Ice breaker

According to Greek mythology, Cassandra was given the gift of prophecyMaking predictions about what will happen in the future. by ApolloA US space programme which ran from 1961 to 1972 and took 12 astronauts to the moon and the ancient Greek god of the sun, poetry, and archery., but when she refused him, he cursed her so that nobody would ever believe her predictions.

Although Cassandra correctly predicted death, destruction and the fall of TroyAn ancient city in modern-day Turkey. It is the subject of Homer's epic poem The Iliad. After a ten-year siege, the hero Odysseus finally took the city by hiding a group of Greek soldiers in a vast wooden horse, which the Trojans wheeled into their city. This is the origin of the expression "Trojan horse"., her warnings were never listened to and she was seen as mad.

The metaphorWhen a word or phrase is used to describe something, but it is not literally true. of Cassandra has been used by climate activists for years. In 1999, one described the environmental movement as a "Cassandra dilemma", as scientists' warnings of the deadly onset of climate disaster were ignored by the disbelieving masses.

Cassandra was not listened to until it was already too late. It remains to be seen whether we have acted quickly enough to ward off climate breakdown, but a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has some worrying new predictions.

The report includes warnings that global warming is approaching "irreversible" levels, and that "there is a rapidly-closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainableAble to continue over a long time. future for all".

It will inform this year's COP28The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (known as the Conference of the Parties). , due to be hosted in November in Dubai, which experts say will find that we have made little progress towards our goal of halting warming at 1.5C.

The report signals that we may already be too late. Its writers highlight that it is overwhelmingly likely that, given that the world has already warmed by 1.1C, we will overstep our 1.5C target some time in the 2030s.

But there are also moments of hope. Scientists hope that carbon capture technologyThe process of capturing CO2 released due to industrial processes or the burning of fossil fuels and storing it, so it cannot enter the atmosphere and cause global warming. will develop in the coming years, possibly reversing the effects of "overshooting" our climate targets.²

The writers also applauded the falling costs of renewable energy, which is now less expensive than fossil fuelsFuels made from decomposing plants and animals, including coal, natural gas and oil. These fuels release carbon dioxide, causing global warming., stating that now "a shift to clean energy can often save money".

Yes: We have not acted fast enough so far, but we have still made some major changes to halt the progression of climate breakdown. This report will spur us into action to achieve our goal.

No: We have ignored warnings for years that the climate is on the edge of total breakdown. ApathyLack of interest or enthusiasm. cannot easily be broken.

Or... Perhaps the report might encourage us to accelerate our preventative action, but the answer will probably have to lie in carbon capture technology now, rather than in preventative measures.