The Guardian Gives us a Last Chance to Heed Climate Warnings

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

If we do not heed this last chance, I’m sure there will be another last chance in the near future, just like all the previous last chances.

The Observer view on the climate catastrophe facing Earth

Observer editorial

Thirty years ago we were warned. Now is our last chance to listen

Thirty years ago this week, the population of Earth was given official notification that it faced a threat of unprecedented magnitude. Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, spewed into the atmosphere from factories and vehicles burning fossil fuels, were pinpointed, definitively, as triggers of future climate change. Melting icecaps, rising sea levels and increasing numbers of extreme weather events would be the norm for the 21st century unless action were taken, warned the authors of the first assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Three decades later, it is clear that we have recklessly ignored that warning.Fossil fuels still supply 80% of the world’s energy, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise and global temperatures are still increasing. According to Met Office statistics, there was a 0.14C increase in global temperatures in the decade that followed publication of the first assessment report. This was then followed by a 0.2C increase in each of the following two decades. The world could easily heat by 3C by the end of the century at this rate, warn scientists.

The impact on the world will, by then, be catastrophic. …

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/23/the-observer-view-on-the-climate-catastrophe-facing-earth

Here are some previous last chances for your entertainment (h/t Bishop Hill, Climate Predictions).

New York 1989

The Grandaddy of Climate Last Chances? In 1989 the United Nations gave us 10 years to save the world. WUWT celebrated the 30th anniversary of this 10 year warning last year.

 A senior U.N. environmental official says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000.


Bonn 2001

A Global Warming Treaty’s Last Chance. That teetering edifice that is the Kyoto Protocol gets some emergency repair work this week as delegates from 180 countries gather in Bonn to work out problems that threaten to scuttle the deal altogether.

Time Magazine, 16 Jul 2001


Montreal 2005

In an open letter to delegates at the Montreal environmental summit, beginning today, campaigner Mark Lynas explains why action on climate change can no longer be stalled.

“I’m scared. For 15 years I’ve watched international progress on climate change get slower and slower, even while the pace of global warming seems to get ever more rapid. With time running out for the global climate, your meeting in Montreal represents a last chance for action.”

The Independent, 28 Nov 2005


Bali 2007

World leaders will converge on Bali today for the start of negotiations which experts say could be the last chance to save the Earth from catastrophic climate change. Bali could be the last chance to avoid the worst effect of global warming, said Tony Juniper, executive director of Friends of the Earth.

The New Zealand Herald, 3 Dec 2007


Poznan Poland, 2008

The world will “suicide” if it cannot strike a strong climate pact soon, Australian environmental scientist Tim Flannery has warned. Professor Flannery, who is attending a UN climate summit in Poland, expressed dismay at the slow progress.

“Resistance is a suicidal tactic,” the former Australian of the year, scientist and author told reporters in Poland. “This round of negotiations is likely to be our last chance as a species to deal with the problem.”

The Age, 9 Dec 2008

Humanity is approaching the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change, according to WWF’s analysis of the latest climate science.The warning comes during UN climate talks in Poznan, Poland.

“Governments in Poznan must agree to peak and decline global emissions well before 2020 to give people reasonable hope that global warming can still be kept within limits that prevent the worst,” said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF’s global climate initiative.

WWF, “Poznan provides last chance to curb climate change” 5 Dec 2008


Copenhagen 2009  (the real last chance, we really mean it this time!)

The world faces a final opportunity to agree an adequate global response to climate change at a U.N.-led meeting in Copenhagen in December, the European Union’s environment chief said on Friday.

It is now 12 years since Kyoto was created. This makes Copenhagen the world’s last chance to stop climate change before it passes the point of no return, European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told a climate conference in Budapest on Friday.

Reuters, Feb 27 2009


Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, has warned of “catastrophic consequences” unless a new international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions is reached.

Climate change is “simply the greatest collective challenge we face as a human family”, Mr Ban said in a speech on Monday in Seoul. He urged international leaders to reach a deal to limit their countries’ carbon emissions at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December.

The Telegraph, 10 Aug 2009


“No one said the road to Copenhagen would be easy. But the agreement we all hope to reach in Copenhagen next year represents the last chance to bring climate change under control before it is too late. There is progress, but we need to step up the pace. With resolve, cooperation and imagination, we can conclude an agreement at the end of next year, delivering the ambitious global action that is needed.”

Speech by Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner responsible for environment at a Climate Change Conference, 31 October 2008, Prague

The Copenhagen summit is the world’s last chance to save the planet from “catastrophic” global warming, according to a major study led by Lord Stern of Brentford, the country’s leading authority on climate change.

Without an international agreement to limit global warming, temperatures are likely to rise by 9F (5C) by the end of the century – triggering mass migration, warfare and world hunger, according to the report.

The Telegraph, 2 Dec 2009


Cancun 2010

A sense of foreboding is one of the few points of general agreement among the 15,000 participants congregating for the next two weeks on this long thin strip of land, marooned between a wide lagoon and the Caribbean Sea. Jairem Ramesh, the Indian environment minister, sees it as the “last chance” for climate change talks to succeed; Connie Hedegaard, the EU’s climate chief, believes a disappointing outcome would “put the whole process in danger”.

The Telegraph (UK), 29 Nov 2010


Durban 2011

Rev. Dr. Olav Fyske Tveit, who leads the World Council of Churches, says the upcoming climate conference in South Africa is mankind’s ‘last opportunity’ to address climate change. This week the World Council of Churches general secretary, Reverend Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, called the United Nations UNFCCC COP 17 meeting a “last opportunity for the international community to be responsible in addressing climate change”, and called on the meeting to “act now for climate justice.”

Spero News, 27 Nov 2011

Durban climate change meeting is “the last chance”. Attended by over 200 countries, this week’s major UN conference has been described by many experts as humanity’s last chance to avert the disastrous effects of climate change.

Together with around 20 000 delegates from nearly 200 countries, Ferrial Adam, the climate change and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Africa, will be attending the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which gets under way in Durban in the next two weeks, towards negotiating a new climate regime.

UCANews, 28 Nov 2011


Doha 2012

Tomorrow: the earth’s last chance with climate change? Tomorrow, the whole world talks about irreversible global warming as this year’s international climate change summit begins. Participating are 195 countries (almost all of the United Nations).

There are two concurrent meetings: the 8th Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol; and the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. They will take place from Monday, November 26, 2012 to Friday, December 7, 2012 at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha, Qatar.

The Examiner, 25 Nov 2012


Warsaw 2013

Is the Warsaw Climate Change Conference a last-chance summit? The Warsaw Climate Change Conference opened on Monday 11th November. After the 2012 failure of Doha, this summit could represent a turning point in the fight against global warming.

“Global greenhouse gas emissions need to peak this decade, and get to zero net emissions by the second half of this century,” announced Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC in a press release dated 8th November. “We have the money and technology, the knowledge and the new economic models to get the job done in time,” she confirmed before describing the next two years as “a critical period to act faster on climate.”

Sustainable Mobility, 14 Nov 2013


Lima 2014

Last chance: Change needed for climate negotiations in Lima 2014. WWF issued the following statement today from Samantha Smith, Leader of WWF’s Global Climate and Energy Initiative, as the UN climate talks drew to a conclusion:

“A repeat performance next year would be disastrous, not just for the progress of these negotiations, but more importantly for vulnerable communities everywhere and the natural world on which we all depend…By the time we get to next year’s meeting in Lima, we urgently need to have political will, real commitments, and a clear path to a comprehensive and fair agreement in Paris 2015, where a new global agreement on climate change has to be signed.”

WWF Global, 23 Nov 2013


Paris 2015

Scientists are calling on world leaders to sign up to an eight-point plan of action at landmark talks in Paris. The key element is the goal to limit global warming to below 2C by moving to zero carbon emissions by 2050. The UN meeting in December is “the last chance” to avert dangerous climate change, according to the Earth League.

BBC News 22 Apr 2015


United Nations 2016

New study says that unless nations ramp up their carbon-reduction pledges before 2020, it will be nearly impossible to keep warming to 2 degrees.

‘Last Chance’ to Limit Global Warming to Safe Levels, UN Scientists Warn 

United Nations 3 November 2016


South Korea 2018

Last chance to curb greenhouse gas emissions and climate change to limit catastrophic effects, international panel says

Policy responses to be discussed in December, methods to assess interactions of climate and innovation with economic growth win economics Nobel

South Korea, October 8th 2018


Leeds 2019

There’s Still One Last Chance to Avoid Total Climate Catastrophe, Says Study 

We’ve had chances. Lots of chances. But humanity has a history of squandering chances, despite everything we know about climate change. Despite everything riding on us addressing it.

Science Alert 16 January 2019


Plenty more where they came from.

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DocBud
August 23, 2020 6:06 pm

Global warming last chances are like London buses, if you miss one, don’t worry, another one will come along soon.

Scissor
Reply to  DocBud
August 23, 2020 6:25 pm

It seems like the Big Red bus tour never ends.

Earthling2
Reply to  Scissor
August 23, 2020 11:03 pm

Sounds like the Big Bad Wolf story over and over, ad nauseam. Somebody has to put that wolf out of its misery, said the woodcutter.

nottoobrite
Reply to  Earthling2
August 24, 2020 1:22 am

Living near London years ago I was informed never to go into a pub.cafe, with the Guardian newspaper as it was a sure way to offend some people

Gerry, England
Reply to  nottoobrite
August 24, 2020 6:53 am

It depends on where you go. In the woke borough of Islington if you show up with the Daily Mail they will start choking on their tofu and seagrass – which of course is funny to watch.

Reply to  Earthling2
August 24, 2020 8:23 am

Except that people keep believing “The End Is Nigh” instead of eventually waking up.

It reminds me of that cult leader (can’t recall the name) who kept telling his followers that the world would end on such-and-such a date, and when it didn’t, he “adjusted” his prophecy, over and over again, and the people kept believing him.

A human trait I’ll never understand…

Jeff Alberts
Reply to  TonyG
August 24, 2020 7:59 pm

“It reminds me of that cult leader (can’t recall the name) who kept telling his followers that the world would end on such-and-such a date, and when it didn’t, he “adjusted” his prophecy, over and over again, and the people kept believing him.”

Moses?

Zig Zag Wanderer
Reply to  DocBud
August 23, 2020 11:03 pm

Yup. It’s never the ‘last’ last chance…

Roy
Reply to  Zig Zag Wanderer
August 24, 2020 5:51 am

Until the next one.

Reply to  DocBud
August 24, 2020 1:04 am

DocBud

It’s London Buses which are the real problem, two always arrive at once.

Ed Zuiderwijk
Reply to  DocBud
August 24, 2020 1:25 am

Not only that, three will show up at the time. (according to Flanders and Swan).

griff
Reply to  DocBud
August 24, 2020 8:44 am

but they’d be electric buses…

London currently has more than 200 electric buses, making it Europe’s largest electric bus fleet, and this will grow significantly in 2020 as Transport for London (TfL) has awarded contracts to operators for a further 78 electric double-deck buses.

Paul Penrose
Reply to  griff
August 24, 2020 9:52 am
Ron
Reply to  griff
August 24, 2020 2:25 pm

There are approximately 8600 buses in London. At the rate of 78 additional buses added per year it would take well over 100 years to replace the fleet. A litle past the next “last chance” Griff.
You are priceless.

Patrick MJD
Reply to  griff
August 24, 2020 4:35 pm

“griff August 24, 2020 at 8:44 am

London currently has more than 200 electric buses…”

If they are the new “Route Master” (NBFL, New Buss For London IIRC) then it is diesel electric.

MarkW
Reply to  griff
August 24, 2020 6:38 pm

Like most governments, the city of London doesn’t care how much taxpayer money they spend, so long as the politicians can get good press.

Patrick MJD
Reply to  MarkW
August 24, 2020 7:26 pm

I think rate payers in London will have something to say about Sadik Kahn and his 5.7 billion pound debt Londoners are now facing.

Jeff Alberts
Reply to  Patrick MJD
August 24, 2020 7:57 pm

He’ll blame it on Trump, and all will be forgiven.

Patrick MJD
Reply to  Patrick MJD
August 26, 2020 12:10 am

“Jeff Alberts August 24, 2020 at 7:57 pm”

AFAIK, he already has.

ColMosby
August 23, 2020 6:08 pm

Funny how these people have avoided any “solutions” – nuclear power being the most obvious means of eliminating fossil fuels. And at the current time, electric cars have approached gas powered cars in terms of total lifetime costs, and will prevail without any govt assistance. Gen 4 nuclear power (molten salt) reactors are infinitley beter than conventional nuclear and better than any other power technology as well.

MarkW
Reply to  ColMosby
August 23, 2020 7:22 pm

“electric cars have approached gas powered cars in terms of total lifetime costs”

Only true because of massive subsidization. Both in the purchase price and in the cost of fuel. Electrics don’t pay taxes to fund the roads they use.

Beyond that, batteries cost more than engines to replace, and don’t last anywhere near as long in the real world.

Richard (the cynical one)
Reply to  MarkW
August 23, 2020 8:57 pm

The real and tragic cost built into electric vehicles is the human one, the horrendous child labour, slave labour and abysmal environmental destruction in mining the raw materials. That suffering infinitely outweighs any other consideration. I wouldn’t drive an electric vehicle if you gave it to me. Ever.

JohnM de France
Reply to  Richard (the cynical one)
August 23, 2020 10:48 pm

My little Renault Twingo is 18 years old. it still has the same engine, but is on its third battery.

Max P
Reply to  ColMosby
August 24, 2020 10:35 am

ColMosby – Please get back to us in 3 decades about that total cost of an EV and give us an update on Gen 4 nuclear while you’re at it.

Thank you.

Max P

Michael Jankowski
Reply to  ColMosby
August 24, 2020 5:22 pm

“…And at the current time, electric cars have approached gas powered cars in terms of total lifetime costs, and will prevail without any govt assistance…”

Oh, do tell us more! How close is “approached,” lol.

Hyundai Kona gas vehicle MSRP starts at $20k. EV version starts at $37k.

Kia Niro gas vehicle MSRP starts at $25k. EV version starts at $39k.

No way will the cost of ownership get close all other things being equal besides ICE vs battery.

And all other things are not equal. EV insurance is much higher. Battery replacement costs are obscene, and EV battery packs are not projected to outlast an ICE.

PaulH
August 23, 2020 6:22 pm

Are we at a tipping point of last chances? 😉

Bryan A
Reply to  PaulH
August 23, 2020 6:54 pm

A Tripping Point perhaps

Sweet Old Bob
August 23, 2020 6:36 pm

the 8th Conference of the Party ers
FIFY
😉

Rob Bradley
August 23, 2020 6:37 pm

Oh gosh …. And the alarmists do not want to admit to alarm either. https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/climate-change/climate-alarmists-eschew-alarmism/

Posted this at RealClimate after the Denial and Alarmism in the Near-Term Extinction and Collapse Debate (http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2020/08/denial-and-alarmism-in-the-near-term-extinction-and-collapse-debate/)

JCalvertN(UK)
August 23, 2020 6:38 pm

Last warning? Goodee!
Does this mean they will go away and shut-up from now on?

Rich Davis
Reply to  JCalvertN(UK)
August 23, 2020 7:25 pm

Just like the scam callers giving you one last chance to buy an extended warranty every evening during the dinner hour.

Fraizer
Reply to  Rich Davis
August 24, 2020 1:12 pm

It’s like the crazies telling me that me not wearing mask is killing them.
My only question is:
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?

gbaikie
August 23, 2020 6:41 pm

These must children of used car salesmen.

Earthling2
Reply to  gbaikie
August 23, 2020 9:01 pm

Yes..Two year old children. I am going to hold my breath until I get my way…or else I will hold my breath some more. Just crazy talk. Pretty soon most everyone just ignores them, except for the ignorant children, of whom Greta has sucked into the hype of the world is ending due to Carbon and ’emissions’. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad, especially sad that some adults take this too seriously.

fred250
August 23, 2020 6:42 pm

YAWN !!!!!!!!!

Bryan A
August 23, 2020 6:49 pm

Kinda like QaDaffy and his “Line of Death”

August 23, 2020 6:51 pm

Come on, get your last chances now, before they sell out totally and forever. This offer will surely never be repeated.

damp
August 23, 2020 6:53 pm

I love how they pick 30 years ago instead of 50. Alarmists are so cute.

Bryan A
August 23, 2020 6:53 pm

It IS getting near THEIR “Last Chance” to get other people to act the fool so THEY don’t “Look The Fool”

d
August 23, 2020 6:54 pm

I’d happily accept the whooshing sound of this last chance’s passing if I had any assurance that it would in fact be the last. As with any confidence trick, or hard sell, tipping points and last chances are pretty common.

Bryan A
Reply to  d
August 23, 2020 6:57 pm

The Passing of this last chance will require much Charmin to clean up afterwards though
The job’s not over till the paperwork is through

Ronald Bruce
August 23, 2020 7:03 pm

I am still trying to decide whether all these climate doomsayers are complete imbeciles or they are just liars. I’m leaning towards the liar, because not one of their Doomsday prognostications has come to pass. The the most likely scenario, because their doomsayer prognostications have nothing to do with the climate they do have everything to do with the love of power and their aim to throw the Western world into chaos so they can implement their One World communist government.

Clay Sanborn
Reply to  Ronald Bruce
August 24, 2020 1:50 pm

I say lying fear-mongers.

Craig from Oz
Reply to  Ronald Bruce
August 24, 2020 8:23 pm

I think they are just Elitists.

They honestly believe that They Know Best and that their role is to act as some sort of community organiser and raise awareness.

(also remember the other side of someone classing themselves as They Know Best is that anyone who disagrees with them is clearly Wrong. Wrongness isn’t simply a different opinion that can lead to open discussion and deeper overall understanding – it is Wrong. Why? Because They Know Best.)

It is not about them physically doing anything productive towards solving the problem they have largely invented, it is the fact they are using their They Know Best powers into getting other people to reinforce their own brilliance.

It is – In My Opinion – more a way a person’s brain processes information. Some people see things they disagree with or don’t understand and seek to investigate in order to make a more balanced decision in the future. Other’s reject things they don’t understand without discussion because to admit someone else might be Right is to admit that you yourself was Wrong. Being Wrong brings everything they have built up about their lives into question, so clearly they cannot EVER be Wrong.

Wouldn’t go as far as to say it is an actual mental illness, but absolutely believe it is a fundamental result of how your brain is wired.

August 23, 2020 7:09 pm

Didn’t I see this on a TV infomercial not too long ago?

John F Hultquist
August 23, 2020 7:11 pm

You missed 2017!
Here’s one about the P. Bears:
PuffingtonHost Oct. 2017
This Is Our Last Chance To Save Polar Bears From Extinction

n.n
August 23, 2020 7:47 pm

It’s Weather, it’s Climate Closet, it’s The Guardian conflating logical domains and protesting the end of the world is nigh, sacrifice your first, second, select born (i.e. the Democrat Socialists’ wicked solution).

commieBob
August 23, 2020 7:53 pm

It’s becoming abundantly clear that renewable energy can’t work. It’s also clear that the activists haven’t convinced the population they need to eschew energy and go back to living like the stone age.

I’m fairly confident that President Trump will win re-election. He’s been disappointing because he hasn’t shut down the CAGW scam. On the other hand, the activists are wailing about what he’s done to their beautiful project. He must be doing something right.

If the Democrats keep pounding CAGW and renewable energy, they are wasting their time and are handing the election to Trump, in my humble opinion.

Reply to  commieBob
August 23, 2020 8:32 pm

I sure hope you’re right

I just wish Trump could get out of his own way

I don’t need him to make it interesting

Earthling2
Reply to  Pat from kerbob
August 23, 2020 9:16 pm

Time to turn the professional switch on, and match the suit. He is capable if he doesn’t allow himself to get tripped up by all the negative forces trying to take him down. Listening to some of his interviews one on one with Hannity or todays interview with Steve Hilton and he makes a lot of sense. But yes, he can be his own biggest problem and needs some professionalism and advice from professionals. Let some other high ranking Republicans get down into the mud and wrestle with the dimwits. What he needs to do now his explain how he is going to grow the economy out of this mess that the forces of evil have put us into and keep us under their thumb.

Juan Slayton
Reply to  Pat from kerbob
August 24, 2020 4:25 am

Some kind soul should read the president his Miranda rights. Starting with, “You have the right to remain silent.”

August 23, 2020 8:06 pm

It’s hard to believe there are so many idiots in the world. Intelligent people know it’s a tax scam. What a waste of money. Any way, our 🌞 is going to get hotter. If we don’t leave Earth mankind will go the way of the dinosaurs. Let’s use that money to get the heck out of here 🙂

August 23, 2020 8:35 pm

Just say, “No!” to the Marxist-Bolsheviks and their Climate Trojan Horse.

Your life and those of your family literally depends on “Say No to Joe.” In 1920, tens of millions of Russians were casually indifferent to a change from a political system of Tzars to Commissars. Fatal regrets are by definition too late once you are in the train to a gulag … or worse.

michael hart
August 23, 2020 8:40 pm

I wish some financial wiz-kids could come up with a financial instrument that allows us all to hedge our bets vis-a-vis some kind of insurance against alleged costs of climate change.

It would be great to see a proper market where people can buy and sell all these last chances. This would be a good way to put things in perspective for many people who have neither the time nor inclination to keep up with the global warming BS stream, and a good way to punish some of the the grifters who currently trade on global-warming alarmism.

J Mac
August 23, 2020 10:06 pm

Sign by the Catastrophic Climate Change Highway: Next “Last Chance” 61 miles…..

Pumpsump
August 23, 2020 10:19 pm

Climate CDO’s and CDS’s, the thought makes me shudder, almost as bad as the alarmism itself

August 23, 2020 10:55 pm

Wolf!
Wolf!
Wolf!

Chaswarnertoo
August 23, 2020 11:21 pm

Can we eat these fools when the grand solar minimum causes food shortages?

August 23, 2020 11:25 pm

Last Chance for the planet? B0ll0cks.

Last Chance for The Guardian? Definitely!

Jean Meeus
August 24, 2020 12:07 am

And do not forget Prince Charles of England who said that we have only 100 months to save the climate. Those 100 months ended several years ago.

Reply to  Jean Meeus
August 24, 2020 1:33 am

Jean Meeus

Jug ears is still at it.

Fortunately the Royal Family is crumbling as we watch; Andrew suspected of paedophilia and Harry under the spell of the evil witch.

Philip is a lifelong member of the Club of Rome and welcomes the Proles being wiped out by a plague.

William, however, is being kept nice and shiny, wrapped in cotton wool with the ‘perfect’ Princess wife.

Harry Davidson
Reply to  HotScot
August 24, 2020 1:08 pm

HotScot:
There has been no suggestion that Andrew has had sex with a pre-pubescent child that I have seen. There is a strong suspicion that he had lawful sex with a consenting 17 yo, but that is no shade of paedophilia.

John Endicott
Reply to  Harry Davidson
August 26, 2020 8:32 am

If the age of consent is 18 in the applicable jurisdiction, then it doesn’t matter if the “child” in question is 17 years and 363 days old, legally it’s still considered unlawful sex with a minor (particularly when said unlawful sex was not consensual, as is being alleged) and those who engage in such unlawful conduct are considered to be pedos by most upright (or uptight, depending on your POV) law abiding citizens.

Harry Davidson
August 24, 2020 12:19 am

This last chance is a tipping point. If we miss it then it might generate as many as 10 more last chances, which is far worse than we thought.

Flight Level
August 24, 2020 12:20 am

One more Last Chance and counting….

Nick Graves
August 24, 2020 12:45 am

They’re probably right – I cannot see teh Grauniad lasting for much longer.

August 24, 2020 12:52 am

Wolf, wolf!

Fortunately a lot of youngsters can see through the bullshit they are fed at school.

Wolf at the door
August 24, 2020 1:29 am

One more(last!!!) time-“Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain”
Sadly the crooks making a fortune out of ” renewables ” are exploiting the useful idiots.

Ed Zuiderwijk
August 24, 2020 1:30 am

Dire warnings based on the shoddy work of under-par researchers.

We live in the age of dictatorship by third-rate professors.

August 24, 2020 2:32 am

The next big Last Chance will be in Glasgow towards the end of next year.
Buy your popcorn futures now.

CheshireRed
August 24, 2020 2:49 am

Fear, fear, fear, followed by endless deadline-beating calls to ‘climate action’, all of which pass without ‘catastrophe’ being visited upon us. That’s all we’ve had from this hysterical mob for 30 years. However they’re well-funded so go on and on. They’ll never give up.

The West is desperately in need of a strong leader who’ll obliterate this nonsense with policy roll-outs that slam the door in the face of ‘renewables’ rubbish.

BruceC
August 24, 2020 3:04 am

Why start in 1989?

Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” — Harvard biologist George Wald

Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions…. By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” — North Texas State University professor Peter Gunter

The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” — Ecologist Kenneth Watt

The first Earth Day 1970!

August 24, 2020 3:34 am

…again this is such a dumb idea to keep saying “last chance”, because when the world doesn’t change the way you want it to at the end of 2020…. (spoiler) it won’t….. what do you say then? where do you go from there?you’ve shot yourself in the foot, good and proper.

What do you say to the people who now think “ok, F@ck it, apparently now it makes no difference what I do”

……no, wait, hang on when we said “last chance”, what we meant was…….. errrrr too late alarmist cretins, words have meanings.

Everyone knows that if you draw lines in the sand, you better have a dam good plan B if that line gets crossed, otherwise your going to look like a chump, and these zealots are looking more chumpy by the day.

tom0mason
August 24, 2020 4:20 am

The Graudian is prolific with ecological ‘last chances’ as the Rolling Stones are with their ‘farewell tours’.

CD in Wisconsin
August 24, 2020 5:52 am

Fifty years of failed eco-pocalyptic predictions, with a number of them from Paul Ehrlich of course:

https://cei.org/blog/wrong-again-50-years-failed-eco-pocalyptic-predictions

I am at a loss for words to describe the ignorance. Or maybe it is just a lot of arrogance and overinflated egos.

Bruce Cobb
August 24, 2020 6:09 am

“72 days to save the Earth …

… because that is when the US withdraws from the Paris climate accord, on 4 November.”
I think they mean 71 days, because that is when Trump will be re-elected, thus cementing our leaving the 100% bad science, virtue-signaling, humanity-hating, and western civilization-destroying “Paris climate accord”, thus dooming “the planet”.
In other words, if Trump wins, “it’s over.”

Promise?

MarkW
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
August 24, 2020 6:32 am

What frustrates me is all those celebrities who swear they are going to leave the US if a Republican wins, but never do.

John Endicott
Reply to  MarkW
August 24, 2020 9:05 am

Well, they would but nowhere else wants them either.

Reply to  MarkW
August 24, 2020 9:32 am

At least one did: IIRC Johnny Depp said he would leave the US if Bush were elected, and he did. I can respect that. Just wish more would.

John Endicott
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
August 24, 2020 9:03 am

Dale Arden: Flash, Flash, I love you, but we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth!

Jeffery P
August 24, 2020 6:36 am

I’m reminded of reminded of the pastors claiming they know the exact date and time of the Rapture. Never happens, of course.

The difference is a pastor who makes such a claim loses followers and donations when his predictions are proven warm. Not so with the acolytes of climate doom mongers. They never seem to even notice. It’s the perfect cult and the perfect gift.

August 24, 2020 6:41 am

Due to COVID-19 this year’s last chance to stop climate change has been postponed until next year. We can all breathe a sigh of relief.

Reading through the list of exotic locales where they’ve held past climate summits, it’s a wonder they missed such party spots as Davos and Ibeza. I guess there’s still plenty of ‘last chance’s left that they can still get to them.

Neo
August 24, 2020 6:52 am

Could this please be the last final never-to-happen-again chance ?

Jeff Alberts
Reply to  Neo
August 24, 2020 8:58 pm

It’s like the “last and final boarding call” for your airline flight. Ignoring the redundancy, they seem to call out “last and final” about 20 times for each flight.

ResourceGuy
August 24, 2020 7:54 am

Last as in LAST does not help ad revenue projections for the following month.

A better way to look at is the ‘Going Out of Business’ furniture store sales that occur every month at some stores.

John Endicott
August 24, 2020 8:58 am

It’s a new Last Chance, you see. A Last Chance to avoid climate doom. I must say, I still get very excited about it all. I know we have them rather often now, but that’s because of the Guardian’s great goodness, you see.

With apologies to Douglas Adams and Doctor Who’s the Pirate Planet

IDNF
August 24, 2020 9:15 am

What newspapers fail to understand is when others provide the same information FOR FREE online, their business model is doomed. Just like photo developing, vcr/dvd rentals, bookstores, record/cd stores. They are never coming back except in trivial nostalgia forms. Newspapers have lost 90% of their book value over the last 20 years. They are as comatose as Kim Jung Un.

And now with a little corona virus booster juice and bandwidths that are 10X faster than just a few years ago, we are seeing a digital remapping of travel (airlines/hotels/car rentals/public and commuter transit), residency (work from home and live in upstate NY rather than Manhattan) and I expect a major restructuring of education as digital curricula are free to everyone around the world. A kid with a $150 laptop can now access K through Grade 12 for a fraction of the cost as a kid in any western country. More medical diagnostics are now being done on line and robotic surgeries with much lower cost and lower error rates.

In short, the digitalalization, dematerialization and democratization of so many things in changing everything. I may as well get my news from a telegraph as wait for a newspaper to show up at the door.

Gary Ashe
August 24, 2020 10:06 am

Put it this politicaly correct way.

Its not over until the black lady sings…

I was thinking orca winfrey now her i’d believe.

Ed Bo
August 24, 2020 11:14 am

It should be noted that the whole premise of the article is completely and demonstrably false. In the opening paragraph it states about the 1990 IPCC report:

Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, spewed into the atmosphere from factories and vehicles burning fossil fuels, were pinpointed, definitively, as triggers of future climate change.

The report made absolutely NO such assertions as to attribution. Even in the 1995 report, the scientific panel turned in a report that stated they could not provide such assertions, and had no idea when they might be able to do so. The politicians running the show eliminated those statements and added a statement — based on a single paper that did not pass peer review — stating:

“the balance of evidence suggests a discernable human influence on global climate.”

Even so, “suggests” is hardly “definitive”, and “discernable” does not mean “dominant”.

August 24, 2020 11:47 am

“… and other greenhouse gases…”

You mean like water vapor maybe ?

– JPP

Tom Abbott
August 24, 2020 12:05 pm

Thirty years of Human-caused Climate Change scaremongering. To no avail.

Knr
August 24, 2020 2:24 pm

Don’t forget the Guardians very own 5 year ‘count down of doom’ which they went very, very quiet on when doom failed to arrive. Despite all the hype they initially give this claim from the usual suspects.

Ian
August 24, 2020 3:59 pm

Violet Elizabeth Bott

“I’ll thcream and thcream ’till I’m thick”

Robert MacLellan
August 24, 2020 5:31 pm

Read the article then skimmed the comments, so disappointed that no-one made the obligatory Monty Python reference ” Stop, or I will say Stop again”

Jeff Alberts
Reply to  Robert MacLellan
August 24, 2020 10:04 pm

I don’t remember that MP reference. I do remember Robin Williams mentioning that phrase, when talking about unarmed police.

John Endicott
Reply to  Jeff Alberts
August 25, 2020 2:25 am

Yes, AFAIK it’s a Robin Williams quote:
You know in England if you commit a crime, the police don’t have a gun and you don’t have a gun. So if you commit a crime: “Stop! Or, or I’ll say stop again!” — Robin Williams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugUzcoAlYCA (around the 1:30 mark)

David
August 25, 2020 4:30 am

If you read Yahoo! UK news online, a huge proportion of the ‘news items’ originate from the Guardian or Independent (ha!) – and a high proportion of those are ‘climate’ or ‘hate fossil fuel’ features..
So – how to challenge these ‘fake’ news items..? Well, write a comment, of course..

But..

But..

Yahoo! has stopped ALL reader comments..!!

I wonder why..?

Reply to  David
August 25, 2020 7:09 am

Yahoo! has stopped ALL reader comments..!!

I wonder why..?

An increasingly common phenomenon, I’ve noticed.

Tom
August 25, 2020 11:58 am

I’m glad it’s almost over. This whole covid thing is getting tiring and I’m old anyways:0)

Gadus morhua
August 26, 2020 1:07 am

What incenses me the most in all of this nonsense is that people such as myself and most of you commenting here are labelled ‘climate change deniers’. Firstly I’m annoyed because of their use of the word ‘denier’ which instantly links one with an unpleasant group associated with the ‘holocaust’.
Secondly because I absolutely do not deny the climate is changing. I knew that from an early age, listening to the old folk talk about how different the weather was in the 30s, 40s, 50s etc.
What I DO deny – or rather don’t believe, as deny is not the correct word – is that the changing climate is an impending disaster, that the world is close to an end or that billions of £ / $ etc can make a substantial difference.

Michael S. Kelly
August 26, 2020 7:23 am

My doctor gave me six months to live. I said “Doc, I can’t pay your bill!” He gave me six more months.