--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We'd already lost the possibility of…" description: "\"We'd already lost the possibility of stopping global warming entirely. That hasn't been in the cards for a long time. The triumph of Trump probably mea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1af/bill-mckibben-1057_able_we-d-already-lost-the-possibility-of-sto_2159447.jpg" --- # We'd already lost the possibility of stopping global… ![“We'd already lost the possibility of stopping global warming entirely. That hasn't been in the cards for a long time. The triumph of Trump probably means that we're not going to be able to stop it at the two-degree mark that the world had been aiming for. That's very bad news, mostly because the…” quote by Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1af/bill-mckibben-1057_able_we-d-already-lost-the-possibility-of-sto_2159447.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1af/bill-mckibben-1057_able_we-d-already-lost-the-possibility-of-sto_2159447.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1af/bill-mckibben-1057_able_we-d-already-lost-the-possibility-of-sto_2159447.jpg) > “We'd already lost the possibility of stopping global warming entirely. That hasn't been in the cards for a long time. The triumph of Trump probably means that we're not going to be able to stop it at the two-degree mark that the world had been aiming for. That's very bad news, mostly because the planet seems to be more sensitive than we thought to even small increases in temperature.” [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human actions have pushed climate change beyond easy reversal, making even modest warming dangerous. **In simple terms:** We can't fully stop warming; small rises are harmful. Key Takeaway Act now to limit further warming. Themes climate change policy environment politics Mood urgent concerned Type activist political When to use this quote - government policy - public advocacy - energy transition - community resilience Key Concepts tipping points system sensitivity political inertia Questions to Reflect On - What policies could overcome political resistance? - How can individuals influence climate action? A Different Perspective Political opposition can stall necessary mitigation measures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Bad news](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-news/) [Cards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cards/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degrees/) [Global warming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/global-warming/) [Increase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/increase/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost/) [Lost Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost-possibility-4575208/) [Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mark/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [Planets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planets/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Possibility Stopping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility-stopping-4575207/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Sensitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensitive/) [Stopping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stopping/) [Temperature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temperature/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Triumph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/triumph/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Warming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warming/) [Warming Entirely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warming-entirely-4575206/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [We're clearly not going to stop global warming at this point. We've already raised the temperature of the planet one degree. We've got another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-clearly-not-going-to-stop-global-warming-at-this-point-we-ve/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [For a long time, the scientists have been telling us global warming increases the temperature of the top layer in the ocean, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/for-a-long-time-the-scientists-have-been-telling-us-global-warming/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [Global warming is one of those things, not like an earthquake where there's a big bang and you say, 'Oh, my God, this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-schwarzenegger/global-warming-is-one-of-those-things-not-like-an-earthquake-where/) [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-schwarzenegger/) > [We had global warming between 1940 and 1998. Since then, we haven't had a rise in temperature. That doesn't mean we don't have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-grassley/we-had-global-warming-between-1940-and-1998-since-then-we-haven-t-had/) [Chuck Grassley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-grassley/) > [I don't like the term 'global warming,' because it's misleading. It implies something that's mainly about temperature, that's gradual, and that's uniform across the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holdren/i-don-t-like-the-term-global-warming-because-it-s-misleading-it/) [John Holdren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holdren/) > [I'm convinced that after years of studying the phenomenon, global warming is not the real issue of temperature. That is the issue of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-klaus/i-m-convinced-that-after-years-of-studying-the-phenomenon-global/) [Vaclav Klaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-klaus/) > [Geologists and paleo-climatologists know that in the past the Earth's temperature has been substantially warmer than it is today, and that this warming has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-benson/geologists-and-paleo-climatologists-know-that-in-the-past-the-earth-s/) [Greg Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-benson/) > [We know the surface temperature of the Earth is warming. It has risen by .6 degrees Celsius over the past 100 years. There was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/we-know-the-surface-temperature-of-the-earth-is-warming-it-has-risen/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [There is no problem with global warming. It stopped in 1998. The last two years of global cooling have erased nearly 30 years of temperature increase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-plimer/there-is-no-problem-with-global-warming-it-stopped-in-1998-the-last/) [Ian Plimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-plimer/) > [ Former Vice President Al Gore starring in a new documentary about global warming. I believe it's called \[Leno snores\]. ... The film actually features… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/former-vice-president-al-gore-starring-in-a-new-documentary-about/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [In some parts of the world, what you are doing is already apparent.According to the World Health Organization, the warming of the planet caused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/in-some-parts-of-the-world-what-you-are-doing-is-already-apparent/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [In Australia, average temperatures have risen almost one degree since 1910, and each decade since the 1940s has been warmer than the one before.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-gillard/in-australia-average-temperatures-have-risen-almost-one-degree-since/) [Julia Gillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-gillard/) > [What we are saying is that on top of the warming trend there is a long-periodic oscillation that will probably lead to a lower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mojib-latif/what-we-are-saying-is-that-on-top-of-the-warming-trend-there-is-a/) [Mojib Latif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mojib-latif/) > [The Earth is warming but physical evidence from around the world tells us that human-emitted carbon dioxide has played only a minor role in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-singer/the-earth-is-warming-but-physical-evidence-from-around-the-world/) [Fred Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-singer/) > [ There's a lot of differing data \[about global warming\], but as far as I can gather, over the last hundred years the temperature on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/there-s-a-lot-of-differing-data-about-global-warming-but-as-far-as-i/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) ## More by Bill McKibben > [I try not to be either optimistic or pessimistic. I try not to think about outcomes on that scale. My job, it seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-try-not-to-be-either-optimistic-or-pessimistic-i-try-not-to-think/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Oil companies are radical because they're willing to alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/oil-companies-are-radical-because-they-re-willing-to-alter-the/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Whenever anyone challenges anything, the powers that be try to paint them as extremists or radicals or whatever. And I think that's actually nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/whenever-anyone-challenges-anything-the-powers-that-be-try-to-paint/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [My guess is that liberating the fossil fuel industry to frack anywhere they want will drive down the rate at which we're converting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/my-guess-is-that-liberating-the-fossil-fuel-industry-to-frack/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [What makes us different? We're the creature that can decide not to do something that we are capable of doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/what-makes-us-different-we-re-the-creature-that-can-decide-not-to-do/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“The snow was coming down so hard. It looked like the flakes were hurrying to get out of the sky so the next ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-snow-was-coming-down-so-hard-it-looked-like-the-flakes-were/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Most of the men and women who vote in Congress each year to continue subsidies have taken campaign donations from big energy companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/most-of-the-men-and-women-who-vote-in-congress-each-year-to-continue/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [“I’ve sat behind a microphone and listened for decades as Americans learned to stop talking with each other and start shouting instead. No discussions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-ve-sat-behind-a-microphone-and-listened-for-decades-as-americans/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [People in low-lying countries like Bangladesh with almost 140 million people who are managing to feed themselves, whose carbon emissions can't really be calculated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/people-in-low-lying-countries-like-bangladesh-with-almost-140-million/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We're putting more carbon into the atmosphere than the atmosphere can absorb. And everybody told us when we started, coz we knew nothing when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-re-putting-more-carbon-into-the-atmosphere-than-the-atmosphere-can/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Everything that the administration has done has been counterproductive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everything-that-the-administration-has-done-has-been-counterproductive/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [We use the web to help people organize in the flesh, and then we take the images of those events and put them back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/we-use-the-web-to-help-people-organize-in-the-flesh-and-then-we-take/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [everyone knows, at some level, that the sharp line between "good weather" and "bad weather" is a fiction, that we need rain as surely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/everyone-knows-at-some-level-that-the-sharp-line-between-good-weather/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [The thing about global warming is that you can address it on a great number of levels - in fact you have to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-thing-about-global-warming-is-that-you-can-address-it-on-a-great/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Where people aren't as deeply reliant on fossil fuel as in the United States, it's far easier for them to imagine change on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/where-people-aren-t-as-deeply-reliant-on-fossil-fuel-as-in-the-united/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) [Explore all 299 Bill McKibben quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) [Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We'd already lost the possibility of stopping global warming entirely. That hasn't been in the cards for a long time. The triumph of Trump probably means that we're not going to be able to stop it at the two-degree mark that the world had been aiming for. 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