Climate Hell

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Definition

Historical

Green Deen

In his 2010 rubric for a Green Deen, Ibrahim Abdul-Mateen defined fossil fuels such as petroleum, gas, and coal as well as nuclear energy as energy from hell because they are all:

1. Extracted from the ground;

2. Nonrenewable;

3. Dirty/polluting;

4. Climate risks.

Energy from Hell:

"Takes away from the Earth without giving back. It disturbs the balance (mizan) of the universe and is therefore a great injustice (zulm). A Green Deen calls for maintaining the Earth’s balance and treating it justly.[1]

At the core of this paradigm lies the recognition that energy from hell is fueling climate collapse.[2]

The United Nations

As reported by several outlets in September of 2014, the UN's "Weather Reports from the Future" series predicted "climate hell" by 2050 without a major course correction.[3][4][5]

In November 2022, the concept of "climate hell" was again thrust in the global spotlight following its prominent use in a speech by the UN Secretary General at COP-27.

33 Dragons of Inaction

Media Discourse

Urgency of Action

July 2023 saw extreme heatwaves in several parts of the Northern Hemisphere, including the Southwest of the US and Mexico, Southern Europe and China. Temperatures exceeded 50C on the 16th of July in Death Valley in the US as well as in Northwest China. Records were also reached in many other weather stations in China and the all-China heat record was broken in Sanbao on the 16th of July. In Europe, the hottest ever day in Catalunya was recorded and highest-ever records of daily minimum temperature were broken in other parts of Spain. In the US, parts of Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico tied their all time high, parts of Arizona, Cayman Islands, highest ever night time temperatures in Phoenix Arizona which also had its record for longest time without falling below 90F/32.2C.

Several heat deaths have been confirmed in the US, including migrants on the US Mexican border. In Mexico alone over 200 people died due to the heat. Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Algeria, and China also reported heat deaths, as well as a large increase in hospitalisation due to heat related illnesses. Large parts of the population in Italy and Spain and over 100 million people in Southern US are under heat alerts. In all three regions, demand for power spiked and negatively impacted a number of important crops, including olive oil in Spain and cotton in China.

Using published peer-reviewed methods, we analysed how human-induced climate change altered the likelihood and intensity of 1) 18-day average maximum temperatures over the most affected regions in western US, Texas and northern Mexico. 2) 7-day average maximum temperatures over land in the rectangular box(5W-25E, 36-45N) covering the most affected region. 3) 14-day average maximum temperatures over the lowlands of China, again covering the most affected region (fig 1, bottom).

Without human induced climate change these heat events would however have been extremely rare. In China it would have been about a 1 in 250 year event while maximum heat like in July 2023 would have been virtually impossible to occur in the US/Mexico region and Southern Europe if humans had not warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels.

Unless the world rapidly stops burning fossil fuels, these events will become even more common and the world will experience heatwaves that are even hotter and longer-lasting. A heatwave like the recent ones would occur every 2-5 years in a world that is 2°C warmer than the preindustrial climate.[6]


Refugees

'Border Patrol Is Caging Migrants Outdoors During Deadly Arizona Heatwave July 21, 2023': https://theintercept.com/2023/07/21/arizona-heatwave-border-patrol-migrants/

Sources