Fellow journalists, here and everywhere: There's no question that the indictments against Trump are unprecedented and have powerful meaning for our democracy. It's a big story. But climate change is a bigger story, and it's time again to balance things out.
Newspapers, magazines, the BBC and NPR do a good job of keeping climate change in front of us. The cable channels, not so much.
Maybe climate stories are not good for TV ratings — too much of a downer — but the current conditions on the planet and the future cannot be ignored. Saving democracy from a wannabe tyrant is important — saving it from a Republican Party that has gone all-in for authoritarianism is imperative — but it won't matter if, in 20 years, atmospheric conditions are intolerable.
While TV news, in particular, has become obsessed with Trump again, here are three important stories that deserve more attention:
— The New York Times reports one of the most disturbing stories: Well-funded conservatives are laying the groundwork for a future Republican administration that would dismantle efforts to slow global warming. The insane and dangerous plan, called Project 2025, would shred regulations to curb greenhouse gas pollution from cars, oil and gas wells and power plants, dismantle almost every clean energy program in the federal government and boost the production of fossil fuels — the burning of which is the chief cause of planetary warming. Project 2025 does not offer any proposals for curbing greenhouse gas emissions that are dangerously heating the planet and which scientists have said must be sharply and quickly reduced to avoid the most catastrophic impacts.
— New data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reveals that Antarctic sea ice is growing at its lowest rate in recorded history, with the continent missing an Argentina-sized amount of sea ice. Salon reports: "The issue here is that the sea ice, instead of naturally building up to previous levels after melting during the warmer months, is staying gone. As a result, the extent of sea ice is now at its 12th lowest level since scientists began recording them 45 years ago with the growth rate of sea ice far below-average rates, reaching 'an unprecedently low level for this time of year,' according to NSIDC."
— The Washington Post reports that a crucial ocean current is near collapse: The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, one of the planet's most vulnerable "tipping elements," could undergo an abrupt and irreversible change, with dramatic consequences for the rest of the globe. "This aquatic conveyor belt transports warm, salty water from the tropics to the North Atlantic, and then sends colder water back south along the ocean floor. But as rising global temperatures melt Arctic ice, the resulting influx of cold freshwater has thrown a wrench in the system — and could shut it down entirely." A new study published in the journal Nature Communications suggests that continued warming will push the AMOC over its "tipping point" around the middle of the century. "The shift would be as abrupt and irreversible as turning off a light switch, and it could lead to dramatic changes in weather on either side of the Atlantic."
The news media, particularly the cable channels, have two big stories to cover with consistent urgency: Save the planet, save the republic.
No comments:
Post a Comment