Deborah Levine: Don’t let climate change kill us
“Hot” only begins to describe the weather over the July 4 weekend. Let’s try some other terms: blistering, burning up, Armageddon. A life-threatening heat dome brought extreme heat to more than 260 million people, and the storms which accompanied the heat led to mass evacuation of the National Mall in Washington D.C.
“Stupid” only begins to describe the claim by some MAGA folks that the weather had been geoengineered by left-wing types to sabotage Trump’s July 4 events. Let’s try some other terms: conspiracy theories, lethal ignorance.
(READ MORE: Deborah Levine: Reflecting on family, freedom and the future on July 4)
Climate science is considered evil by this administration. It shut down climate.gov and fired its scientists. Thankfully, those scientists rebuilt their data independently to avoid censorship. Sadly, Trump just tagged a climate science critic to oversee reports on how climate change affects us.
Fortunately, scientists elsewhere continue accurate reporting. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change and Marine services confirm that temperatures on the ocean surface hit a record high in June and warn that rising temperatures may send the planet into uncharted territory.
Why is this happening? “It’s consistent with what we’ve known for a long time — that the planet is warming because we’re emitting vast quantities of greenhouse gasses, primarily from fossil fuel burning, into the atmosphere and that’s stifling the ability of the planet to lose its heat to space,” says Richard Allan, professor of climate science at the U.K.’s University of Reading.
Why should we care? Harvard professor Tarun Khanna explains that extreme, longer-lasting heat often leads to more absenteeism, increased cooling costs, lower productivity and even more employee injuries and deaths. We’ve already seen how this affects us. In 2020, the United Nations’ International Labour Organization estimated that excessive temperatures at job sites were responsible for 19,000 deaths and 23 million injuries.
We’re experiencing one heat dome after another and each one feels hotter than 100 degrees. The stress and anxiety this causes sure doesn’t improve my mental state, and probably not yours, either. I called a friend who is a psychiatrist and asked if the heat was increasing her caseload: “Yep, I’m rocked.”
How can we not be stressed when heat-related illnesses kill more Americans than any other type of extreme weather? And this year’s extreme heat is followed by nasty storms, so it’s no wonder the National Mall was cleared out to protect folks. Folks, just say, “Thanks for saving us,” then acknowledge that more dangerous weather is coming.
“It’s not an anomaly. It’s a preview,” says Michael Rawlins, associate director of the Climate System Research Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Yet, last year, Trump called climate change a “con job” at the United Nations. And earlier this year, Trump revoked a scientific finding that climate change endangers public health, calling it “a scam.”
Trump magnifies his climate change denial by expanding the use of fossil fuels and coal while revoking environmental protections including greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles.
And you can kiss goodbye to most alternative fuel sources like wind and solar. Trump has overseen the cancellation or downsizing of more than 200 clean energy projects.
What should we do? Let’s use the current extreme weather to speak loudly and often to our elected officials about the need to address climate change. Insist that they support alternative fuel as well as promote plans to protect us from lethal consequences. Reject conspiracy theorists and climate change deniers. Vote to save the planet, and ourselves!
Contact Deborah Levine, an author, trainer/coach and editor of the American Diversity Report, at Deborah@AmericanDiversityReport.com.