CultureLab: Elizabeth Kolbert on what we’re missing in the fight against climate change
May 7, 2024
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Journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Kolbert discusses the urgency and challenges of climate change in an engaging and informative conversation. Topics include the role of hope in inspiring action, meeting emission reduction targets, technological innovations, navigating uncertainty in climate preparedness, and the reality of climate change impacts. Kolbert's new book 'H is for Hope' is highlighted, along with the importance of narratives in shaping responses to the climate crisis.
Narratives play a crucial role in motivating or demotivating action against climate change.
Meeting Paris Agreement targets requires radical emissions reductions and global mobilization.
Deep dives
Elizabeth Colbert's Book 'Eaches for Hope' Explores Climate Narratives
Elizabeth Colbert, a Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist, discusses her latest book 'Eaches for Hope' which focuses on climate change narratives. In the book, she delves into the themes of hope, uncertainty, and the challenges of telling stories about the current climate crisis. Colbert explores the role of narratives in motivating action or demotivating it, emphasizing the importance of storytelling in addressing climate issues.
Paris Agreement Targets and Climate Change Realities
Elizabeth Colbert highlights the challenges of meeting the Paris Agreement targets such as limiting global warming to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius. She points out that radical emissions reductions are required for achieving these goals, which seem increasingly difficult to reach. Colbert underscores the need for massive global mobilization and acknowledges the discrepancies between climate targets and current emissions trajectories.
Innovation and Technology in Climate Solutions
Colbert discusses the potential of various technologies in combating climate change, such as green concrete, wind turbine projects, and innovative energy storage solutions like the iron battery. While acknowledging that reaching net zero emissions may pose challenges, she emphasizes the importance of making significant progress in reducing emissions. Colbert suggests that fostering innovation and pushing for technological advancements can help accelerate climate action.
Sea Surface Temperatures and Climate Change Impacts
Colbert addresses the concerns raised by scientists regarding record-breaking ocean temperatures and their implications for climate change models. She emphasizes the significance of understanding ocean heat absorption, which plays a crucial role in the planet's energy imbalance. Colbert underscores the need to pay attention to indicators like sea surface temperatures to grasp the changing climate dynamics more comprehensively.
How do we understand the stakes of climate change, and communicate them? As we’re facing the consequences of climate change and our historical inaction as a species, how do we come to terms with the reality and uncertainty of our situation?
In H is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z, Journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Kolbert breaks things down for us, alphabetically. She dissects the narratives around climate change, from sobering facts about our warming planet, to innovations to fuel our optimism.
In this episode, Kolbert reminds us how dangerous our current situation is, and what we are missing in this fight – including gaps in our understanding of how fast the climate is changing. Plus, the role of narratives in shaping how we decide to act.
To read about subjects like this and much more, visit newscientist.com.