Tag Archives: 1.5°C

Energy, Politics

In the Midst of a Global Energy Transition: Canada’s New Pipeline

Someone sent me a Facebook post in which North Island-Powell River MP Aaron Gunn points to a Petro Canada sign advertising gas for $2.09.9 a litre. 

Gunn wrote, “Ridiculous. 4th-largest oil reserves on the planet. $2.09 per litre at the pumps. It’s time to build pipelines, refineries and an energy policy that puts Canada, and Canadians, first!” 

My first response, when I calmed down enough to have a polite response, was ‘does he think a fully operational pipeline is going to drop out of the sky?’ 

So far, no proponents have stepped forward to build the proposed pipeline. Premier Danielle Smith of Alberta recently said there are some Middle Eastern and Asian investors who expressed interest in a minority stake. IF a proponent steps forward and clears all the necessary preliminary steps, it is still going to take years before oil flows through the proposed pipeline. 

Continue reading In the Midst of a Global Energy Transition: Canada’s New Pipeline →
Cost of Climate Change

A Matter of Degrees

Efforts to highlight the significant dangers of global warming do not
seem to be successful. Levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal cause, have combined with methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) to speed the increase, despite decades of warnings. Global
temperatures are rising, scientists are desperately trying to focus
our attention on the seriousness of the problem, and despite
international pledges, national targets, corporate promises and
individual efforts, little of significance has been accomplished.
Significant strides in renewable energy sources have been made,
however much of this added power is not replacing fossil fuels but
supplementing them. The International Energy Agency has predicted that oil consumption could peak about 2030. We have made some progress by averting the worst of the worst future climate possibilities. But humanity has now surpassed the 1.5°C first target of temperature rise proposed in the Paris Agreement of 2015, and the pre-eminent American climate scientist, James Hansen, was prescient enough even a year ago to declare the 2.0°C target “dead”. (The Guardian Weekly, February 4. 2025).

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Cost of Climate Change

Global Temperature Rise Could Reach 3°C by 2050, study says

A new study suggests the earth is warming up faster than previously believed. While some projections indicate the world will reach 2.7°C around the turn of the century, Klaus Richter, president of the German Physical Society, and Frank Böttcher, chairman of the German Meteorological Society, issued a joint press release warning that average global temperatures could reach 3°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050.

Continue reading Global Temperature Rise Could Reach 3°C by 2050, study says →
Cost of Climate Change

Happy New Year Humanity – The Quadra Project

When the outside world is too disturbing to confront, people seek
relief through the vicarious safety of fantasy. This explains why 2025
was a banner year for horror movies. J.G. Ballard, an English novelist
and essayist, noted that, “The ultimate dystopia is the inside of
one’s own head.” Dr. Coltan Scrivner, a behavioural scientist agrees.
“You walk around with your mask of tranquillity, but inside your mind
is a maze of worries. Horror allows you to take off your mask.” (The
Guardian Weekly, Editorial, Oct. 24, 2025.) So with this genre of
movie you get to experience horror, but not the real kind that you
might be reluctant to confront.

As we mark the beginning of 2026, we are one quarter of our way
through the 21st century and are coming closer to the haunting
forecasts of climate catastrophe by the end of the century, if we do
not reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. So a review of 2025 seems
appropriate.

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Cost of Climate Change, Finances

The Quadra Project – Planetary Solvency

Actuaries are the people who compile and analyze statistics and use them to calculate insurance risks and premiums. Their studies are finely honed, and because billions of dollars of profits and losses are determined by their conclusions, they are as objective and precise as any in our modern world.

Actuaries now have a sobering view of the world’s economic future if the urgency of global climate change is not addressed. The risk is that the global economy could face a 50% loss in GDP between 2070 and 2090 if immediate policy action is not taken on the climate crisis.

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