Yes, think back a year ago. Do you remember the day? It may be the most significant event to occur in our lifetimes. Yet, most of us don’t remember it. Is this a sign that we are genetically “programmed” to ignore a “fire” of this magnitude or that we are corporately programmed to focus on much more mundane and irrelevant (yet profitable) things?
The weekend of March 19-20, 2022, both Earth’s poles saw temperature variability on a scale unprecedented. Both the North Pole and the South Pole exceed their normal temperatures by over 50 degrees Fahrenheit! Yes, that is right! Read about it here: LINK. It got very little coverage by the media and it took several days for the information to be communicated, if it was shared at all.
The year anniversary of this extraordinary event occurs later this month. Do you think anyone will remember? How can we expect to make sufficient headway when something of this significance happens on the only planet we have to live on and we collectively barely blink?
What can you/we do? The list of the things we can all do is very long, just do a “google search” on “ways to reduce climate change’s risks”? They are all one “click” away but the vast majority of us won’t do this search and don’t think anything we can do matters. Let me suggest this: Go to your City Council meeting and ask them to demonstrate what they are doing to reduce the severe consequences that may come with unmitigated climate change. If they look at you with askance, give them some suggestions. I am the mayor in a U.S. city and such requests are not made (people are much more concerned with “goose poop” and “long grass”). And, believe it or not, some politicians actually will do what their constituents will them to do! So, why not “show up”?
Something else you might do? Well, remind people of this ominous event of March 2022. And, rather than leave them in fear, remind them that there are real options to avert the worse impacts of climate change. What are they? Most are rooted in expanding renewable energy resources (solar and wind) and displacing all fossil and nuclear fuels. Check out The Solution Project for a great resource on how this revolution might occur: thesolutionsproject.org. If you haven’t heard of this, or you doubt it can/will happen, ask yourself why? Perhaps a change in attitude is the first step for you, me and others.