When the French are banning booze, you know things are really getting extreme. It is only June, but Europe is suffering through its second major heat wave in two months, and this one is shattering records by astonishing margins.
Bulletin Editor’s note: This story was originally published by The Guardian. It appears here [in the Bulletin] as part of the Climate Deskcollaboration.
Economic growth is generally understood as a process that delivers a material betterment of living standards over time. But growth had two other virtues, neither of which has until now received much attention. Both will be sorely missed now that meaningful growth has ended.
First, that economic growth can rescue us from the consequences of our own mistakes or misfortunes.
According to the National Geographic Society: “The human footprint is one of the most destructive forces in Earth’s history, fundamentally altering the planet at an unprecedented scale. Humanity consumes resources far faster than they can regenerate, driving rapid environmental degradation, mass biodiversity loss, and climate shifts that many scientists classify as a new geological epoch.”
While residents of Iran suffer the consequences of a senseless war, the impacts ripple across the globe in the form of price spikes for gas and other commodities. And the Canadian oil and gas industry has been laughing all the way to the bank.
Humanity can raise living standards, reduce inequality and keep global heating within a 2C rise, according to a sweeping vision for planetary survival.
