''. the key problem is there are so many competing demands on govts around the world so many have mistakenly put GHG emissions on the lower priority.''
whilst that might be a factor, I doubt if it is.
IMO - assuming we actually believe in GHG and mmcc - which personally I think is irrelevant ---
cc - regardless of if it's mm or not ---------- is an issue that's not close enough for humans to see as a top priority
some farmers might see it as a huge problem, perhaps some fishermen, river traders etc.
and some places - like Pakistan and the floods, some places with droughts -
but, by and large - it's not like the lion jumping out of the bush at a human - it's this stealthy, too far away invisible beast, which 'they' are trying to scare us with ------ I look out the window and it looks ok to me issue
if we can't see it roaring towards us - then for many humans, perhaps most - then it doesn't exist
Government in great part - looks to their next election at most----- no further.
Even if we find out by tomorrow morning that the AMOC has already hit a tipping point and that it will come to a total stop in a precise year - say 2040 - and we know what exactly will happen - (which is an impossible prediction)
we would have many many people looking out the window and saying 'can't see anything happening'
humans in general, have little or zero vision. They cannot imagine things of scale changing fast. They are fully attuned to life - normal life, which mostly means, breakfast and shower, go to work on the tram or in the car, have lunch, come home, do the same tomorrow.
they understand that there are people who have car accidents, heart attacks, strokes and get old ----------- but, not them. They can't imagine it happens to them.
Young people can't even imagine getting old. Yet the evidence is all around them that everyone gets old. Then, all of a sudden one day, they look in the mirror and they say ' hey, who the hell are you, where did you come from?'
so if we can't imagine something as basic as getting old - with evidence all around us
how can we be expected to imagine that all of a sudden - in our lifetime, that the heat that everyone talks about and these floods we see on telly - will dump enough fresh water into the ocean and affect a thing we've never seen called an ocean current - and stop it - and as it happens the sea level is going to rise greatly - which we've never seen it do in our lifetime and then, when it stops the north of the world is going to ice over and billions of people are going to come to our place
no way can people see that ------- and IMO -------- nor can governments. Who in particular, can't see beyond their speech for tomorrow.
IMO the world will wake sporadically as it gets hit with extreme weather events and we get more research and lots of agreement with the research.
Some places might be luckier than others ----------- maybe Australia - why? because Australia is ripe for dislocation of it's populace - and one or a couple of major hits now -
whilst disastrous - catastrophic - would indeed show the fragility of preparation - and put the fear into the nation that is require for REAL action
so if per chance we did have a monster cyclone go through the Gold Coast next season and dislocate 100 thousand people or more -
in the longer run - that might be a good thing - because it would show up the lack of preparation and current extraordinary vulnerability of the nation to natural disaster
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