The antics of Extinction Rebellion (XR) worldwide seem to be getting more frantic and desperate. Recently, 15 bare-chested women linked themselves outside of the British Parliament. One may well ask, why does XR do such things?
To find the answer, let us go back to science.
For decades, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been presenting an increasingly alarming picture. The IPCC represents the views of about 800 of the world’s top scientists who study global ecology. Their results show that we are moving towards a warmer climate driven largely by our use of fossil fuels.
It is getting harder to deny that this is occurring. The world’s glaciers are clearly disappearing and the polar ice caps are degrading even faster than the scientific models have predicted. The early warning signs are becoming abundantly clearer – more wildfires, more and stronger hurricanes, more floods, and more droughts. And as land ice slips into the ocean, the ocean's levels are slowly rising.
We are losing the earth’s “air conditioner” – and a hellish future awaits us. The IPCC warns that if we do not curtail our carbon emissions soon, a tipping point will be reached. At that point, likely this decade, we will not be able to turn back the clock; moreover, no one will be able to deny the climate crisis. We will have entered the period of the "Great Remorse" when all humanity will ask itself, "Why did we not do more earlier to prevent this?".
At present, many groups are working to prevent this future. In Canada, we have a consortium of environmental groups joined in the Climate Action Network/Reseau action climat (CANRac). They seek to inform the public and lobby the government from within to act now on climate change. Meanwhile, the frantic members of XR are clamouring in the streets for change.
The basic question is – Will the fear of the Great Remorse be enough to move us to act now?
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