The Irony of “The Kyoto Protocol”
Wallace-Wells writes, "The Kyoto Protocol achieved practically, nothing; in the twenty years since, despite all of our climate advocacy and legislation and progress on green energy, we have produced more emissions than in the twenty years before."
The protocol would have convinced the signatories to remain committed to reducing carbon emissions to benefit the earth and the climate. Evidently, stakeholders are not dedicated to taking pragmatic steps in minimizing carbon emissions. Advocacies for carbon reduction are superficial public relations moves intended to mislead the public about leaders’ commitment to averting climate change.
“The Poorest Countries Will suffer more”
Wallace-Wells expounds, "The poorest countries will suffer more in our hot new world…That is notwithstanding the fact that much of the global south has not, to this point, defiled the atmosphere of the planet all that much."
The prosperous nations contribute to global warming more than the developing nations due to the high rates of industrial activities in the developed world. Ironically, the developing countries whose contribution to global warming is relatively low will face a greater amount of environmental cruelty. Accordingly, the carbon emitted in the developed nations ends up in other nations as well; hence it cannot be restrained in the territories where it is produced. The climate crisis has the potency of creating castes and the low castes will be hit more than the upper castes.
The Irony of the Mudslide
Wallace-Wells remarks, "Some of those watching from afar wondered, incredulously, how a mudslide could kill so many. The answer is, the same way as hurricanes and tornadoes-by weaponizing the environment, whether "man-made" or "natural." The disasters attributed by climate change cannot be underestimated because the after-effects can be massive. A mudslide may be deemed less fatal than tornadoes; however, once a mudslide occurs, it can culminate in deaths and annihilation of properties.
The Irony of “Paris Accords”
Wallace-Wells elucidates, "In 2016, the Paris accords established two degrees as a global goal, and…with no single industrial nation on track to meet its Paris commitments, two degrees looks more like a best-case outcome." The industrialized nations' would have been at the forefront in upholding the Paris accords because they were fully involved in the accords' formulation. Clearly, the nations are highly dependent on fossil fuels that they would not implement the Paris accords. They face the fossil fuel versus Paris accord binary; upholding the accords would be detrimental to their economies.
The Irony of Post-Industrial
Wallace-Wells speculates, “Or because we felt so “postindustrial” we couldn’t believe living as we did in every other way and didn’t want to think too hard about that; or because we felt so “postindustrial” we couldn’t believe we were still drawing material breaths from fossil fuel furnaces.” The post-industrial generation would be expected to recognize the perils of climate change due to the availability of evidence demonstrating the havoc of fossil fuels. Assuming that the climate and the environment are normal is a confirmation of the post-industrial generation’s denial about the actuality of global warming.
