Celebrating the Earth
Katharine Hayhoe
Climate Scientist | Distinguished Professor, Texas Tech | Chief Scientist, The Nature Conservancy | Author, SAVING US
This past Monday was Earth Day, but really – isn’t every day? From the air we breathe and the water we drink to the food we eat and all the materials we use, it all comes from this Earth. The Earth doesn’t need us: we’re the ones who need it. In fact, we can’t survive without it!?
That’s why, given our near-total dependence on its resources, I feel every day should be an opportunity to celebrate and be good stewards of our home.
GOOD NEWS
I often hear from people discouraged about the slow pace of climate action. “We’ve tried so hard to tackle climate change and nothing changed,” they say. “Why even bother anymore?”?
While it may feel subtle or almost imperceptible at times, a lot has changed over the last decade. Just 10 years ago, 0.7% of cars sold around the world were electric vehicles. Today, 20% are. In 2015, experts were speculating that solar might become cheaper than natural gas. That future is here today: onshore?wind and solar are cheaper to build than new fossil fuel plants.?
Before the Paris Agreement, the world was forecast to warm by up to 5 degrees C (9F). Now, as this article explains, that number has been dialed back to 2.7 degrees thanks to already enacted government policies around the world.?
Of course we need to do more: the science is clear that every tenth of a degree of warming we avoid will prevent a measurable amount of loss and suffering. But a shift is underway, and these wins must also be celebrated. As I told the reporter who wrote the?article above, there is a measurable difference between a pre- and post-Paris world and if we don’t talk about?what has been accomplished, we are disempowering and discouraging people from taking action.
NOT-SO-GOOD NEWS
The Earth is suffering its fourth global coral bleaching event in three decades, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Watch. Record-high ocean temperatures have caused bleaching events in coral reefs in at least 54 countries in all three ocean basins — the?Atlantic, Pacific and Indian, Reuters?reported .?
Some fear that coral reefs may not survive. “They’re going into a decline that we cannot stop, unless we really stop carbon dioxide emissions,” says my colleague David Obura , an ecologist and director of a nonprofit that supports coral reef sustainability in East Africa.?
领英推荐
Luiz Rocha , curator of fishes at the California Academy of Sciences, just returned from a deep dive in Australia’s Coral Sea where he saw corals bleaching all the way down to 60 meters (200 feet). “The saddest part of my job is seeing the ecosystem I love and live to protect dying in front of my eyes,” he posted on social media.?
Coral reefs support a quarter of the ocean’s biodiversity, as I explain here. And while innovative science can help identify and preserve "super reefs"?that are resistant to normal heat waves, the hotter the ocean gets, the less effective these measures will be. As Luiz says, the solution is clear: swift action must occur at all?levels to reduce fossil fuel use.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Citizen’s Climate Lobby – one of the organizations I serve as science advisor to – is encouraging you to have open and honest conversations about climate change with your friends, family, and communities.?
This Earth Month, they have a goal of 25,000 climate conversations to break the silence about climate change and pave the way for action. As they say here , “For such a big problem, we don’t talk much about climate change. All that silence makes climate change seem less urgent than it actually is, which in turn keeps us from adopting solutions at the pace that is needed. After all, if nobody is talking about it, how important can it be?”?
To inspire these conversations, they’re using my head-heart-hands template: help people connect what they know to why they care and what they can do about it. And they’re tracking them! As of today, volunteers have racked up?at least 17,760?conversations.?
Click here to log your own conversations and help them get to 25,000 by the end of the month. If you’re looking for more topics to get you started, browse through the newsletter archives and give my TED talk a watch. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll see it’s not nearly as hard as you thought!
Fri May 3rd at 6pm and 7:30pm CT - Science by the Glass with the TTU Climate Center - in person at Nashwell Café in Lubbock, TX
Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy and Leadership, University of Nevada Las Vegas | benleffel.com
6 个月I referred to you in a guest lecture when a student asked about climate nihilism, and where to find hope
Climate Science and Sustainability enthusiast/ Educationist, Information Analyst/Development Planner.
6 个月In as much as no country is held accountable and sanctioned for not implementing resolutions in agendas of the Paris' Agreement and COP meetings the progress in climate action will not be significant. Let's change the narrative. Every country especially developed countries with significant emissions to be obligated to implement resolutions as agreed upon.
Director, CORDIO East Africa
6 个月I fully agree with your can-do attitude Katharine Hayhoe … in fact MUST DO. The principle action must be with those that control the systems, but each person can do their part! This week this ‘how much of mammalian biomass is appropriated by humans’ graphic from 2023 took on a new twist for me as it shows what we CAN do … 1) reduce the biomass of our food that imposes such a high cost on the planet, (cows etc) 2) regenerate wild mammal populations, and 3) once we’re at equal levels across these and us, it should be easy to re-evaluate and identify what a real sustainable scenario should be … https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/david-obura-a6554547_anthropocene-bendingthecurve-activity-7192158861347196929-imDh?utm_source=combined_share_message&utm_medium=member_ios
Professor of environmental politics. Author of "Who Rules the Earth?" Director, PS Public Speaking
6 个月Great point, Katharine. Social change can be difficult to perceive on a day-to-day basis. But if we take a step back and observe time scales of a decade or more, change is not only possible - it's pervasive. In "Keep the Change," (from Who Rules the Earth?) I share how social scientists think about social change. https://bit.ly/WhoRules-KeeptheChange
I help Architects and Building Owners triple their productivity on green building certifications.
6 个月Rochelle Strauss - more good news