[Intro]
S.O.S.
Under stress
S.O.S.
Under duress
Please…
Send less mess
[Verse]
Unfortunately,
Can you rescue me
(You rescue)
(Me unfortunately)
[Bridge]
[Instrumental, Guitar Solo, Drum Fills]
Can’t believe
Hard to breathe
(Can’t believe)
(Hard to breathe)
S.O.S.
(Under stress)
S.O.S.
(Under duress)
Please…
Send less mess
Less mess!
[Chorus]
Thieves!
Took my breath away
Thieves!
Ruined our way
[Break]
[Instrumental, Saxophone Solo, Bass]
Save the day!
Took my breath away
Save the day!
Going down now, (going down)
Going down now, (going down)
Going down now, (going down)
Going d-d-d-d-down
Woo, woo
[Instrumental, Harmonica Solo, Guitar]
S.O.S.
(Under stress)
S.O.S.
(Under duress)
Please…
Send less mess
Less mess!
A SCIENCE NOTE
Earth’s Current Climate Status
“We’ve entered the Age of Loss and Damage, but we’re just at the start. What we are seeing already just makes you want to cry,” expressed Dr. Christopher Trisos from the University of Cape Town in a recent BBC interview (MP3 Format). He highlighted the inevitability of loss and damage but emphasized that there are significant measures we can take to mitigate it.
In the 20th century, the Earth’s surface temperature averaged 13.9℃. However, in the first weeks of July 2023, the global average temperature surged to 17℃, marking a concerning shift. The question arises: Can humans endure temperatures greater than 3℃? The answer is a grim “probably not long,” as such extremes have never been experienced by humanity before.
September 6, 2023, marked a dire warning from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, following the World Meteorological Organization’s report on the hottest Northern Hemisphere summer in human history. Guterres stated, “The dog days of summer are not just barking, they are biting,” emphasizing the severity of the situation.
Climate breakdown, the most alarming development, occurs when feedback loops are triggered, and tipping points are crossed. This leads to the extinction of plants, the disappearance of carbon sinks, and an exponential acceleration of Earth’s temperature. The consequences are dire, with the potential disappearance of vital resources like food, fresh water, and breathable air, likely followed by catastrophic impacts on human survival.
In October 2023, the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that the average temperature for September hit 16.38 degrees Celsius, surpassing the previous record set in September 2020 by 0.5 degrees Celsius. Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo described it as “mind-blowing” and emphasized the devastating impacts on people and ecosystems, citing destruction of assets, infrastructure, and harvests. “What we are observing, are not only new extremes but the persistence of these record-breaking conditions, and the impacts these have on both people and planet, are a clear consequence of the warming of the climate system,” Director Buontempo said.
By January 2024, the Earth had experienced an alarming annual average temperature increase of over 1.5 degrees Celsius. This temperature rise continued in February 2024, with a monthly average reaching 1.77 degrees above pre-industrial levels, occurring centuries earlier than previously predicted. The urgency to address and combat climate change has never been more critical.
In a significant update from May 2024, scientists determined through tree ring analysis that the average temperature increase in 2023 reached 2.07 degrees Celsius, further underscoring the escalating pace of climate change and its profound impact on global ecosystems.
June 6, 2024 — Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever — accelerating on a steep rise to levels far above any experienced during human existence, scientists from NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego announced today. “Over the past year, we’ve experienced the hottest year on record, the hottest ocean temperatures on record and a seemingly endless string of heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires and storms,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Now we are finding that atmospheric CO2 levels are increasing faster than ever. We must recognize that these are clear signals of the damage carbon dioxide pollution is doing to the climate system, and take rapid action to cut fossil fuel use as quickly as we can.”