Local View: Duluth can get real, face the truth about climate change

On Nov. 28, there were two climate stories in the news that caught my eye.

First, Jimmy Lovrien wrote in an article for the News Tribune that Duluth’s average winter temperature has increased by 6.1 degrees since 1970. Duluth is now ranked 16th among the 244 U.S. cities that Climate Central studied for fastest-warming winters. According to Climate Central and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), winter temperatures have been warming faster than the other seasons, with fall temperatures rising by 5.3 degrees and summer by 3.3 degrees. Also, ice coverage on Minnesota lakes has declined by an average of 10 to 14 days over 50 years.

Secondly, the journal Nature found that every year about 40,000 Americans die from wildfire smoke, which could increase to 70,000 deaths by 2050. It also presented research regarding the link between wildfire smoke and mortality, in which there will be a substantial increase in smoke exposure and resulting health burdens, especially among the elderly.

These two stories continue to confirm that we are facing numerous challenges with regard to climate change in Duluth. Over the past year, I have definitely seen and experienced the warmer temperatures and the wildfire smoke. And, at 71, I can attest to how climate change can impact one’s physical and mental health.

There were also three news stories in December that illustrated our resistance to acknowledging and addressing climate change.

On Dec. 1 was a story in the Guardian about Zillow, the country’s largest real-estate listing site, which removed a feature allowing people to view a property’s exposure to climate change after complaints from the real-estate industry and homeowners that this feature harmed sales. The feature showed the risks for floods, wildfires, extreme heat, and poor air quality.

On Dec. 4, the News Tribune reported that the city of Hermantown refused to do an additional environmental review on a proposed data-center project.

And on Dec. 17, USA Today had an article about the administration of President Donald Trump planning to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. Established in 1960 to do research on atmospheric chemistry and physical meteorology, the center, according to Trump officials is now a hub for “federal climate alarmism.” The officials claim they want to eliminate “green new scam research activities.”

We have to ask ourselves about getting real with climate change. When are we going to face the truth about climate change and its impacts on Duluth? How can we stop ignoring facts about climate change and commit ourselves to creating a more resilient and sustainable city?

In his book, “Realism And The Climate Crisis,” John Foster warns us about our “very sophisticated powers of misrepresenting the world” and only seeing what we want to see and believing what comforts us. Foster proposes we take an honest and realistic look at climate change instead of simply embracing what comforts us and just relying on our beliefs, prejudices, or fears.

If Duluth wants to get real about addressing climate change, we need to take action.

First, we need to continue lobbying and talking to our mayor and City Council about hiring a full-time sustainability officer in city government.

Second, we need to build a strong and very proactive citizens’ climate commission that invites and recognizes the voices and concerns of our citizens as well as engages and empowers them to help undertake various individual and collective initiatives to address climate change in our city.

Third, we need to reach out to our young people in the high schools and colleges to not only offer support but also to encourage them to become community leaders in climate education and climate activism.

Fourth, we need to honor and celebrate those individuals and groups which are actively addressing climate change throughout our city.

And fifth, we need to make sure we use prominent spaces in our city — like our public libraries, City Hall, Karpeles museum, Duluth Art Institute, and Essentia Health — to educate the public about climate change.

Tone Lanzillo is a member of the Duluth/365 initiative on climate change and a regular contributor to the News Tribune Opinion page. He can be reached at risson1954@gmail.com.