Perhaps there are problems with climate
Perhaps there is a serious problem with our climate.
After decades of denial we may be close to accepting the fact that something is wrong with Mother Earth鈥檚 climate and, better yet, we may be getting ready to take some action to mitigate the effects of our past behavior. No doubt it will be painful, but to continue on the path of the past is increasingly becoming the wrong direction and will have severe consequences for our children if we cannot come up with some direction to change our behavior and take action to implement risk reduction and mitigation efforts.
Much can be done, but it will take leadership from our politicians and business leaders.
Just this week it was encouraging to learn that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed climate action to combat climate change through carbon taxes, emissions caps and other market-based policies. The policy statements reflect the chamber鈥檚 evolution on climate issues, amid mounting pressure from politicians, the public and its own members.
Just a dozen years ago, a former chamber vice president called for a public trial on the validity of climate science. The new administration also has taken action to bring us back into the Paris Climate Accord and has promised to put pressure on other world leaders to recognize that we all are in this together.
There is only one Mother Earth that we all call home. These changes will be tough on certain industries, however the hope is that out of the ashes of the past new industries and better use of existing sources will set the stage for an improved planet capable of sustaining the future and warding off the impending disaster of our current direction.
A recent article in the New York Times Magazine discussed how around the world the nightmare of drought, storms, flooding and unbearable heat threaten to make vast regions less habitable and drive the greatest migration of refugees in history. It will make winners and losers on a world scale, with cooler northern countries doing better than hotter drier southern climates.
The Times article has been studying the migration that has already begun and projects that by 2070 some three billion people may find themselves living outside the optimum climate for human life, causing tens of millions of migrants to press northward. Countries like Canada, far northern Europe and Russia with lots of land, resources and a warming climate may become the winners in this new shift of populations. Even the far northern states in the United States will be favorable areas for resources and food production as the new breadbasket will shift to the U.S.-Canada border and reach well into Canada. Russia will also benefit from this changing climate. Canada is flush with land, as well as timber, energy resources and 20 percent of the world鈥檚 fresh water. It also has a stable democracy and as the planet warms it will move into the ecological sweet spot for civilization. New Arctic transportation routes, as well as expanded capacity for farming will set the stage, but Canada only has 38 million people and will require increasing its immigration to help fuel the new growth and production.
Lots of changes are coming and it would be foolish to continue the policies of denial. If we are to prepare for the future, we must assume a position of leadership and now is the time to move from discussion to action.
We can do this. We owe it to our children to begin.