[GWSG] Heat limits lower; 40% clean energy; emissions actions; end-times fascism; Our Fragile Moment

[Tilley, Al]

1. Heat chamber tests at the U of Ottawa in 2023 found that fatal wet bulb levels were lower than the 35C (95F) previously thought. For a healthy adult, 26-31C (78.8-87.8F) wet bulb heat levels become lethal. Older people are more vulnerable. The 2C (3.6F) of warming which could come as early as 2045 would render a third of the Earth’s surface unlivable for older adults. The danger zone for others would be about a fifth of that (though, since even 20-year-olds reach 60, populations are likely to locate where the aged can survive). The number of heat deaths is already rising.  https://grist.org/health/science-extreme-heat-humidity-research/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily
To illustrate the range of the new lethal limits: when the temperature is 93F and the humidity is 50%, the wet bulb temperature is 78.2F. At 104F and 50% humidity, the wet bulb temperature is 87.6F. The research was published last month by PNAS. I expect further studies on this significant issue to supply corrections and extensions. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2421281122
 2. 40% of the world’s energy was generated from low-carbon sources last year. The European Union’s total was 71%. California’s combination of solar power and batteries provides a model for further progress.  https://www.euronews.com/green/2025/04/08/world-surpasses-40-clean-electricity-with-europe-leading-as-a-solar-superpower
 3. The World Resources Institute provides a discussion of the ways in which we can act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We will not be able to achieve a stable climate without the general adoption of a diet low in meat and dairy, anf there are a range of other steps we can take. The WRI calculates that adopting sustainable transit is the most impactful. https://www.wri.org/insights/climate-impact-behavior-shifts
 4. Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor warn that modern fascism has taken a turn toward a vision of a world in which only the wealthy survive. To oppose that the authors articulate one in which we support one another. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk
 5. Michael Mann’s 2023 book Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth’s Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis makes the case that previous variations in climate do not support the idea that we are facing a collapse of civilization, at least so long as we act to control greenhouse gas emissions. We are, however, facing major dislocations which will challenge our ability to adapt. We are already “experiencing as many as five million deaths a year from heat stress and other dangerous weather extremes. Add in the additional four million deaths a year from air pollution generated by fossil fuel burning, and that’s nine million. In one year, the combined deaths are nearly twice the total recorded number of deaths worldwide from the COVID-19 pandemic. Fossil fuel burning and the climate change it causes is far more deadly than the worst pandemic the world has yet faced.” (page 226)


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