Saturday, 15 February 2025
Kampung A Relevant Life FOR REFLECTION & ACTION
FOR REFLECTION & ACTION PDF Print E-mail
Written by admin   
Saturday, 11 January 2025 12:24

 

SHARING AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR REFLECTION & ACTION IN 2025


=============================================================

 

DECADES WHEN MILLENNIA HAPPEN…


Commenting on the dynamics of history, Lenin remarks that there are decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen. But a rapidly heating planet has accelerated the pace of history; from the floods of Valencia to the fires of Los Angeles, the new geologic of historical time requires the renovation of Lenin’s famous dictum.


For the past 11,700 years, the earth’s complex climatic dynamics have held to an equilibrium, providing a stable environment for life with only minor fluctuations in average temperature. That era, known as the Holocene, has come to an end. In 2024, for the first time in recorded history, global average temperatures breached 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels—before the widespread industrial burning of fossil fuels began pumping massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.


As the Earth’s climate enters this new phase, we might reframe Lenin’s observation: in geological terms, there are millennia where nothing happens, and decades where millennia unfold.


The Holocene era was preceded by dramatic, rapid shifts in the Earth’s environment. Over 300 years, the last ice age was brought to an abrupt end as global temperatures rose 2.5 degrees, setting off a process that saw sea levels rise nearly 80 metres. These rapid changes capped off a preceding 7,000 years of slower warming—approximately 7 degrees in total—along with a 40-meter rise in sea levels, as revealed by Antarctic ice core data.


The changes to our planet caused by burning fossil fuels are poised to be as dramatic—if not more so.

 

Already we have increased the average temperature by 1.5 degrees in just 125 years, with CO2 emissions increasing year on year. This warming is accelerating cascading effects: rising sea levels follow higher temperatures as ice sheets collapse. According to the latest scientific research, the rapid and irreversible collapse of both the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets becomes “likely” if temperatures consistently exceed 1.5 degrees.


The earth has experienced higher sea levels than ours today. Around 125,000 years ago, sea levels were six to nine metres higher. For some of this interglacial period, sea levels rose by three metres per century.


Three metres of sea rise today could submerge New York, Shanghai, Osaka and Rio de Janeiro. 13 high-traffic supertanker ports are at “severe risk” from just a one-metre sea level rise. The International Cryosphere Climate Initiative’s most recent research finds that one metre of sea level rise is now inevitable within a century and could come as early as 2070 with the ice sheet collapse.


These massive planetary changes inevitably ripple into human history. We are living through an era of immense upheaval: from the fall of Assad to the failed auto-coup in South Korea, to Donald Trump’s saber-rattling against Greenland, Mexico, Panama and Canada before taking office.


The dizzying pace of geopolitical upheaval and the existential dread of climate breakdown can make us feel powerless. Yet while we cannot stop the acceleration of history, we can assert agency within it. Things will not—and cannot—stay the same.


Without vast, coordinated efforts to dismantle the structures of domination, oppression, and accumulation that define our world, things will get worse. But in this age of uncertainty, the collective actions of people and their organisations matter profoundly.


Here we find our task for 2025 as the Progressive International: to deepen, strengthen and connect those democratic efforts so that no matter how our planet changes, we are able to live with security and dignity on it.


In solidarity,

The Progressive International Secretariat

Comments
Search RSS
Only registered users can write comments!
Last Updated on Saturday, 11 January 2025 12:44
 

Your are currently browsing this site with Internet Explorer 6 (IE6).

Your current web browser must be updated to version 7 of Internet Explorer (IE7) to take advantage of all of template's capabilities.

Why should I upgrade to Internet Explorer 7? Microsoft has redesigned Internet Explorer from the ground up, with better security, new capabilities, and a whole new interface. Many changes resulted from the feedback of millions of users who tested prerelease versions of the new browser. The most compelling reason to upgrade is the improved security. The Internet of today is not the Internet of five years ago. There are dangers that simply didn't exist back in 2001, when Internet Explorer 6 was released to the world. Internet Explorer 7 makes surfing the web fundamentally safer by offering greater protection against viruses, spyware, and other online risks.

Get free downloads for Internet Explorer 7, including recommended updates as they become available. To download Internet Explorer 7 in the language of your choice, please visit the Internet Explorer 7 worldwide page.