Reading as your Summer Climate Action

Dear Subscriber First Name,

This week we reached the highest level of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere in human era measured at 426.73 ppm (parts per million) according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This measurement is taken daily at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, recorded in the Keeling Curve and reported on websites, co2.earth among others. It’s also a measurement that I have included in the signature of this newsletter. When I used it the first time in May 2021, the measurement was at 420.01 ppm.

The safe level of atmospheric CO2 is 350 ppm. Some of us were born at a number below 350 ppm; I was born at 318 ppm. The Keeling curve that tracks this concentration over time shows that we crossed this “safe level” in the 90’s so a large portion of today’s world population has never lived under the “safe level”. This is an important number to know.

On co2.earth you can read:

CO2 Is The Number to Watch

When the trend for atmospheric CO2 trend begins to falter and fall, we can expect global average temperature to follow.  For those who care about the sustainability of the planet, and who want it to remain a place where people can flourish, the measured CO2 levels in the atmosphere serve as the single best, real-time signal of whether the world as a whole is on track to a safe future, or needing to do more to get on track. 

A high level of CO2 in our atmosphere is responsible for the human-caused climate crisis manifested this month by dangerous heat waves in Saudi Arabia, the Eastern US, Greece, Turkey and other countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East, with a staggering number of heat related deaths of pilgrims in Mecca.

A massive heat wave in India is also the opening chapter of The Ministry for the Future a climate fiction, or “cli-fi", novel by Kim Stanley Robinson, published in 2020. This novel is an amazing eye opener on the direction of our planet, and of one of its possible futures. It’s one of my favorite books on the topic as it follows a number of characters and explores many aspects touched by climate change: economics, finance, geopolitics, air transportation, human rights, geo-engineering and more. It also has a good ending of sorts. I highly recommend it. (And if reading is not your thing, you will enjoy listening to My Climate Journey’s podcast where Cody Simms of MCJ Collective interviews Robinson about the book).

The Ministry for the Future is also included in a very complete summer reading list by Satowa Kinoshita, a friend working in climate investment and a member of my first All We Can Save book circle (January-April 2021). Kinoshita lists most climate books I recommend to friends, clients or students, including All We Can Save, Braiding Sweetgrass, Speed and Scale, Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Richard Power’s The Overstory, all texts that have influenced me deeply in my climate journey, climate coaching and own writings on the topic. I include her substack post below. She lists other books that I have yet to discover such as Michael Pollan’s Omnivore's Dilemma or Cities for People. There is a book for every one in her list. Thank you Satowa!

Happy Reading! Happy Summer! Stay Cool!

Anne-Marie
June 28, 2024
426.73 ppm of atmospheric CO2 (safe level 350 ppm)

PS: After last night’s presidential debate here in the USA, and the pathetic few minutes dedicated to the critically existential topic of climate change, I am also including below a poem by Jane Hirshfield that she wrote on January 25, 2017 on the fifth day of Trump’s presidency, when information on climate change was removed from the White House website and scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency, National Park Service, department of agriculture and other federal agencies were ordered to release no further research information without permission. Scientists at Badlands National Park, in South Dakota, began unofficially tweeting factual information that day, and scientists at many governmental agencies and universities began copying research files on to back-up servers. May this poem serve as a reminder of Donald Trump’s past performance in the area of climate!

Resource: A Climate Action Book list by Satowa Kinoshita

Poem: On the Fifth Day by Jane Hirshfield