2023 Was The Hottest Year - Did It Reach The Tipping Point?

When the Paris Accords were agreed to by the world's nations, they set a limit of how much rise in temperature could be allowed. They said the limit should be 1.5 degrees centigrade, or if a year exceeds that temporarily, it should never exceed 2 degrees centigrade. They believed that 2 degrees was a tipping point beyond which the climate could not recover.

In 2023, the world experienced its hottest year ever. The first five months were among the hottest years recorded, and the last seven months set huge new records in heat. The year finished 1.8 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels.

That exceeds the 1.5 degree goal, and is coming very close to a 2 degree rise. Was 2023 an anomaly? Or is the global warming reaching its tipping point? We won't know for sure until we see what happens in 2024. But it should be frightening enough to spur serious and coordinated action by the nations of the world.

Unfortunately, it does not look like the United States (which should be leading the effort to control global warming) will take the action necessary. The Republicans in Congress still have the power to block serious efforts to control the warming climate. Their only energy point is to say we should be drilling more for fossil fuels (even though we are already the world's leading producer).

Unless we act soon, we will assuredly reach the tipping point -- beyond which nothing can be done to stop radical and disastrous climate change. The only way to prevent that is to vote the fossil fuel loving Republicans out of power -- and it must be done soon. We are running out of time.

In 2023 Politics Was More Negative, Divided, And Violent

The charts above are from the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between December 24th and January 2nd of a nationwide sample of 3,087 adults, with a 2.3 point margin of error. 

25 Notable People We Lost In 2023

 

Photos are from the list compiled by The Washington Post.

2023 In 10 Charts

 From The New York Times.

Most Say 2023 Was Bad Year For U.S. - Expect Same In 2024

The charts above are from the YouGov Poll -- done between December 11th and 14th of a nationwide sample of 1,000 adult citizens, with a 4 point margin of error.

U.S. Adults Are Pessimistic About 2023

 

The charts above are from the Gallup Poll -- done between December 5th and 19th of a nationwide sample of 1,803 adults, with a 3 point margin of error.

2023 Should Bring Indictments For Donald Trump

The following is just part of an excellent op-ed by Colbert I. King in The Washington Post:

I fervently wish that 2023 will bring about a reckoning between Donald Trump and the law; that in the new year, the former president will be called to account for betraying his oath of office — and, if there is sufficient evidence to prove he has committed other crimes, that he be indicted. Neither is too much to hope for, and both are much desired. Trump, who is divisive and demagogic at home and favors autocratic regimes abroad, is the United States’ greatest scourge on public service in the 21st century.

Among U.S. presidents, Trump stands out most for his dereliction of duty.

His oath was simple and direct: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

But on Jan. 6, 2021, when the Capitol — the symbol of U.S. democracy — was assaulted by a mob summoned to Washington by him, Trump did nothing.

It was the most violent domestic attack on the U.S. government since the Civil War. There it was: a mob seeking to delay and disrupt a joint session of Congress empowered by the Constitution to transfer presidential power. . . .

We watched for hours as law enforcement, including a large contingent of courageous D.C. police officers, fought to clear the mob of insurrectionists out of the Capitol and off its grounds.

The president of the United States watched, too. . . .

As commander in chief, Trump had the capacity to marshal the power of the U.S. government to stop the blatant attack on a constitutional process. For more than three hours — 187 minutes, as the committee clocked it — Trump sat back and didn’t lift a finger.

Despite his sworn obligation to “protect and defend the Constitution,” Trump shamefully and shamelessly violated his oath. . . .

The Jan. 6 committee, concluding an 18-month investigation, said Trump did more than sit in the White House and sulk on Jan. 6.

In a referral of criminal charges to the Justice Department, the committee said that the former president, among other things, incited or assisted the Jan. 6 insurrection and obstructed an official proceeding of Congress. The committee unanimously agreed to the referral.

More to the point, Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel to oversee two criminal investigations that involve Trump: First, whether there was any unlawful interference with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the electoral college vote, and second, the alleged mishandling of classified documents and other presidential records and possible obstruction of an investigation.

Trump is up to his eyeballs in both.

Partisan GOP grousing and Trump’s witch-hunt claims notwithstanding, the Garland-led Justice Department can be expected to follow the facts and the law in reaching decisions about Trump and his confederates.

Here’s hoping 2023 will see Trump meeting at the bar of justice, with verdicts to follow.