Climate change is a daily reality. Why are we still not discussing it? - Courier Journal

Climate change is a daily reality. Why are we still not discussing it?

We need to talk.

Now that climate change is a daily reality, why are we still not discussing it? Climate change will impact every aspect of everyday life. We need to plan for our new normal.

The U.S. Global Change Research Program links climate change to increased chemical exposure, which will impact societal health, which will, in turn increase vulnerability to climate change. Extreme weather releases more toxic chemicals into the environment. Higher temperatures release more chemicals into the air, polluting indoor and outdoor air.

Climate change also brings increased wildfires(wildfires often burn through the built environment, burning toxic chemicals), increased power outages and tropical diseases moving into cooler areas.

There will be suffering and loss of life.

How will our society continue to function when resources become scarce in more areas of the Global North? How will school systems handle potentially higher absentee rates? What are the evacuation and relocation plans, especially for those with disabilities, elders and the unhoused? What will happen when the Ohio River decreases volume due to increased heat and evaporation? How do we shift our economy and budget practices to save lives? All of these questions are rooted in our new reality.

The Global North can look to the Global South as a preview of what’s to come and to see why many risk their lives to come to the Global North.

We still have time.

Meanwhile, LG&E and KU want us dependent on them for fossil-fuel-based electricity and both major Kentucky Gubernatorial candidates are pro-coal.

Seek a just transition.

- This is an opportunity to develop detailed, openly available and accessible evacuation and communication plans. There will be more chemical disasters. For example, higher temperatures warp train tracks, causing more derailments.
- This is an opportunity for school systems to not only teach climate change and earth preservation but also to adapt educational methods and instructor and parental support for an increasingly stressed society.
- This is an opportunity for Homeowners Associations and landlords to focus on life-saving priorities, like getting communities off the grid and sustaining local gardens and food options for residents.
- This is an opportunity for philanthropy to pour more funding into environmental causes and the climate change transition.
- This is an opportunity for nonprofits to plan and support existing local solutions that don’t depend on national or international shipping of goods and services.

Ohio River listed as endangered: What that means and what can be done to help.

Do what you can. Collaborate, don’t compete. Support communities that are already disproportionately impacted (communities of color, rural communities and communities of lower economic status). Let them lead the way. They already are.

We can all do something, but we have to talk about it first.

Monica E. Unseld, Ph. D, MPH, is the founder and Executive Director of Until Justice Data Partners in Louisville, KY and has worked with communities and organizations locally, nationally, and abroad. She is also the lead of the Coming Clean Science Team, a group of community and academic researchers supporting communities on environmental justice issues.