It is a fight, and yes, we are currently losing it; the fossil fuel proponents and lobbyists are steering us towards disaster.
The cost is in lives. Is anyone being held responsible? This is a low-side initial estimate:
Climate change-driven summer heat caused 16,500 additional deaths across Europe, study estimates- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
Climate change intensified Europe’s summer heat in 2025 and drove an estimated 16,500 additional deaths across 854 cities, according to a new study led by researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Imperial College London.
The rapid analysis found that climate change was responsible for around 68% of the 24,400 estimated heat-related deaths this summer. Warmer conditions, amplified by human-driven climate change, increased daily temperatures by an average of 2.2°C, with peaks of up to 3.6°C.
The report highlights how even small increases in temperature can result in thousands of avoidable deaths – with older adults particularly vulnerable. People aged 65 and over made up 85% of the estimated deaths.
The study covered cities representing about 30% of Europe’s population, meaning the true death toll is likely to be far higher. Heat-related deaths are often undercounted, as many result from underlying health conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease, with heat rarely recorded as a contributing cause.
+ Bolding Mine
Global excess deaths associated with heatwaves in 2023 and the contribution of human-induced climate change: Science Direct
Public summary
- Over 178,000 global deaths associated with the 2023 heatwave, equivalent to 23 deaths per million
- Southern and Eastern Europe had the highest heatwave-related mortality burden.
- Heatwave-related deaths were concentrated in subtropical and temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere.
- More than half (54.29%) of heatwave-related deaths were attributable to human-induced climate change.
There is no vaccine; however, there is a cure.
As for COP30
Trump, war, absent media: five threats to climate progress that dogged Cop30: The Guardian
Cop30 in Belém wrapped up on Saturday night more than 24 hours later than planned, and with an Amazonian rainstorm thundering down on the conference centre. The UN structure just about held, as it has done these past three weeks despite fire, savage tropical heat and blistering political attacks on the multilateral system of global environmental governance.
Dozens of agreements were gavelled through on the final day, as the most collective form of humanity worked to resolve the most complex and dangerous challenge that our species has ever faced. It was chaotic. The process very nearly collapsed and had to be rescued by last-ditch talks that went on into the early morning. Veteran observers told me the Paris agreement was on life-support.
But it survived. For now at least. The outcome was not nearly enough to limit global heating to 1.5C. There was a considerable shortfall in the finance needed for adaptation by the countries worst affected by extreme weather. The importance of rainforest protection barely got a mention even though this was the first climate summit in the Amazon. And the power balance in the world is still so skewed towards gas, oil and coal interests that there was not even a single mention of “fossil fuels” in the main agreement.
Once again, when will historic and current fossil fuel producers and users be held responsible/accountable?
As for the +1.5°C Limit.
The world is likely to exceed a key global warming target soon. Now what? : UNEP
That is how experts are describing the findings of a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report that says that global temperatures are on track to exceed the most ambitious end of the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.
Modeling from UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report 2025, released on Tuesday, found that within the next decade, global temperatures will likely exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Climate advocates had long hoped that it would be decades, if ever, before the 1.5°C threshold was breached. Keeping the global average temperature below that level is considered crucial for avoiding some of the worst effects of climate change.
“Despite all the warnings, the world has continued to emit greenhouse gasses at record levels, so this conclusion wasn’t unexpected,” said Martin Krause, Director of UNEP’s Climate Change Division. “But it should be a wakeup call to everyone. Climate change is real, it’s happening and unless we do something about it soon, the consequences will be severe.”
How did the world get here and what does overshooting 1.5°C mean for humanity? Let’s dive into the Emissions Gap Report to answer those and other questions.
If we continue along our merry way, expect a rise of +2.7 to 3.0°C.
From those well-known ecoterrorists: The Economist
The +1.5°C Limit does not mean there will be no excess deaths, but they will be somewhat limited.
I know TLDR, but there is no plan B.
We might be in the last chance saloon.
A Morning Muse
~A
