Status: 01/11/2022 16:23
Climate researchers warn that there has never been such a rapid increase in CO2 as now. They collect evidence of how climate change, global warming and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are related.
Atop the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii are the buildings of the Mauna Loa Observatory, which at first glance look like a research station on Mars. The CO2 content in the atmosphere has been investigated here for decades. There is a good reason why the station was built at an altitude of more than 3,300 meters in the middle of the arid volcanic landscape. Away from human civilization, CO2 measurements are little influenced by cities, traffic, or industrial emissions.
One of the most important research institutions.
The “Keeling series of measurements” made here is one of the world’s most important series of measurements on climate change. Scientists have been continuously analyzing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere for more than 60 years. The results are clear: the concentration of CO2 is increasing at an unprecedented rate, explains Aidan Colton, Principal Scientist at the Mauna Loa Observatory: “What we are seeing is literally an explosion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, on a global scale. Scale. This is something that human civilization has never seen on our planet.”
man is to blame
There has never been an increase as fast as now. And the concentration of CO2 is now as high as it was about three million years ago. Every day, climatologist Aidan Colton compiles evidence on how climate change, global warming, and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are connected. For him, as for almost all researching climate scientists, massive CO2 emissions from humans have long been shown to be the main cause of climate change: we can now chemically analyze carbon dioxide and thus show that it comes from from the combustion of fossil fuels. fuels. And that CO2 acts as a greenhouse gas has been proven for decades. Therefore, it is also completely undisputed that humans are causing global warming.
The denial of the facts
But it is not just in the US that doubts about man-made climate change have been reignited since Donald Trump. In Germany, too, right-wing parties or so-called “lateral thinkers” deny that the people are to blame for the misery. However, this is diametrically opposed to science, where, according to surveys, more than 97 percent of all active climate researchers worldwide believe that man-made climate change has long been proven. Renowned climate researcher Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research has been familiar with this discussion for a long time.
It has been clear to me for decades that many of the arguments made by climate skeptics in Germany, including the AfD, come from the oil and coal lobby in the US informing the public about climate change in order to confuse it and present it as if it is still controversial.
Even Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck has no sympathy for people who question scientific facts. In the interview for ARD Documentary “Battle for the Climate” he was angry about the denial scene: “One does not spend life well ignoring and denying, because one is faced with the results of one’s own denial: heat, drought, storm events will severely shake society, societies ” .
The energy transition falters
But the minister has a problem. Because the energy transition is not yet gaining momentum, as a current SWR assessment of the expansion of wind power in Germany shows. Robert Habeck stresses that his ministry has paved the way for an accelerated development of wind energy. However, some federal states, such as Bavaria, would simply not agree to the energy transition, the Federal Minister of Economics criticized the Bavarian state government: “It’s not like I came into office to allow nuclear power plants to work for longer and that work with coal”. power plants a It is because renewable energies in the southeast of this republic are not sufficiently developed. That’s the reason”. And that’s why, according to Habeck, you can’t say that there are so many solar panels in Bavaria, because the sun doesn’t shine at night in Bavaria either.
Wind power expansion is even slowing
Research conducted by SWR as part of the filming of the documentary shows that the expansion of wind power in Germany even slowed down a bit in the first nine months of the year compared to the previous year. As of September 30 this year, 612 new permits for wind turbines had been issued throughout Germany. In the same period last year there were 660, in peak years there were even twice as many (2014: 1212 permits). However, the differences between the federal states are enormous. According to SWR research in North Rhine-Westphalia, 146 permits for wind turbines were issued in the first 9 months, while expansion in Bavaria (5) or Saxony (7) had almost come to a standstill. Federal Economy Minister Habeck sees this slow expansion as extremely problematic:
I get the impression that some states hide behind federal legislation and say that everything is so horrible. But other countries show that it is possible. And we no longer need governments that are not politically responsible. That time is over.”
the The ARD documentary “Kampf ums Klima” will be broadcast on November 1, 2022 at 22:50 the first.
Introvert. Beer guru. Communicator. Travel fanatic. Web advocate. Certified alcohol geek. Tv buff. Subtly charming internet aficionado.
