“Truth be told,” a letter stated in the Aug. 14 Recorder, “If there really was a climate emergency, we’d all be dead by now.” He feels “it’s really bizarre that the Recorder is so obsessed with climate change.” [“Climate change fearmongering must stop”].
“Yes,” the letter continues, “it’s been hot for a while now because it’s summer, after all, and in four months, it’s going to be cold because it will be winter.” The letter urges us to stop “the fearmongering” because “we’re all going to be fine.”
The writer’s comprehension of climate change impacts beyond the boundaries of western Massachusetts appears to be minimal at best. The fact is that the effects of human-caused global warming are happening right now, are irreversible for people alive today, and will worsen as we continue to add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss the brief, rapidly closing window to secure a lovable future.
While no one is safe from these risks, the people whose health is being harmed worst by our climate crisis are those who contribute least to its causes, and who are least able to protect themselves and their families against it.
The scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Climate change impacts are interconnected. For example, environmental degradation can lead to food and water scarcity, which in turn can lead to conflict, which then can lead to migration … all of which is happening in the world beyond Greenfield today. Understanding these interconnected impacts is crucial if we the people are to deal with what is undeniably a world-wide climate crisis.
Almost none of us individually has acted as we ought on the science of climate change. But that doesn’t mean we can’t change “if we’re all going to be fine.”
John Bos
Greenfield