There’s “concern” about climate change. There’s “hysteria” about climate change.
And then there’s United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. I’m not exactly sure what this is all about, but it’s so stratospherically beyond “hysteria” that it needs its own category.
“The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.” Do continue, Mr. General.
“For vast parts of North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe, it is a cruel summer,” Guterres said. “For the entire planet, it is a disaster.”
I dunno. It doesn’t feel like a disaster. I mean, my White Sox have thrown in the towel and given up on the season and the Cubs, of all teams, are actually within striking distance of the much-devalued baseball playoffs. That’s a personal disaster for me, but a planetary cataclysm? Not hardly.
“For scientists, it is unequivocal — humans are to blame,” Guterres said. “All this is entirely consistent with predictions and repeated warnings. The only surprise is the speed of the change. Climate change is here. It is terrifying, and it is just the beginning.”
In fact, the appearance of El Niño has complicated any definitive answers about whether the heat wave is due to human-caused climate change or not. But morons like Guterres aren’t interested in facts. The “predictions” and “warnings” over the last 30 years have been about a much warmer world by the end of this century — 77 years from now. And there have been zero studies done that show we’re somehow in an accelerated warming cycle — so accelerated that morons like the UN chief can run around wringing his hands about the apocalypse that’s now upon us.
Greenhouse gas emissions have to be reduced globally and quickly, Guterres emphasized, adding that “fossil fuel companies must chart their move towards clean energy, with detailed transition plans across the entire value chain: No more greenwashing. No more deception.”
In his speech, Guterres also underlined his view that countries must invest in adaptation measures.
“Extreme weather is becoming the new normal,” he said. “All countries must respond and protect their people from the searing heat, fatal floods, storms, drought and raging fires that result.”
And during the winter, governments must protect their citizens from the cold and snow. Duh.
Weather is on everyone’s mind because the media has decided that a heat wave in some areas — mostly on the coasts where reporters and editors live — is a sign of the end times. It’s really quite unbelievable to experience it. And the UN chief has become the number one climate soothsayer on the planet.
The ancients used to become terrified at the sight of a comet or a shooting star. They were sure it was a harbinger of death and the fulfillment of prophecies. Modern-day high priests use signposts like hurricanes, floods, big snowfalls, and hotter- or colder-than-normal temperatures as signs that their predictions about the end of the world are coming true and the time is now to repent and stop using fossil fuels to do mundane things like heat your house to stay alive.
It would be best to sacrifice your firstborn to atone for our climate sins.
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