The global climate of the Earth has been severely destabilized as a result of human activity. After millennia of remaining relatively stable, the level carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere has been rising since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution when we started burning fossil fuels for energy. In addition to the ever-increasing burning of fossil fuels, we have also been cutting down forests and adopting agricultural practices that reduce the sequestration of carbon and result in even higher net emissions.
The graph below shows the level of CO2 in the atmosphere from 800,000 years ago to the present. You can see levels rise dramatically in recent years. More than 50% of all emissions of CO2 from human activity have occurred since 1990. (In other words, after we already knew they going to have devastating results.)
The consequences of climate change are no longer somewhere in the future. People are already suffering and, in some cases dying, as a result of catastrophic storms, unprecedented wildfires, agricultural disruptions leading to starvation, rising sea levels, All of this will get much worse over the coming decades. Around the world people of color are experiencing a disproportionately heavy share of the fatalities and suffering.
I’ve addressed many questions and aspects of this crisis in blog posts that are available on this site.
There is a narrow window of time to make transformational changes that can save humanity from the most horrific effects of climate change.
What are the steps we need to take?
How are racism and climate change interrelated?
And many other posts which explore racism and anti-racism and how they are entwined with climate change and our efforts to solve it.
How can we handle the feelings that facing climate change evokes in almost all of us?
What can we do and how can we talk with people about climate change?
- Talking and Listening are Two Key Climate Action Strategies: 4 Ways to Start
- How to Talk with People about Climate Change and Why It Matters – Approach #1
- You might also click on the tab for posts about “Solutions” or about “Talking Climate.”
We also need to be building Movements, joining with others to create Systemic Change, and looking at things from an Global perspective.
While we need to get smart, be fierce in our pursuit of justice and sustainability, and be deeply connected to each other and the natural world, I believe that we will only be successful if our actions are also rooted in love. Please read one of my first posts, Who Matters: Love and Climate Change