the interview. Watch her face. She's there, check out reactive expressions. Controlled but not hidden.

[@antonycanova52]

The negative scenario she describes sounds about right. The positive scenario is so ludicrous as to be not worth listening to. There is zero possibility of turning earth into a paradise now. The carbon we have already put into the atmosphere will linger for the next thousand years, causing horrible problems.

[@joaquinmisajr.1215]

2050?! My dear... we do not have 10 years

[@sweettony9359]

agreed

[@KikogamerJ2]

Well 10 years I will be 24 or 25 that's not thus bad

[@andreadaerice]

Brilliant! I always learn so much from the excellent interviews on this channel. Thank you :)

[@nabaligistinala7052]

Welly spoken, very impactful

[@robertpowell6081]

You are right in your voice that we do have hope if world leaders put environmental impact first

[@gustavorabino9353]

After listen to this i know for sure nothing will change since most of the world population cant afford to even plan long-term because they have a lot of poverty and haven't managed to fix the more pressing issues in the short term. If we want to really stop global warming and climate change then we should first stop conflicts, war, feed everyone, educate a lot of people, give them jobs, build the necessary infrastructure to provide with basic needs like fresh water and then you can start transitioning from burning fossil fuel to produce energy trough other means. Only the things you need to do in non-developed countries to start addressing global warming will take you 20-30 years at least and at the same time poor countries are the ones that are doing the most for the world since they live with very few, they do not have cars or consume things they do not need and live overcrowded, look at India for instance. So is more up to developed countries to fix their share and to reduce consumption, to not buy a car even an electric one, do not have children, do not save on property, use a bike or public transportation, migrate to less populated cities, work from home, eat less meat, live in less space, in community houses or hostels and produce your own energy from renewable sources. So if what the lady says is true we may very well be living the last years of the world as we know it and will be experiencing the end of an age of science, growth and technological advances. Maybe in a 100 years we will look at the past and talk about the age of wonders like we have looked at the roman empire during the dark ages. I think before 2050 we will have a huge war, as species that is what happens when we are too many and resources are not enough. But one think i hate the most is the so call positivists that actually do not do shit, talk about what we should do and they don't actually do a thing just write wishes on a book and believing that they are doing something. This lady does not even know the world, maybe 1 year in India without money will educate a lot of people before playing hero with beatifull speeches or politics.

[@EhHandleNow]

Bulshit! What are you doing to save the world? As a social animal, every one has its role in society. If everybody quits their job to teach a year in India to save the world, your imaginary world will be saved. Bulshit!

[@khiggins7231]

This woman seems very grounded and that’s why her predictions are so frightening.

[@RustOnWheels]

This did not age well 😬 2021: Welcome to 2050!

[@brucemarston5344]

There is nothing more free than personal responsibility.

[@jb-fp2vs]

metal straws????? has she never been to a steel mill or she would have seen that mining for the minerals for making metal is also destroying the earth

[@baassiia]

Each holidays, my sister and I, spend on my granparents small farm, we used straw if we want have straw 🤷‍♀️ I belive this is what we can call sustainable living. Life was so good, best memories ever. We were always dirty and happy.

[@bonnieforman9700]

If only one greedy billionaire would lose a dime to save the environment, we don't have a hope in Hell.

[@michaelcloud4909]

where does she get these probabilities? She's talking about probabilities of governmental, corporate and individual action, how on earth does she assign probabilities out 25 years to these? By making them up? by making them up. This is blowing smoke for the middle class. This is happy talk, that guarantees nothing gets done.

[@TwasNeverThus2]

100% agreed. I don't think we have 10 years

[@grevberg]

We can chose that if we're major shareholders in the 20 most polluting industries. If not it's all over!

[@reuireuiop0]

Most important issue on short term starts at 4min45. Mass migration to get away from the worst stricken areas, and rich countries putting up walls against it, getting politically destabilized because of public outcry against refugees, garnering power for populists in the vein of Trump, Bolsanero, Erdogan. It may even get to a point they take down civil rights like in Poland and Hungary today. That's the most imminent danger. Greater disasters and fast sealevel rise will arrive later, but probably there are autocrats in power then, who'll have to deal with those. But freedom will be in danger long before water rises above current shores.

[@jaideneveda_]

silver lining indeed!!!

[@chuckkottke]

The easiest thing to do is to save energy, much easier than making more energy. Mike and I superinsulated the old Nelson house in Beaver, and it now uses 1/5th of its former energy demand. Upgrading it further, with solar panels and more attic insulation and it would use 1/10th the energy. It's easier to save energy than to make more, and then green energy fills the remaining demand. Incentivise change!!💐🌍🌻🌞

[@tempestaldis596]

Whoa, hold on, we need that energy to mine bitcoins.

[@colingenge9999]

I agree that saving energy is much cheaper than providing new energy. I’ve been in the energy conservation business since 1980 during which time of expected there to be at least some movement in the energy conservation arena. Alas, the take up of conservation has been minimal. People want a black box they want a product that they can eyeball and identify as being their salvation. And it’s great that there are a few people out there such as yourselves that have gone that route but an energy-efficient home is Barely on the minds of one in a 1000.

[@clarewillison9379]

Jeremy Corbyn suggested many of these positive measures before GE19. He was roundly mocked, including by his own party. It’s not much comfort to think that if humanity survives, he’ll be vindicated.

[@geoengr3]

We are at a tipping point, not a crossroads - the seesaw is about to tip over. Personally I hope we tip it back, but I would bet humanity won't act in time. We'll likely collapse major subsystems (coral reefs, rainforests, glaciers, oceanic currents, etc.) that make up the Earth which we adapted to thrive upon. After that the new climate will make much of the planet uninhabitable to humans. The population will be massively reduced as resources and habitable land become scarce. There will likely be dynamic periods with massive social, political and economic instability including mass starvation and wars over remaining resources. If you have lived the typical western lifestyle you helped cause this. Have nice day.

[@paulmatolsy4593]

Humans in large groups rarely co-operate. There are too many voices of dissent. In order for any real change in policy to occur, the small oligarchy of the rich & powerful who rule this planet must come to some sort of consensus. They will only act if they feel an issue will affect them directly. Billions may die, but the controlling few won't act until it is obvious their own lifestyle and positions of power are in danger. Then, out of fear, they might put aside their competitiveness and a small group tribal frame of mind may kick in and an all out effort to address the problem will occur. We can only hope this will happen before it's too late.

[@caesarq7513]

Isn’t humans ability to cooperate in large groups what has enabled them to develop as far as they have as a species?

[@jbw6823]

Depends how much it goes up.

[@ericsamuelaguirre5709]

If we are still alive in 50 years, tourism will consists of looking at the city of London inside a submarine.

[@rinnin]

Slight exaggeration?

[@Blueocean881]

You can tell Christiana is the daughter of a Leader. The resoluteness is unmistakable.

[@dosumthing9092]

What about technology change? That worries me more than climate change. But I do support on keeping our planet healthy. ✌❤

[@charliebrandt2263]

We already have drone killers! and as for AI....

[@Atmosrainmusic]

What a charismatic speaker. I enjoyed her presentation.

[@maddysinclair5232]

Amazing woman with an important message - If you only share one thing with your peeps about climate change... let it be this link

[@bl5752]

50/50 is not at all exciting. That's fucking terrifying! Those are horrible odds for the survival of our species.

[@janetgoldsbury3953]

Flip a coin!

[@WoodstockG54]

Update, this talk was a year ago, so, take off another 15 years.

[@derpychibi]

What a beautiful person... We have a lot of work to do as a collective, but I hope we end up on the right side of history.

[@dianetipton6040]

“Optimism is a strategy.”

[@mad_cat_1st]

3:14 - We're not wonderful. We're obtuse and hubristic and we're doomed.

[@rmgwheelsspokeslab.7767]

Long term solution: SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE MASS SPREAD.

[@vecnagreyhawk78]

Her optimism ignores the vast amount of actual scientific research and data currently published. But I understand the need to stay positive and ignorant.

[@tonebonebgky2]

How many dangerous rare earth elements are used in building a handful of electric cars allot! If all of this is gonna happen (which I'm extremely dubious about) then it's likely already far too late.

[@kirstinstrand6292]

Few understand these rare Earth issues, and how they make Electric Cars expensive and not practical.

[@jc.1191]

@@kirstinstrand6292 yes they are. That's misinformation.

[@plushevil5874]

What a sage. I am inspired and the world is beautified by this person. I can hope more now.

[@krm398]

very nice story here, but here would be my question to her...an honest question that she doesn't need to ponder long...after the Paris accords got signed, how many lived up to them or was it all for show? it will cost trillions to stop climate change and not a single major corporation is willing to give that up.

[@anthonymorris5084]

Neither is the consumer.

[@krm398]

@@anthonymorris5084 and unfortunately, there's your answer, it wont get fixed it'll just get worse

[@anthonymorris5084]

@@krm398 Your fears are unfounded. The world, humanity and plant and animals are simply not that fragile. Data proves that life for humanity has never been safer, healthier or more prosperous than at any time in history. Death tolls from every natural disaster including every single climate related disaster has plummeted over the last hundred years. This woman, like most of the climate movement are propagating climate guilt for the sole purpose of undermining capitalism.

[@karlwheatley1244]

@@anthonymorris5084 "Your fears are unfounded. The world, humanity and plant and animals are simply not that fragile. Data proves that life for humanity has never been safer, healthier or more prosperous than at any time in history." That's all meaningless data and has nothing to do with the fact that the very ecological underpinnings of all life on Earth are being systematically eroded. Whether it's great civilizations of the past or deer overpopulation, things were always looking great right before the collapse started. In our case, the breakdown of ecosystems is already underway. Global browning due to the hotter and drier conditions we created has been going on for ~22 years. The health of all ecosystems on Earth is in decline.

[@anthonymorris5084]

@@karlwheatley1244 I love how all climate zealots arrogantly dismiss and invalidate any data they don't like, and then immediately go on to cite data with alarmist certitude. You just lost all credibility. You are demonstrating the mentality of an anti vaccer. The only threat to the planet's ecosystems stems from growing human encroachment due to over population, which the climate movement doesn't care about.

[@merrycontrary3520]

Anyone aware of the aerosol masking effect, aka global dimming? The “silver lining” is very tarnished.

[@delburnwalter2024]

Yep. Guy McPherson called this quite a while ago.

[@larrytaylor693]

Yes still wondering about as the pollution had dipped down enough we're we should be seeing effects now based theory as 9/11was said to heated it up we should be seeing some changes as i thought it was immediate China's drop alone now even more air traffic shutting down daily idk

[@larrytaylor693]

Hopium this lady has a big pipe

[@myoung48281]

Don't fall for you own desire to climate change deny. That very mild lessening of incoming energy is far outweighed by the steady increases of the real culprit, which is Co2 atmospheric accumulation. You of course are referring to the fixing of the ozone layer by banning aerosols and the consequent removal of some energy dispersion which the aerosol gases provided.

[@larrytaylor693]

@@myoung48281 no what I as referring to was the work of James Hansen former NASA scientist the reflection of the sun from the higher atmospheric particles peer reviewed paper idk it was in The 80 then some layer work by Guy McPherson.

[@natalietam5424]

Ms. Figueres, you are a Rockstar!

[@mendyboio3917]

What about global diming?

[@fionaphillips3458]

We need commitment to come out of Cop 26, Glasgow, not just more rhetoric.

[@hikergirl603]

"The best case scenario" is NEVER going to happen in time we have left. And people continue to have kids with a 50% chance the "worse case scenario" may happen....that's not selfish at all. WTH is wrong with people?

[@seandepagnier]

its not 50/50.. how do they come up with this number?

[@Bluetangg]

Great person, great interview.

[@JasonVectrex_187]

Welcome to the beginning of the apocalypse.

[@anthonymorris5084]

My friend, people have been predicting the end of the world my entire life. Get used to it.

[@shellb1633]

Great interview.

[@portlandcommunityhealthcen9401]

BRILLIANT ... HUMANITY'S DESTINY ...

[@SolRayz]

I have more confidence that ET's will come and save us over humans doing the right thing.

[@eckankar7756]

If they are smart they will pass earth by

[@bloodybonescomic]

First of all humanity's efforts to reverse abrupt climate change will be far too little far too late. Secondly we are incapable of engaging in the effort.

[@sweettony9359]

bingo

[@portlandcommunityhealthcen9401]

FABULOUS WORDS ... AND SOOO CLEAR ...

[@OhGoshAwwGeez]

She’s amazing, I love her. Sidenote… I wonder if there’s a way to make a robot bee.. Somebody needs to get on that!!! 🤖🐝

[@isabt4]

THANK YOU 🙏 ❤️

[@artravision]

Wow!

[@jasonking1284]

Look at her. You can tell she has had lots of bottles of the Kool AId....

[@lorenzonewhouse6552]

PURA VIDA!!

[@devirama1]

If you want to read a powerful fictional description of what Ms. Figueres is warning about, read Marge Piercy's great novel, "He She It." How did author Piercy know all that she knew, back in 1991?

[@gartner101]

15:30 CROSS are not free to limit corporate profits. They are just servants of the corporation and they will be replaced. Also oil executive CEOs don't have 13 year old daughters.

[@leslieseale9761]

Sadly few care about this. Look at the # of views here vs millions for Keenan etc. The media barely covers this, we listen to a daily diet of Tucker and Cuomo and :…….. Brilliant and Tragic.

[@ouimetco]

No longer linear but exponential. Yes

[@ChiefCabioch]

"In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill....All these dangers are caused by human intervention....and thus the “real enemy, then, is humanity itself....believe humanity requires a common motivation, namely a common adversary in order to realize world government. It does not matter if this common enemy is “a real one or….one invented for the purpose."

[@ChiefCabioch]

Brian H

[@andersstook3273]

George Carlin 2008 ; It´s going to be a "smoking ball of shit, a big smoking, flaming , stinking ball of gaseous shit".

[@garyk.nedrow8302]

The headline is misleading. The climate has always changed and always will. Improving air quality is not the same thing as stopping climate change. We can and should improve air quality, and China, India, and Russia are the leading contributors of pollutants of all kinds, over whom we have little control. The rhetoric on "climate change" -- meaning greenhouse gases -- has diverted attention from environmental issues we can address with current technology, such as cleaning up the oceans and streams, developing better human sanitation systems, and recycling chemicals. The American consumer is a major culprit in contributing to those pollution streams, and it only takes political will to fix them.

[@karlwheatley1244]

"The headline is misleading. The climate has always changed and always will. " No one is talking about that: "Climate change" is shorthand now for man-made global warming and climate disruption. A mountain of scientific research proves that WE caused all recent global warming and further warming poses an urgent threat to the future of humanity and millions of other species. Ecosystems break down and species die en masse when you rapidly change key variables such as average global temps or the acidity and oxygen levels of the ocean. Everyday pollution IS a threat to our future to, but man-made global warming and climate disruption is the most urgent threat.