The Cliff

I’m afraid that the wildfire disaster that has befallen Maui may be a harbinger of what awaits the entire global population in the era of human-caused climate change. A number of desperate people were forced to jump into the ocean to escape the flames because there was nowhere else for them to go.

As extreme weather events proliferate everywhere, the massive fires, storms, floods, droughts, heat, cold, wind and volcano eruptions are pocking the face of the planet like an adolescent with pimples, and in this case the scarring may be permanent.

It’s been clear for decades that the only tool left to human civilization to combat the climate change we’ve caused is mitigation. It’s much too late for prevention, and the concept of reversing global warming is barely theoretical at best.

But it may not be too late to limit the damage. How? Our societies have to forge agreements on some pretty severe limits on conventional energy production that so far have proven impossible to attain.

For now we may be able to comfort ourselves (falsely) that the problem is elsewhere. But the warning signs have been flashing red all around us for 50 years now. The ultimate question is whether we will finally develop the collective sense to save ourselves before the only choice remaining is to jump off that final cliff.

LINKS:

• Deadly wildfires burning across Maui prompt evacuations (CNN)

• At least 55 killed in Hawaii wildfires, Maui officials say (WP, various)

• Unprecedented levels of damage from storms this year is upending US towns and the insurance industry (AP)

• Iran moves 5 Americans to house arrest, lawyer says, in possible first step in their release (CBS)

• How Ukrainian sea drones work - and why they terrify the Russian fleet (Independent)

• Slow counteroffensive darkens mood in Ukraine (WP)

• Taliban's War on Drugs Going Strong, for Now (VoA)

• Picket Line Regulars Bolster Solidarity Among Writers As WGA Strike Hits 100 Days (Deadline)

• Bill Barr defends DOJ's election case against Trump (MSNBC)

• Clarence Thomas’ 38 Vacations: The Other Billionaires Who Have Treated the Supreme Court Justice to Luxury Travel (ProPublica)

• A Woman Was Attacked by a Snake That Fell From the Sky. Then a Hawk Dived In. (NYT)

• South Korea authorities evacuated more than 10,000 people and closed schools in flood-hit areas as tropical storm Khanun swept over the peninsula. (Reuters)

• Speed of approach to critical levels of climate change as dangerous to our survival as reaching those critical levels (Phys.org)

• Supermarket AI meal planner app suggests recipe that would create chlorine gas (Guardian)

• An author says AI is ‘writing’ unauthorized books being sold under her name on Amazon (CNN)

• Hari Kunzru on the Threat (and Promise) of AI for Novelists (GQ)

• Meet Jen, Futureverse’s New Text-to-Music AI Generator (Billboard)

• Google, Universal Music in talks for deal on AI 'deepfakes' (Financial Times)

• News outlets demand new rules for AI training data (The Verge)

• AI can hear what you're typing over Zoom with 93 per cent accuracy (New Scientist)

• There’s Never Been A Better Time To Be Rich In America, So Why Aren’t Poor People Happy For Them? (The Onion)