We have met the enemy, and he is us (and U.S.) [Thanks to Walt Kelly and Pogo]
Most of the residents of the United States (not to mention the world at large), whether north, south, east, or west, red or blue have felt the impacts of climate change. As individuals we have to take some responsibility for this. The extreme climate change that we are currently facing has only happened because of human activity. Yes, of course, there have been forest fires since there were forests; hurricanes and typhoons (generically referred to as tropical cyclones) as long as there have been oceans with areas of warm water that enable warm air to rise and create a low pressure system and then the following domino effect that results in a closed low rotating circulation system of thunderstorms, clouds, and winds. Historically, there is nothing so sustained or frequently severe as is currently happening.
Yes, and there were Ice Ages, and when they melted, waters rose. The current research on the thawing of the last extensive ice cap over our planet, which started about 20,000 years ago, shows that it was the release of CO2 from the Southern Ocean that allowed the warming to make it habitable for life forms such as ours to exist. This research was reported in Scientific American and, more importantly, relates to today: “Of course, modern global warming stems from a clear cause—rising levels of CO2 (and other greenhouse gases) fossil fuel burning, cutting down forests and other human activities. And, in the past rising CO2 levels at the very least magnified global warming, ushering in the relatively balmy, stable climate sometimes called the ‘long summer’ that has allowed human civilization to flourish. Humanity has now raised global CO2 levels by more than the rise from roughly 180 to 260 ppm at the end of the last ice age, albeit in a few hundred years rather than over more than a few thousand years.”[i] Our continued raising of CO2 at the pace we currently have will change that long summer fairly quickly to an infernal hell, metaphorically speaking if one believes the mythology of such a place.
Understanding the ancient, extreme release of CO2 with the last Ice Age thaw and its impact on global warming can help us to understand the effect of even greater CO2 today. Instead of making the planet more livable for our species, the greater extremes today will have the opposite effect.
There are two primary actions that need to happen within nation states.
Individually, we need to re-examine our lives and lifestyles, today. We each need to consider our actions in light of the serious impending catastrophe of climate change. Once we’ve replaced some actions that contribute to climate change and local pollution, they just become habit and not onerous. We all think what we do is just a drop in the bucket.
“And only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand your life amounted to no more than a drop in a limitless ocean!”
“Yes, but what is any ocean but a multitude of drops.”
David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, an epigraph I used in my book, Voice of a Voyage: Rediscovering the World During a Ten-year Circumnavigation.
Check out all those easily accessible lists of things you can do as individuals, including, but clearly not a comprehensive list: recycle, reuse, repurpose; drive less; use less electricity (unless we know it’s all coming from sustainable sources, which few of us can do); let your local, state, and federal representatives know your priorities; use rags rather than plastic sponges, vinegar and water instead of fake cleaning cloths and harsh cleaning agents (they contain many harmful substances, which certainly help them work, but consider the tradeoff-a minute of using elbow grease or contributing to pollution); do fewer loads of laundry as every load puts more microplastics into the water, whether eventually the aquafer where we obtain our drinking water or a nearby river and then the ocean; buy locally sourced items, which not only supports the economy in which we live, but cuts the transportation costs; use less plastic….Yes, 98 to 99% of all plastic made today is made from fossil fuels! Much more on plastics in future blogs. I’m doing the research as you read this…well, it depends what time of day you open my website!
Here’s a plastics tidbit: “Propylene is produced primarily as a by-product of petroleum refining and of ethylene production by steam cracking of hydrocarbon feedstocks….The most important derivatives of chemical and polymer grade propylene are polypropylene, acrylonitrile, propylene oxide, isopropanol and cumene. Use of polypropylene in plastics (injection molding) and fibers (carpets) accounts for over one-third of US consumption.”[ii]
There are situations that require sanitary and health-related procedures that run counter to curbing pollution, thus the consideration of tradeoffs. We just need to think. Again, once we develop better habits, we can move our brains on to something else….like saving our democracy. Whoops, we have to be multi-tasking because that’s also IMMEDIATE!
My grandson and I at his HS graduation, some years ago as he’s since graduated from Uni and worked for a few years, with an unknown crowd in background. The point is, it really is ALL of us. (I had trouble finding an unrecognizable crowd.)
The second is that our government must take the lead, at all levels. Unfortunately, in the United States, the so-called Supreme Court has just made this more difficult for the federal government. There’s nothing Supreme to me for about-to-be justices to blatantly lie during their Advice and Consent hearings to the U.S. Senate and for another Justice to not recuse himself from cases in which his wife has a clear interest.
LINKS and NOTES:
[i] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-thawed-the-last-ice-age/
[ii] Schoenberg et al., 1982; Mannsville Chemical Products Corp., 1987; Eisele & Killpack, 1993. As quoted in the National Institute of Health, National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507457/
I intentionally did not cite all the evidence about human-caused climate change and pollution as it is abundant, easily accessible, and general knowledge. Nevertheless, if there is anything I state about which you want a citation that I did not include, please feel free to leave a Comment asking for it. It’s my intention for my reporting to be accurate, fact-and science-based. Thanks for reading!
We cannot ignore this information! Thanks for the helpful hints.