Climate Emergency

 We have gone from Global Warming to Climate Change to Climate Emergency in the last couple of years. Of course, there are those who have been pointing to this future, as we went about our business happily hoping some magic technology fix would occur so that we wouldn't have to change. Unfortunately, nature doesn't work that way. We are learning by our mistakes that nature can be inflexible at times. Warm up the atmosphere and you will warm up the oceans. Warm up the oceans and you will melt the polar ice caps, create massive storms unpredictable in scope and location. Warm up the climate and you will ensure massive extinctions, that may include ourselves. 

I have been raising butterflies for three years. The first year, I had over 100 monarch butterflies hatch from their chrysalides. Last year, although milkweed was plentiful, I only raised 20. This year, so far, I have raised one swallowtail and two monarchs. Was it the very wet June that drowned several of my dahlia, or the drought since then that killed my milkweed? I can only hope this is not occurring species-wide. I think it was the insecticide my association felt compelled to spray on the lawn because people don't want to have lawns that look "bad" from insects. 

How do you reach people who are blind to what is occuring? The media has picked up on this topic and we are now deluged with ideas every day. I began this year choosing one topic and writing on it, but I am overwhelmed by the amount of information out there. My need for constant stimulation doesn't help much. I listen to public radio and watch the news every day. I think the most promising news is that we as a species have realized we are on schedule for disaster after disaster until we solve some of the problems. 

Most pressing, of course, is the carbon in the atmosphere. It was startling to see how clean the air became with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. People stayed home for weeks, traffic was negligible and the skies were blue over Chicago. So, our modes of transportation have been the first to be changed. Electric cars will be a reality in a few years (what will we do with all those batteries?) and buses have already gone electric in half a dozen cities.

Companies are also beginning to find ways to capture carbon from the atmosphere. Today, Iceland opened the world's largest carbon capture plant. (1) It will capture 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the air, the equivalent of 870 cars. If we can create these plants all over the world, they will have an impact.

Solar and wind power continue to increase in use. Governments all over the world are making commitments to improve mitigation efforts. The United Nations has made climate action a Sustainable Development Goal (#13) . In fact, the United Nations has the most extensive list of resources I have seen on the Web. (2) It is understandable that the governing body of the world would have the broadest view of the effects of each country on the environment.

I have more hope now than I have ever had. Those that are fighting this change will soon be outnumbered and hopefully the governments will take note.

(1) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/09/worlds-biggest-plant-to-turn-carbon-dioxide-into-rock-opens-in-iceland-orca . Accessed 9/24/21

(2) https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ . Accessed 9/24/21

Alaska

 My family counselor said of my son that he didn't believe there was a flood until he felt the water. This could aptly describe the attitude of Alaskans toward climate change. Don't get me wrong, it is absolutely beautiful there, the people are wonderful, and I am sure there are many that are worried about the warming. What was surprising to me was that Alaska favored no taxes over renewable energy sources. They had no recycling except in government buildings. They make a good deal of money from tourists, who must go by plane, train, ship or car, all of which use fossil fuels. Alaska is still mostly wilderness, with only 300,000 people in its largest city. The state basically has two main roads, linking Fairbanks to Anchorage and Anchorage to Canada. Many citizens fly small planes to travel within the state. Although the snow is melting faster, glaciers are sliding down mountains, and the pine beetle has killed millions of pines along the base of the mountains, (1) global warming is a topic that is avoided with tourists (they may discuss it among themselves). At dinner one night, a gentleman who had moved there after years of visiting in the summer said that the mountains have 1/3 the snow they used to have. As someone who camped in the Rockies a half dozen times, I know what the glaciers there looked like 70 years ago. There are no glaciers in Rocky Mountain National Park today. The West, in general, has a denial system in place about global warming, in spite of the 20-year drought, savage forest fires, and heat waves that kill people. This denial system helps continue living in the world without changing the way we live. I include myself in that system, and I know how harmful denial can be, both as a relative of an alcoholic and as a teacher of children with disabilities. You can't solve the problems you don't see. I sure hope this changes soon.

(1) Popkin, Gabriel, Invasive Insects and Diseases Are Killing Our Forests, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/06/opinion/epidemic-invasive-species-trees.html

A Long, Hot Summer

I began writing this in the middle of May, after rotator-cuff surgery. I have to admit that I became overwhelmed with the amount of climate change information that comes into my life on  a daily basis. I decided the best attempt might be to list resources for those who are interested.  

I start with the most recent; a video made by PBS about Greta Thunberg, who is one of my heroes. She is demanding change now. Although this video was made in 2020, it was one of the first to show what progress is being made. Her question in a carbon-capture plant was very accurate. Why not just build wind or solar technology? Fortunately, the world has changed in one year. Our present government is beginning an aggressive plan to  change the way we do business. Will this change in the future? No one knows.

Greta Thunberg - Year to Change the World

https://www.pbs.org/show/greta-thunberg-year-change-world/

At the web site for the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (https://www.igsd.org/), a tweet from Helena Molin Valdes recommends a new video with David Attenborough on Netflix; "The future’s not determined, the future is in our hands.” Sir David Attenborough tells the story of one of the most important scientific discoveries of our time. "Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet", coming 4 June."

I had intended to put Climate Wednesdays down as a resource because I heard an interview on public radio with one of the members, but apparently they do not do every Wednesday. Still, if you are interested, there might be important information here:

Climate Wednesdays

Brooklyn Public Library

https://www.bklynlibrary.org/event-series/climate-wednesdays

Enjoy your summer. I’m hoping it’s not as hot as Chicago has been for the last month. 

Change

 I’m not a scientist. I didn’t even take a science class in college, unless you count psychology. My knowledge about science comes from a lifelong interest in scientific topics: in no specific order, plants, space, chemistry, ecology, technology and geology. I read Discover Magazine, thank you Wilda Morris for my free subscription, and listen to Science Friday religiously, pun intended. 

I love to write about nature. It gained an idyllic representation in the late 18th and early 19th century literature, but it can be quite ruthless. Ask anyone who has seen a cat play with a mouse or a flood wash away a car. Nature is not a person, has no emotions, no personality. When the temperature rises to a certain point, ice melts. When trees burn, they release carbon. When animals lose habitat, they move or die.

As a pioneer in Early Childhood Special Education Technology, I learned of the stages of change and the reactions of people to that change. Shawn Galloway(1) characterizes people according to their reactions: pioneers, yes people, crowd followers, skeptics and cave people. 

I’d like to think we have finally made it to the crowd follower stage of development. New books, news items, and even college studies are common, although our country is still divided in opinion. I have already written about Greta Thunberg. Bill Gates says we need to get to zero emissions to reverse the heating. Will anyone listen to him?

Galloway, Shawn, “Five Types of People in Organizational Change”, 1/1/2017, accessed 3/31/2021

https://ohsonline.com/articles/2017/01/01/five-types-of-people-in-organizational-change.aspx?admgarea=magazine&m=1