Men Argue. Nature Acts. Addressing Climate Change Requires Expedient Collaboration.

#ThoughtsAndObservations about #ClimateChange:

“Twenty-five years ago people could be excused for not knowing much, or doing much, about climate change. Today we have no excuse. No more can it be dismissed as science fiction; we are already feeling the effects.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu – South African human rights activist, recipient of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize.

“A new normal of extreme weather events means the models that dictated how we built and planned for fires, floods and droughts are outdated — and putting us at risk.” Elizabeth Weise – U.S. national correspondent for USA TODAY – reported on July 27, 2022

“Torrents of rain that began before dawn on Tuesday, July 26, gave St. Louis, Missouri, its highest calendar-day total since records began in 1873. And the deadly event is just the latest example of a well-established trend of intensifying downpours in many places across the globe… Record rain in St. Louis is what climate change looks like.” Jeff Masters – U.S. Ph.D – hurricane scientist and Bob Henson – U.S. meteorologist, journalist, published in Yale Climate Connections on July 26, 2022.

“Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it's common sense.” Ronald Reagan – U.S. actor, labor union leader, 40th U.S. President.

“The time for seeking global solutions is running out. We can find suitable solutions only if we act together and in agreement.” Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) - Argentine (with Vatican citizenship), 266th Catholic Pope.

“The world must come together to confront climate change. There is little scientific dispute that if we do nothing, we will face more drought, famine and mass displacement that will fuel more conflict for decades.” Barack Obama – U.S. politician 44th U.S. president.

“The less we do to address climate change now, the more regulation we will have in the future.” Bill Nye – U.S. mechanical engineer, television personality recognized as “The Science Guy”.

“The world is reaching the tipping point beyond which climate change may become irreversible. If this happens, we risk denying present and future generations the right to a healthy and sustainable planet – the whole of humanity stands to lose.” Kofi Annan - Ghanaian diplomat, former Secretary-General of UN.

“One can see from space how the human race has changed the Earth. Nearly all of the available land has been cleared of forest and is now used for agriculture or urban development. The polar icecaps are shrinking and the desert areas are increasing. At night, the Earth is no longer dark, but large areas are lit up. All of this is evidence that human exploitation of the planet is reaching a critical limit. But human demands and expectations are ever-increasing. We cannot continue to pollute the atmosphere, poison the ocean and exhaust the land. There isn’t any more available.” Stephen Hawking – U.K. theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author.

“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” Franklin D. Roosevelt – U.S. politician, attorney, 32nd U.S. president.

“The time is past when humankind thought it could selfishly draw on exhaustible resources. We know now the world is not a commodity, is not a source of revenue; it’s a common good, it’s our heritage. And the consequences of climate change are fully known now – we’re not talking about theories anymore, we’re talking about certainties.” Fran?ois Hollande - French politician, served as president of France.

"The warnings about global warming have been extremely clear for a long time. We are facing a global climate crisis. It is deepening. We are entering a period of consequences. … As human beings, we are vulnerable to confusing the unprecedented with the improbable. In our everyday experience, if something has never happened before, we are generally safe in assuming it is not going to happen in the future, but the exceptions can kill you, and climate change is one of those exceptions.” Al Gore – U.S. politician, businessman, environmentalist, 45th U.S. vice president.

“Climate change, if unchecked, is an urgent threat to health, food supplies, biodiversity, and livelihoods across the globe.” John F. Kerry – U.S. attorney, politician, diplomat, first special U.S. presidential envoy for climate, served as the 68th U.S. secretary of state.

“Climate change isn’t an ‘issue’ to add to the list of things to worry about, next to health care and taxes. It is a civilizational wake-up call. A powerful message — spoken in the language of fires, floods, droughts, and extinctions — telling us that we need an entirely new economic model and a new way of sharing this planet. Telling us we need to evolve.” Naomi Klein - Canadian author, social activist, filmmaker.

“The $369 billion climate and tax package forged in a surprise deal by Senate Democrats on Wednesday (July 27, 2022) would be the most ambitious action ever taken by the United States to try to stop the planet from catastrophically overheating. The agreement, which Senate Democrats hope to pass as early as next week, shocked even some who had been involved in the sputtering negotiations over climate legislation during the past year. The announcement of a deal, after many activists had given up hope, almost instantly reset the role of the United States in the global effort to fight climate change. And it was delivered by Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, the holdout Democrat who had been reviled by environmentalists and some of his own colleagues after he said this month that he could not support a climate bill because of inflation concerns.” Lisa Friedman – U.S. climate and environmental policy reporter and Brad Plumer – U.S. climate reporter specializing in policy and technology efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions for The New York Times.

“Our legislation will be the greatest pro-climate legislation that has ever been passed by Congress. It fights the climate crisis with the urgency the situation demands and puts the U.S. on a path to roughly 40% emissions reductions by 2030, all while creating new good-paying jobs.” Chuck Schumer – U.S. politician from New York, senate majority leader.?

“We must be honest about the economic reality America now faces. That's why I'm proud to support the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which will address record inflation by paying down our national debt, and by lowering energy & healthcare costs.” Joe Manchin – U.S. politician, businessman, senior U.S. senator from West Virginia.

“The entire clean energy industry just breathed an enormous sigh of relief. This is an 11th hour reprieve for climate action and clean energy jobs.” Heather Zichal – U.S. business executive, consultant, political advisor, specializes in climate change and environmental policy, chief executive of the American Clean Power Association.

"Democrats have already crushed American families with historic inflation. Now they want to pile on giant tax hikes that will hammer workers and kill many thousands of American jobs." Mitch McConnell – U.S. politician, retired attorney, serving as Senate minority leader as the senior U.S. senator from Kentucky, statement made July 27, 2022 criticizing pending Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

“It is nothing short of an attack on the American family. If we want to reduce inflation, lower energy costs, and cut the deficit, the recipe is clear. Congress should cut spending and unleash American oil and natural gas production.” John Barasso, U.S. physician, politician, senior U.S. senator from Wyoming statement made July 27, 2022 criticizing pending Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

“Men argue. Nature acts.” Voltaire - French Enlightenment writer, historian, philosopher.

One day later…. on Thursday, July 28, 2022 --- Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear reported, “Flash floods in eastern Kentucky (have) cut power for thousands and destroyed homes. … (T)he flooding (is) some of the worst in Kentucky’s history and … will get higher before it starts to recede.?… What we are going to see coming out of this is massive property damage and we expect loss of life. Hundreds will lose their homes. And this will be yet another event that will take not months, but years, for our families to rebuild and recover from.” National Weather Service meteorologist?John Gordon said, “I would call it cataclysmic flooding in portions of eastern Kentucky.” As of Friday morning (July 29) 16 people are reported dead due to the flooding, with more expected to be announced. Hundreds are homeless due to their homes being destroyed. ?Reported July 29, 2022 in the Louisville (Kentucky) Courier-Journal.

In response to the Kentucky flooding, Mitch McConnell said, ““My prayers are with the families in Eastern Kentucky facing heavy floods, mudslides, and power outages this week. My team is in close contact with local officials and I’m ready to provide any help I can. Thank you to the first responders who are helping Kentuckians stay safe.” Mitch McConnell – U.S. politician, retired attorney, serving as Senate minority leader as the senior U.S. senator from Kentucky.

“We are in danger of destroying ourselves by our greed and stupidity. We cannot remain looking inwards at ourselves on a small and increasingly polluted and overcrowded planet.” Stephen Hawking - U.K. theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed.” Mahatma Gandhi - Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist.

“If you really think that the environment is less important than the economy, try holding your breath while you count your money.” Guy McPherson – U.S. scientist, professor emeritus of natural resources and ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona.

“If you don’t act against climate change, then no matter how much money you leave for your children, it’ll not even cover their healthcare bills, due to living in an unhealthy planet.” Abhijit Naskar – Indian neuroscientist.

“If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of money will save us.” David Suzuki - Canadian academic, science broadcaster, environmental activist.

“Ignoring climate change will be the most costly of all possible choices, for us and our children.” Peter Ewins, U.K scientist, British Meteorological Office.

“It’s important for me to have hope because that’s my job as a parent, to have hope, for my kids, that we’re not going to leave them in a world that’s in shambles, that’s a chaotic place, that’s a dangerous place.” James Cameron - Canadian filmmaker.

“Our generation has inherited an incredibly beautiful world from our parents and they from their parents. It is in our hands whether our children and their children inherit the same world.” Richard Branson – U.K. business entrepreneur.

“How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew what was happening to the world and did nothing.” David Attenborough – U.K, biologist, natural historian, author.

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” Isaac Asimov - Russian-born/U.S. writer, professor of biochemistry at Boston University.

“We're going in the wrong direction and I think the only way to counter that is to bring the story home in really concrete ways to people - in ways that kids can understand and non-scientists can understand.” Thomas L. Friedman – U.S. political commentator, author, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, columnist for The New York Times, contributor to CNN.

“When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” Benjamin Franklin – U.S. writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, political philosopher.

“Even if you never have the chance to see or touch the ocean, the ocean touches you with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink, every bite you consume. Everyone, everywhere is inextricably connected to and utterly dependent upon the existence of the sea.” Sylvia Earle – U.S. marine biologist, oceanographer, explorer, author, lecturer, National Geographic explorer-in-residence.

“As the country continues to dissect the recent natural disaster, we might want to start considering what about the disaster wasn't actually 'natural' at all. ... Human activity, the burning of fossil fuels, is causing global warming. Global warming is causing the oceans to warm. Warm oceans are steroids for storms.” Michael Moore - American documentary filmmaker, author, political activist.

“As climate change warms the planet, drive up sea levels and energizes hurricanes, the arsenal of dangerous impacts delivered by the fierce storms is expected to get supercharged. Among the most worrisome, powerful flooding from storm surge … (similar) to the kind of flooding unleashed during Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and put more people at risk of drowning, the leading cause of death in hurricanes. An NPR analysis based on modeling from the National Hurricane Center for three critical regions – New York City, Washington, D.C. and Miami-Dade county – found future sea rise alone could expose about 720,000 more people to flooding in the decades to come.” Jenny Staletovich – U.S. journalist, Nick Underwood – U.S. hurricane hunter, aerospace engineer, Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky – U.S. journalist, Rosemary Misdary – U.S. investigative editor, reporter, and Jacob Fenston – U.S. environment reporter for National Public Radio (NPR).

“Climate change is a global problem. The planet is warming because of the growing level of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. If this trend continues, truly catastrophic consequences are likely to ensue from rising sea levels to reduced water availability, to more heat waves and fires.” Malcolm Turnbull - Australian politician, 29th prime minister of Australia.

“Climate change, in some regions, has aggravated conflict over scarce land, and could well trigger large-scale migration in the decades ahead. And rising sea levels put at risk the very survival of all small island states. These and other implications for peace and security have implications for the United Nations itself. … “Climate change does not respect border; it does not respect who you are – rich and poor, small and big. Therefore, this is what we call ‘global challenges,’ which require global solidarity.” Ban Ki-moon - South Korean politician, diplomat, eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations.

“Anybody who doesn’t see the impact of climate change is really, and I would say, myopic. They don’t see the reality. It’s so evident that we are destroying Mother Earth. This is not the problem of one country or a few countries: it is the problem of mankind. We need to work together to stop this. Otherwise, our future generations will simply disappear.” Juan Manuel Santos - Colombian politician, former President of Colombia, recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.

“We must now agree on a binding review mechanism under international law, so that this century can credibly be called a century of decarbonization.” Angela Merkel - retired German politician, scientist, former chancellor of Germany.

"I feel that there is a lack of seriousness. Perhaps world leaders do not realize the urgency of the situation. We have a lot of ideas, but as someone said, 'ideas without funding is mere hallucination,'" Imran Khan - Pakistani politician, former cricketer, 22nd prime minister of Pakistan.

“We are all living together on a single planet, which is threatened by our own actions. And if you don’t have some kind of global cooperation, nationalism is just not on the right level to tackle the problems, whether it’s climate change or whether it’s technological disruption.”?Yuval Noah Harari - Israeli historian, professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

“Climate change is the environmental challenge of this generation, and it is imperative that we act before it’s too late.” John Delaney – U.S. politician, businessman, former attorney, was U.S. representative for Maryland's 6th congressional district.

“I have long understood that climate change is not only an environmental issue – it is a humanitarian, economic, health, and justice issue as well.”?Frances Beinecke – U.S. environmental activist, politician.

“By the time we see that climate change is really bad, your ability to fix it is extremely limited… The carbon gets up there, but the heating effect is delayed. And then the effect of that heat on the species and ecosystem is delayed. That means that even when you turn virtuous, things are actually going to get worse for quite a while.” Bill Gates – U.S. business entrepreneur, software developer, investor, author, philanthropist.

“We must face up to an inescapable reality: the challenges of sustainability simply overwhelm the adequacy of our responses. With some honorable exceptions, our responses are too few, too little, and too late.” Kofi A. Annan - Ghanaian diplomat, seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations.

“The cost of our success is the exhaustion of natural resources, leading to energy crises, climate change, pollution, and the destruction of our habitat. If you exhaust natural resources, there will be nothing left for your children. If we continue in the same direction, humankind is headed for some frightful ordeals, if not extinction.” Christian de Duve - Belgian cytologist and biochemist.

“We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to.” Terri Swearingen – U.S. nurse, environmentalist.

“What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?” Henry David Thoreau – U.S. naturalist, essayist, poet, philosopher.

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” Native American Proverb

“All things share the same breath — the beast, the tree, the man. The air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.” Chief Seattle - Suquamish and Duwamish chief. The city of Seattle, Washington, was named after him.

“The strongest governments on earth cannot clean up pollution by themselves. They must rely on each ordinary person, like you and me, on our choices, and on our will.” Chai Jing - Chinese journalist, former television host, author and environmental activist.

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” Jane Goodall – U.K. primatologist, anthropologist.

“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” Albert Einstein - German-born/U.S. theoretical physicist, best known for developing the theory of relativity, also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum mechanics.

“To all of you who choose to look the other way every day because you seem more frightened of the changes that can prevent catastrophic climate change than the catastrophic climate change itself. Your silence is worst of all. … Adults keep saying we owe it to the young people, to give them hope, but I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is. … People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!” Greta Thunberg - Swedish environmental activist.

“As record-breaking heat waves continue to grip the country, a new (July 23-July 26, 2022) Economist/YouGov poll finds 53% of U.S. adults report personally having felt the effects of climate change…23% said they have not felt the effects of climate change, 18% reported they were not sure and 7% said, “the climate is not changing.” However, nearly half of respondents did feel there is currently a climate emergency in the United States. Although understanding how a single phenomenon can be attributed to climate change is difficult, numerous studies have linked increased emissions from the burning of fossil fuels to more intense and frequent heat waves. Data from the Environmental Protection Agency also documents increasing heat wave intensity, frequency, duration and length of season throughout the 2010s compared with metrics collected from the 1960s onward. … However, other extreme weather events such as hurricanes will also become more intense as the Earth’s temperature warms. The poll also found an additional 11% of respondents reported they expect to feel the effects of climate change in the future. ?Attitudes around what humans can do to mitigate climate change and its subsequent effects varied among participants. 14% felt it’s already too late to avoid the worst effects, while 43% felt this is still possible, but would require “a drastic change in the steps taken to tackle it.” A smaller proportion of respondents — 12% — felt current steps being taken would be sufficient to address the worst outcomes. Nearly 40% of individuals polled had a high school education or less and 29% had some college education, compared with 22% who graduated college. ?The largest cohort of participants were also between the ages of 45 and 64, followed by those aged 30 to 44. ?The vast majority of respondents, at 67%, were white, and 40% identified as independents on the political spectrum.” Report from TheHill – U.S. newspaper and digital media company based in Washington, D.C.

“The earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.” Ernest Hemingway – U.S. novelist, short-story writer, journalist.