“Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.”
Alex Haley
This is my 100th article since starting Unheating two years ago, a milestone that made me reflect about the big picture. Climate change is not some nebulous threat looming out in the future. It is here. Most of the time this blog is about solutions and reasons to be hopeful for the future. That said, now and then it helps to pause for a reality check on the urgency to solve climate change.
Reality check
NASA tracks global temperatures, and each year they release a video showing annual temperature anomalies from 1880 (when industrialization began) to the present. The 2023 update just came out, and gives us a 30 second look at our startling warming trend. Check out the video here or here:
What does the acceleration of warming mean? The World Economic Forum just published a report of the biggest risks we will face – in two years and in ten years. They surveyed 1,400 global risk experts, along with industry leaders and policymakers. Drumroll, please…
Among every societal problem in the world, the top four risks in the next ten years involve climate change. Extreme weather events are happening all over the world with more frequency, and are increasingly devastating and costly. Other problems include biodiversity loss and natural resource shortages (e.g. water). The one that sends shivers down my spine is “critical changes to Earth systems”. This refers to tipping points, which once reached, will disrupt the world as we know it.
Urgency to solve climate change
Despite the enormity of the problem, I remain hopeful. But to solve climate change, we occasionally need a reality check. We simply cannot continue this pace of warming – there is too much at stake for us and for future generations to kick the can down the road.
Let’s do something about climate change. Learn about it. Think about it. Talk about it.