It has been the case that during El Niño, Texas gets more rainfall. As we wait for much needed rain, one has to wonder if that pattern will be disrupted by the changing climate. Our view of the bottom of ponds and other water holes and dry creeks over an extended time certainly has been unnerving.
After an extraordinarily hot 2023, we are reminded that despite getting periodic rain, it will not be able to keep up with sustaining life in a healthy manner when it evaporates so quickly in high temperatures.
The situation we seem to be facing brings to mind a dire warning expressed by concerned climate scientists — “things are going to get worse before they get much worse.”
I know. It is typically not fitting to start a new year sounding pessimistic. However, we are starting to see that we have had an unusual period of relative calm and prosperity for many years. Even in geologic time, we have been living in better times for life as we live it now.
Are we ramping up the seemingly ongoing challenges faced by multiple generations before us? Think war, depression, disease and the like? And now, we add runaway climate change?
We certainly see that there are challenges on multiple fronts to go along with climate change. Things like extreme economic inequity, dispirited citizenry, religious, tribal/nationalistic and ego driven violence are rampant.
In my view and I hope in the view of most of us, this is a time that calls for sober leadership and action that addresses such challenges in a proactive manner. It is mystifying that any political party wanting to be in leadership and initiate action finds this to be a time to ignore what we face, stir attitudes of grievance, hate, and fear, and base itself seemingly on power for power’s sake.
The recent convention (COP 28) of the world’s countries to address climate change was able to at least state the obvious — fossil fuels must be transitioned away from. It also highlighted a promise to help the most vulnerable countries — again — which sounds good but does not really hold anyone to anything.
Despite the damage costs in money of climate related disasters such as $132 billion in 2022 in just the U.S., the damage to lives is tremendous and growing. (The National Centers for Environmental Information shows a total of $2.65 trillion in economic costs since 1980).
So, what’s with any political candidate calling for drilling more fossil fuels, dropping out of international efforts to coordinate a planet wide response, plus denying a problem even exists? Why is such a person even getting a time of days’ worth of attention.
Let’s add in a political candidate that oversaw the largest mortality numbers from the Covid outbreak while fostering doubts about effective treatments and action. Or consider someone running to lead this nation with charges of multiple criminal acts that would compete with the records of some of the worse criminals in terms of number and variety of crimes. Then, add in the fact that millions of people think such a person should be a leader of this country and a leader in the world, It makes one think that we have collectively gone insane.
Ok — I am being a grinch. So here are some positive remarks — but also possibly the biggest challenge. These problems are all correctable by human action — or maybe we should say humane action. It is possible to recognize the reality of climate change and make efforts to slow it down and hopefully reverse it.
From a scientific point of view, we are told this is possible. We can acknowledge and accept that people choose different lifestyles, spiritual preferences or health decisions. Susan Hull in this column reminded us recently of the Golden Rule. We can similarly think of live and let live.
We all have personal lives and histories that influence us, but we ultimately have the choice of how we will act. Humanity has waited a long time to get its act together and use our big brains to truly make life better for all humans as well as recognize our interdependence with all the lifeforms on our special planet. The wait truly needs to end.
W Laurence Doxsey, Retired, Former Director of Office of Sustainability for City of San Antonio, former Environmental Officer for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, former Sustainability Officer for City of Austin, resides outside Medina.
