By Peter Capek

Despite what we may wish were true, physics and the progress of nature continue to operate. Nature is not affected by man’s desires, but only by our actions. So when we burden the atmosphere with the gases which are the products of burning, the laws of physics naturally take effect, and climate change results.  When this reality and our desires or wishes conflict, that reality can become an emotional or even, in some odd way, a political issue.

The best Science we have tells us that man’s activity on Earth over the last 150 or so years is having a major effect.  Industrialization, improved living standards due to transportation and greater use of power, and our lack of care for the planet by pollution of the air, land and water, is having an effect.  Though it may seem sudden, it is not: there is a cumulative effect (carbon dioxide in the atmosphere lasts on the order of 1,000 years, and we add it to the atmosphere whenever we burn something) which has crept into our consciousness, demarcated for most of us perhaps by Al Gore’s warning in An Inconvenient Truth more than 20 years ago.  In fact, global warming was predicted in the 19th century, though it then seemed very far in the future.

What was then the future is now!  And it is important for the long-term continuation of life on our planet that we accept the importance of changing our ways and learning how to continue to live in ways which minimize or eliminate the impact and effect of our global society on the planet’s ecosystem and atmosphere.  In the United States today, many of us are somewhat sheltered from knowledge and awareness of what the rest of the world is doing to confront and counter climate change.  It is not widely known, though it is true, that Germany in 2024 got 59% of its electricity from renewable sources.  China has long relied primarily on coal for much of its power, but is now installing solar panels, and innovating and building electric cars at a prodigious rate, working hard to reduce and eventually to eliminate its coal use.  Many other countries are acting as well.

There is no denying that we are already seeing and suffering the effects of our warming environment.  Storms are getting more severe and more frequent.  Rainfall is becoming more extreme – both more and less – and resulting in drought and flooding much more than ever before.  Animals are migrating to higher latitudes where the climate is cooler in order to escape the warming of their habitats.  Keep in mind that the important thing is the long-term trend, not a single anecdote.  One swallow does not make a Spring, and one large snowfall certainly does not prove that global warming is a hoax.  The list of effects is long, and not happy.

And so I ask you, following our celebration of Earth Day, to consider where you stand on the question, and to think about whether you can and should do something, or more than you are already doing, to help your neighbors, and most of the rest of the world, to slow and ultimately to stop the progress of our warming planet.  Every year, every day, that we delay taking action, or taking less action than we could, means that we ultimately will have to take more action and be closer to even more serious consequences.  

Time is of the essence.  Lowering your carbon emissions is very doable.  If you don’t already have a plan,  we urge you to make one to arrive at essentially zero emissions within 6 years.  If you need help, the Carbon Tracker is a wonderful planning tool.