Something Has to Give

In October of 2018 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report which has been talked about greatly since (2). From school strikes to pledges by governments to follow the actions laid out in the report, the news is full of the dangers of this climate crisis. At the same time though, there is an astounding lack of urgency to create meaningful policy which would allow us to collectively put the brakes on this runaway train our technological society has created. Instead, trillions of dollars are being funneled into fossil fuels (3), taxes on sustainable energy have been increased (4) and countries like the United States are actively denying that climate change is real (5); all while simultaneously claiming it is a good thing and looking at ways to create a greater disparity in wealth and resources by expanding their reach into previously inaccessible regions (6).

All of these denials and roadblocks strike in the very face of our shared humanity. The majority of the world’s population not only lives in coastal regions which will be most heavily affected by our collective apathy, but make up that portion of our society which has neither the means nor voice to protect their lives or livelihoods; nor do they have to means to easily migrate to safer regions when the worst effects of this crisis begin to play out.

While the timeframe we have been given by scientists is fuzzy regarding the rapidity at which we can expect to see these changes, we do have an event in Earth’s ancient history which may shed light on what conditions we might encounter in the future. That period of time is known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and while there is much we know, there is more that we do not. One thing is for certain though, and that is the mid-equatorial regions were oppressively hot by today’s stands and that the jungle extended its reach clear to the poles. This very region is where the majority of our world current reside.

It would be speculation at best to attempt the claim that these events would unfold in the same manner today, but we can view the PETM as a potential worst case scenario in which the majority of Earth simply becomes uninhabitable and incompatible with modern human society. As such, it is imperative that we do more then accept political grandstanding and promises. It is time for action.