2020’s massive drop in Co2 emissions was way too good to last:

“Not even a global pandemic could stop carbon dioxide concentrations from spiking. They reached historic levels yet again in May 2021, the month that scientists compare CO2 concentrations from year to year.

“Planet-heating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere averaged 419 parts per million this May, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). That pileup of CO2 is comparable to where it was a little over 4 million years ago, when the average global temperature was about 7 degrees Fahrenheit hotter and sea levels were a whopping 78 feet higher than they are today.”

Give it time, jeez! We’re doing it so fast the laws of the land haven’t caught up yet.

“CO2 pollution dropped by about 6 percent in 2020 as people stayed home and businesses halted operations early on in the pandemic. But by the end of last year, pollution had already come roaring back. Global emissions from energy use in December 2020 were already slightly higher than they were one year earlier.

“2020 also marked five years since the adoption of the historic Paris climate agreement. Over the past year, governments faced pressure to ratchet up their commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions. The world’s current largest CO2 polluter, China, said it would stop releasing more emissions than it can capture or offset by 2060. US President Joe Biden aims to reach that goal by 2050. But so far, their aspirations have yet to be backed by ambitious enough actions to significantly slow down climbing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.”

If it takes until 2060 for China and 2050 for the US, the The Hunger Games or The Road will be looked back on fondly like chilled out days at the beach.

And don’t forget: Half the US target is based on ‘technologies that haven’t been invented yet’.

Lol.

If you’re looking for more giggles, here are some care of a report about biodiversity and the upcoming UN summit on the subject:

“The world is running out of time to reach an ambitious deal to stem the destruction of the natural world, the co-chair of negotiations for a crucial UN wildlife summit has warned, amid fears of a third delay to the talks.”

Save the remaining dregs of what remains of the ‘natural world’, they mean.

“Resource extraction, agricultural production and pollution are driving what some scientists believe is the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth, with 1 million species at risk of disappearing largely as the result of human activity.”

They say ‘at risk’ without actually highlighting the fact that this is not some hypothetical future shitshow. It’s happening today. Go hang out in the bare remains of the Cambodian or Indonesian jungle, Brazil’s Amazon forest’s lingering bits and pieces, or even a field in the UK which the insects and birds have long fled (or been shot above), and then try pretending this is not already well underway.

“The world has never met a single UN target to prevent the destruction of nature.”

And this isn’t about to change.

Wish us luck, UFOs.

[Addendum: In this context, people bragging on Facebook about how awesome it is to again be able to fly halfway across the world to gawk at endangered ecosystems will be getting increasingly short shrift from me.]