A Dire Emergency Requires a Drastic Response

Earlier this week – very early in the morning, while Joe Scarborough and team at Morning Joe on MSNBC discussed the World Series, I read the recently released 2023 State of the Climate Report. In fairness, Joe and company also discussed the Israeli-Hamas conflict, national politics, etc. But this report was largely ignored by most of the news media. And the world is not reacting to the latest scientific report card in a rational manner.

The news story Vice published about the report was aptly headlined:

15,000 Scientists Warn Society Could 'Collapse' This Century In Dire Climate Report

That’s pretty scary. In fact, the authors of the study are themselves scared:

“The truth is that we are shocked by the ferocity of the extreme weather events in 2023. We are afraid of the uncharted territory that we have now entered. Conditions are going to get very distressing and potentially unmanageable for large regions of the world….”

With over 15,000 scientists on-board, this report is not the kind that ought to be relegated to discussion only by the most nerdy. This is a critical emergency – one that threatens to leave our children a dead planet. I can’t imagine anything more urgent.

But business-as-usual continues. Half-steps, compromises, incrementalism and even distraction and denial persist. We are on the Titanic, getting perilously close to the iceberg, yet we busy ourselves rearranging the deck chairs.

Here’s another passage from the report that I think constitutes a flashing red emergency warning light:

“…possibilities such as a worldwide societal breakdown are feasible and dangerously underexplored. By the end of this century, an estimated 3 to 6 billion individuals—approximately one-third to one-half of the global population—might find themselves confined beyond the livable region, encountering severe heat, limited food availability, and elevated mortality rates because of the effects of climate change.”

The authors report that 20 of Earth’s 35 “vital signs” are now at record extremes, up from 16 in 2022. 

I’m running for president because someone in charge needs to declare an emergency and get us all to start acting like it’s the emergency it is. I’m raising my hand. I’ll do it. I’ll launch a national project to get the U.S. out of ecological overshoot, and to inspire an international effort to end overshoot at a global level.

At a news conference, co-lead author Christopher Wolf offered this assessment:

“Without actions that address the root problem of humanity taking more from the Earth than it can safely give, we’re on our way to the potential collapse of natural and socioeconomic systems and a world with unbearable heat and shortages of food and freshwater.”

So, it’s a long shot that voters in the U.S. will elect a political newcomer with what seems like a radical agenda. But unless a major candidate adopts my platform, I am the only chance our kids have at a bright future.

Posted on 03 Nov 2023, 10:54 - Category: News