Fiddling while the Earth Burns

The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
(Revelation 8:7)

The summer of 2018 brought an unprecedented number of wildfires, of unprecedented ferocity, across the entire planet. In one week in July there were 30 major wildfires in the western United States alone. The fires were exacerbated by a planet-wide, record-setting, heat wave.

Yet the three major TV networks, who aired 127 segments on the heat wave, mentioned climate change only once. Pardon the metaphor, but if one is standing on the track, and you can see the train coming, the solution is not to close one’s eyes. The solution is to get off the track.

The October 8, 2018 “Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C” issued by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that we only have 12 years in which to prevent the average world temperature from rising more than 1.5°C. It is important to remember that the Earth is already 1°C warmer than preindustrial levels. This is why we are already experiencing record-breaking heat, droughts, fires, and hurricanes. At 2°C warmer, 99% of ocean coral will be lost, coastal flooding will be significant, food scarcity will be dramatically worse, and there will be even more frequent, and more devastating, wildfires.

Climate-related risks to health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security, and economic growth are projected to increase with global warming of 1.5°C and increase further with 2°C.
— “Summary for Policymakers,” Special Report 15, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The authors of the report say that, “Limiting global warming to 1.5ºC would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.” (IPCC Press Release). Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries pledge Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) toward the goal of an average temperature rise of no more than 1.5°C. However, a new study released on November 16, 2018 shows that the individual country’s pledges, when put together, “are collectively inconsistent with the Paris Agreement.”

And we cannot forget that the single largest contributor of greenhouse gases to the environment, the United States, has announced its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement entirely. Fortunately, under the Paris Agreement, the earliest the U.S. can withdraw is November 4, 2020. Fatefully, this just happens to be the day after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.

So the 2020 Presidential election will, quite literally, be a referendum on the fate of the planet. (Although a strong case could be made that the planet’s future was doomed on December 12, 2000, when the Supreme Court elected George W. Bush instead of Al Gore).

In the meantime, a growing number of states have committed to uphold the Paris Agreement within their borders. They have formed a coalition called the United States Climate Alliance. Their efforts give some hope to the possibility of slowing the damage; but, with the United States absent, there is currently no leader on the world stage with the scientific understanding, the political will, and the moral force necessary to unite humanity in a concerted effort to save our planetary home.

Sources: “How did the End of the World Become Old News?” David Wallace-Wells, Intelligencer, New York magazine, July 26, 2018.
“Major broadcast TV networks mentioned climate change just once during two weeks of heat-wave coverage,” Ted McDonald, Media Matters, July 12, 2018.
“We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN,” Jonathan Watts, The Guardian, October 8, 2018.
“Policies of China, Russia, and Canada threaten 5C Climate Change, study finds” Jonathan Watts, The Guardian, November 16, 2018.
“United States Climate Alliance.” Wikipedia.
Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet, Mark Lynas, National Geographic Society, 2008.
“Camp Fire: Before-and-after images show blazes’s wrath in Paradise,” Gwendolyn Wu, San Francisco Chronicle, November 10, 2018.

Photo Note: LDS Church building on Buschman Road, Paradise California, November 8, 2018.