Climate Change Already Making Its Presence Felt

It was encouraging to read yesterday that today, June 17, is World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (thanks SarahJean!), but the truth is, every day needs to be that and probably a whole lot more we want to do anything about it. Desertification is a slow, gradual process that doesn't change like a light switch, and unfortunately many regions of the world are desertifying. Industrial agriculture, over-grazing, and climate change all do their part to create dryer, non-food-supporting land. 

The Obama administration released a report this week using urgent, uncompromising language that warns everyone that the major effects of climate change- rising sea levels, increasing temperatures, droughts- are getting worse. This continues to come as a surprise to many people, perhaps because the last White House administration seemed to say absolutely nothing about it, and when they did, it certainly was no fault of ours.

But of course, leave it to the Obama White House to mix in some Hope, which is their calling card afterall. Not to be too cynical, as Hope is exactly what we've got to run on in fighting climate change. The report offered familiar caveats: we can prevent some of the worst consequences if we reduce world emissions of heat-trapping gases, primarily carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.

The current climate change bill in the Senate underscores a general governmental urgency to make something happen around clmate change.

"It's not too late to act. Decisions made now will determine whether we get big changes or small ones. It's happening in our own backyards and it affects the kind of things people care about," said Jane Lubchenco, marine biologist and head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The recent report brought together experts from across industries and updated the Bush Administration's report from last year- the report his administration created only under pressure from a lawsuit.

The scientists softened the report from an earlier draft that said "tipping points have already been reached and have led to large changes."

Tom Karl of the National Climatic Data Center even went so far as to say what we have not heard much of- that at least one tipping point - irreversible sea level rise - has been crossed.

The report emphasizes the effects of climate change in the United States- retreating glaciers in the American West and Alaska, altered stream flows,water supply issues, health problems, agricultural changes, and energy issues. Midwestern winters have warmed by 7 degrees in just 30 years. So when your parents tell you winter isn't as cold as it used to be, they're actually right. The report warned that the world's average temperature may rise by as much as 11.5 degrees by the end of the century- and the U.S. temperature average could go higher than that.

"This is not a theoretical thing that will happen 50 years from now. Things are happening now. There are in some cases already serious consequences," report co-author Anthony Janetos of the University of Maryland told The Associated Press.

Scott Segal, a Washington lobbyist for the coal industry, was more cautious: "Fast action without sufficient planning is a route to potential economic catastrophe with little environmental gain," said Scott Segal, Washington lobbyist for the coal industry.

At some point we need to tell lobbyists to shut the hell up, because climate change and its solutions, or at least effective attempts to steady its effects or even reverse them, are not going to make business happy. Unless business as a whole embraces the Triple Bottom Line ethic (People, Planet, Profit) there will be no meaningful progress. This isn't really a "compromise" situation.

If we don't do something drastic, like Lenny Bruce so famously cried out during the cold war, "We're All Gonna Die!" It was funny then, I think, because he said out loud, on stage, what was running through everybody's mind all the time- but I don't see anybody crying out, "We're All Gonna Starve! We're All Gonna Dry Up!" Maybe because this time we think it's true.