TheVoiceOfJoyce The science of understanding the impact of climate extremes on vulnerable populations. Dr. Otto is working to lessen the damage caused by planet warming by lessening the impact of the weather. If people have an early warning system they can can prepare for extreme flooding or heat. Ultimately, she states, we know there’s a link between Fossil Fuel usage and weather extremes and we must eliminate Fossil Fuel usage to survive. What’s needed is knowing how to wean governments off Fossil Fuels. My suggestion is to reduce Fossil Fuel subsidies and start building alternative energy power immediately. “We need change”. Happy New Year, all!

www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/29/i-am-an-optimistic-person-the-scientist-who-studies-climate-catastrophes

Otto could be likened to Dr Randall Mindy, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in the film Don’t Look Up. Mindy warns that an asteroid will hit the planet in six months, but finds no one wants to hear his message.

But Otto disliked the film’s metaphor. “I felt the analogy was wrong – that there is this big physical threat, which would be fine if only we could invest in technology to fix it.

“Climate change is not like that. It is a social issue we will only be able to deal with if we invest in social systems, make our societies more resilient, less vulnerable and change our economic system from burning fossil fuels.”

In the coming year she would like to see climate attribution used much more widely by forecasters to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the role of climate change.

“My team could then focus on the really complex interplay between the social drivers of things like population vulnerability and the climate system, as well as working much more on finding out where we have levers to really bring change.”

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