Our Family Circle
Thoughts on our Purpose
In some respects we are an ordinary family starting with our 87 year old matriarch and a large batch of her (mostly retired) daughters and daughter-in-laws, some of whom are mothers to the working millennial generation and grandmothers to the youngest of our family who range from babies to college students. The senior men in our family, grandfathers, fathers and uncles have passed on, so the remaining elders are all women supported and loved by the men they gave birth to, those that joined us through marriage and the next generations of women leaders. In other respects we are extraordinary; we have a cultural psychologist, an entrepreneur, management consultants, a nonprofit leader, superb teachers, a security expert, a few musicians and sales, HR, accounting, marketing and customer service executives. Although a modest bunch, we have wide ranging skills and talents in such things as analysis, project management, public speaking, finance and accounting, marketing, sales and the arts. Within the circles we operate, we are leaders.
This week the UN released another report outlining the continuing deterioration of our environment and the worsening of the climate. The past few days have been the globe's hottest days in 200 years of records. Rather than standing by helplessly, one of our strong women, Caitie, decided to organize the family to begin a conversation about climate change. Caitie's work in cultural psychology points to a way forward when confronted with a universal problem- start with a circle of people that are able to identify the problem, imagine a future in which the problem is solved and design a path forward then watch the changes ripple outward from there. Our family circle will hopefully provide a way for us to interact with each other in a consistent and loving way while giving us all a hand in improving the future of our young ones. This blog is our record of that conversation. All of us may post our thoughts, actions, updates and worries at anytime.
The UN Report
Here is a link to the summary of the United Nation's report on the state of the climate released a week ago:
Taken directly from the report, the major finding is: It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred. In the past twenty years temperatures have increased 1 degree C. The oceans have warmed and the surface has increased salinity, likely from human causation. The major ways in which humans have been the source of these changes include gashouse emissions (the burning of fossil fuels) and aerosols. Non-human influences such as solar and volcanic activities are only a fraction of the human impact.
The UN committee forecasted a variety of future scenarios. Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least the mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades. Many changes in the climate system become larger in direct relation to increasing global warming. They include increases in the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, marine heatwaves, and heavy precipitation, agricultural and ecological droughts in some regions, and proportion of intense tropical cyclones, as well as reductions in Arctic sea ice, snow cover and permafrost.
What should the global community do about it? From a physical science perspective, limiting human-induced global warming to a specific level requires limiting cumulative CO2 emissions, reaching at least net zero CO2 emissions, along with strong reductions in other greenhouse gas emissions. Strong, rapid and sustained reductions in CH4 emissions would also limit the warming effect resulting from declining aerosol pollution and would improve air quality.
What can individuals do about it?
18 Simple Things You Can Do About Climate Change - Science and Climate (ucdavis.edu)
Ten simple ways to act on climate change - BBC Future
12 Things You Can Do Right Now on Climate Change | Climate Protection | RESET.org
Love, Deanne
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