We Have Hit The Breaking Point With Climate Change

Robert Crohan/Staff Writer

“Worse” and “worst” are two words I have been seeing quite a lot lately.

Coronavirus as bad as 1918? No, it could be worse. November’s election looking like Bush vs. Gore? No, it will be worse. 2020 California wildfires just like 2019? No, they’re much worse. 27 times worse.

I recently saw a meme that warned against treating 2020 like a one-time unusually bad year, because it was the culmination of humanity’s abuses into a string of bad events that are only a preview of what’s to come. If we don’t clean up our act right now, every year will be 2020 on steroids. The San Francisco sky a scary orange like “Blade Runner 2049”? This is our new normal.

We, as students at a great university in a vulnerable city, are at the forefront of the climate crisis. It goes without saying that our leaders, current and upcoming, must absorb the realities unfolding around them. No excuses, because millions are suffering for it.

If someone wanted to escape to a “safe” place, no such place exists anywhere. The west is burning. The south is sinking. The northeast is facing endless snowstorms. The Midwest is flooding. The plains are being hammered by tornadoes. Alaska is warming rapidly. Hawaii is sinking, too. Countries overseas are faring even worse, as floods in Asia, heat waves in Europe, fires in Australia and Brazil and droughts in Africa prove.

The reasons for this are numerous: The United States is considered perhaps the most resource-advantaged nation on earth. Indeed, our vast reserves of fossil fuels, timber, arable land, and wildlife have given us an advantage over Russia and China. However, this diversity, along with ignorant policy, has enabled every potential climate disaster to hit us especially hard, all in one set of 50 states.

None of this can be accomplished without awareness.

A New York Times piece warned that tens of millions of Americans will be forced to leave their homes during the remainder of the century.

So, what do we do now? Any climate activist will tell you that there is no “reversing” the climate crisis. No matter what measures we take now, the damage has been done. So instead, the current moment calls for attention to science, halting harmful policies, and investing in the future of energy. None of this can be accomplished without awareness.

As each of us takes measures to reduce our carbon footprint, we must demand action from those in positions of power. A number of climate proposals have been raised, including the Green New Deal. A number of presidential candidates in 2020 had ambitious proposals, including Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke.

Currently, a number of House and Senate candidates, such as Missouri’s Cori Bush and Colorado’s John Hickenlooper, have presented a commitment to fighting climate change, albeit in different ways. Diversity in proposals is good, but plans must be bold. As Bernie Sanders recently pointed out, people complain about the financial prices of these proposals, but don’t seem worried about the deaths caused by climate change.

And it’s not just natural disasters: experts say pandemics will be more frequent due to human behavior and climate change, because of animal movements as the planet warms. It won’t be enough to stop tearing down forests and burning fossil fuels: active measures must be taken to kill harmful mosquito species and keep humans away from wild animals. Individually, planting trees is a great first step.

To adapt to the permanent damage, we must, in the oft-repeated words of Bernie Sanders, “rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.” Homes in the west and south are being lost to extreme weather events that will only continue. There is no excuse for this in such a rich and prosperous nation. Businesses, city centers, highways, bridges, and homes must be able to withstand the worst of weather.

Financially, the US must expand its social safety net so that citizens don’t have to choose between leaving the house in danger to earn their income, or staying home with no protection. In the long run, investing in new energy will be cheaper and will limit the damage to our planet.

I want my children to be able to grow up in a safe world, or as safe as it could be. It starts with messaging and activism. Hopefully red states that have been uncomfortable accepting our climate reality like Alaska, Florida and Louisiana will have a change of heart-hopefully one that doesn’t cost any more lives.

With a changing world comes changing priorities. One step at a time, we can put our foot down and bring the measures to protect our planet from a thousand more 2020s.

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

Featured image by Jernej Furman on Flickr.

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