If you missed the news this week, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued its “State of Global Climate in 2023” and all indicator records have been broken, with a Red Alert issued for 2024. I strongly encourage everyone to watch the launch video.
I appreciate that the world’s attention is on Russia right now and beyond, however, this report requires our attention. Most won’t spend the time reading technical reports, so at least read the BBC Science Focus Magazine article, which offered four key highlights.
- Switzerland lost 10 per cent of its glaciers over the last two years. This is so important. Glaciers are a crucial part of ecosystems, as annual summer glacial melts feed rivers, deliver nutrients across the land, and provide drinking water for people around the globe. As we look ahead, it won’t mean losing 10 per cent every two years, because melting will continue to accelerate as the warming accelerates. A huge concern.
- On any given day in 2023, a third of the oceans experienced a heatwave: around 90 per cent of the energy that has accumulated in the Earth system since 1971 is stored in the ocean. This trend could take centuries, possibly even millennia to reverse.
- The cost of climate inaction could be staggering. Climate finance investments need to grow by more than six times, reaching almost $9 trillion by 2030 and a further $10 trillion through to 2050. However, the cost of doing nothing will be way higher – inaction throughout 2025–2100 will cost a mouthwatering $1,266 trillion.
- And finally, the Antarctic winter sea ice was one million km2 below the previous record, equivalent to the area of France and Spain combined. Senior research fellow at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Dr Till Kuhlbrodt said: climate and weather extremes in 2023 are markedly beyond anything we have seen before in the instrumental record and that these observations are really concerning.
Another important article was from Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who stated, with all the data available, climate scientists cannot fully account for 2023’s heat anomaly. Last year, average land and sea surface temperatures: have overshot previous records each month by up to 0.2 °C — a huge margin at the planetary scale.
This is an important piece of writing, with one of the top climate scientists saying: we just don’t know. But what we do know is we need more data, and we need to do our work faster.
Finally, I thought this piece was worth a read – The next World War has started – Pearls and Irritations – some fascinating insights in this.
Friends content and mine
My legends this week are the band Alkemia, which features my two son’s Lex and Jax Johnson, the amazing drummer Sofia Compagnoni, and Tamerlan Sidinkov, the incredibly talented singer and multi-instrumentalist. Their first single “Is It Worth It?” is now live, and you can find it on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. If you like Heavy Metal, check it out.
I also published my next video in the series, Part Two: We need a new middle class dream, section five, focusing on FMCG and bullshit industries. Have a listen, what would you add, especially for bullshit industries?
Plenty more to read or watch, so do click through to the reads at the image below, and a reminder, this platform (elink.io) means the articles go back weeks, and potentially months as the year progresses. If you want to see the latest, it’s the first 100 or so added.
Please do let me know what caught your attention? Or share with me what has your attention now? There’s a lot going on, which means none of us can cover everything. Besides, it’s always great to get feedback so I know I’m delivering something of value.
Cheers
Andrea
All of my contact information is here.
Uncommon Courage, an invitation
Uncommon Courage is an invitation to be your courageous best self every day. It’s also an antidote to the overwhelm, fear, and rage rolling around the world. But it’s more than a book; it’s an invitation to join an inclusive community that wants to better understand humanities challenges – both global and personal – in order to take courageous action and create a better world for everyone. If Covid19 gave us the time and space to reflect, Uncommon Courage gives us the nudge we need to create lasting change.
You can buy it on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Booktopia, Smashwords, Kobo, Gardners, Odilo, Indie Bound, BookShop by BookTrib and Scribd.
Better yet, order it from your local bookstore, so you can #SupportLocal.
You can read the reviews, including a new five-star review on Book Commentary, another five-star review on ReaderViews, a review on BookTrib, and three more on Booklife, another on Book Commentary and Blue Ink Reviews. I’m also collating reviews on my Website too. Have a look and grateful to everyone who has written or recorded one.
Come and join the conversation in my Facebook Group One Billion People with Uncommon Courage.
Listen in to the Uncommon Courage, the podcast on Apple, Spotify and everywhere podcasts are published.
The Know Show
Check out The Know Show. It’s a fortnightly wrap up of the news and we started again for 2024.
Climate Courage
A fortnightly conversation on issues that matter to you and I, focusing on the actions we can all take. I am yet to confirm the return date for this, but it’s coming. In the meantime, I’m doing a three-part series called: We need a new middle-class dream, and one billion people with Uncommon Courage!
18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile
Listed by Book Authority in the 100 Best LinkedIn Books of All Time and 22 Best New LinkedIn eBooks To Read In 2021 and 2022 categories. Grab it today if you want to take your professional presence to the next level! When it comes to LinkedIn, it really is time to ask — can you really afford not to have this book in the hands of every employee?
Are you a Social CEO? The Social CEO: How Social Media Can Make You A Stronger Leader.
Want to claim your stage? Unleash Your Voice – Powerful Public Speaking for Every Woman
Feedback
Have I done a great job for you? Can you write a reference on my LinkedIn profile or on my Google Business page? If not for me, why not write one for someone else who inspires you or has helped you? Join the #GivingEconomy.