Why a New Blog about the Climate Crisis?

After posting the last of my stories from Southern Africa earlier this month, I decided to take a break and think over what I might like to write about next.  As I suggested in the last story I posted, my overriding issue right now is the rapidly deteriorating state of Earth’s physical and biological environment.  But what could I write that would be useful?  So many others, both scientists and science journalists, have written volumes on the subject.  What do I know that they don’t?

Thirty-five years ago, NASA Scientist, James Hansen, testified before a U.S. Senate Committee saying there was a connection between human activities and an average increase in global temperatures.  Since then, scientific research and climate observations have strengthened his 1988 assessment.  Some 97 percent of climate scientists agree that combustion of fossil fuels, animal agriculture, and other human activities which increase the percentage of carbon in the atmosphere are directly responsible for this trend.  And now we learn that this July will be the warmest month on earth probably for the last 120,000 years. 

I assume that most readers of this blog accept that human activities are directly responsible for climate change, now often referred to as the “climate crisis” or “climate catastrophe”.  I don’t see any point in rehashing all the scientific studies and data.  If you are a climate change skeptic with an open mind, I’d invite you to keep reading.  But, if you are a hard-core “climate change denier” for whatever reason, I’m not going to bother trying to convince you of anything.

What about the rest of us?  We know that the climate crisis is real but many of us feel helpless to do anything about it.  Either we do nothing because the situation feels hopeless or we feel overwhelmed and confused about what we can do.  What I’d like to try is to evaluate the complications and contradictions revolving around what actions we might personally take and share some of my ideas.  I want to spur you to think more about the crisis and how to address it.  And I hope you’ll start talking more with others about the issues so we can collectively raise awareness and get more people to pay attention.  I’ll do my best to stay positive by evaluating solutions rather than waste our time going after the “deniers”. 

“Earthrise” over the moon from Apollo 11.  Such a beautiful planet.  Wouldn’t it be nice to keep it healthy?   Photo source:  NASA Science Photo Library

 

The beauty of a blog is that it can be interactive.  I’m inviting you to participate by clicking on “Post a Comment” at the bottom of each post.  If you’d rather email comments to me, send them to wbmahoney@gmail.com, and I’ll post your comments for you.  Just let me know if you want me to use your first and last name, first name only, an alias, or “anonymous” along with your city and/or state.  Here are the kinds of comments I’m looking for:

- Additional knowledge on the subject of the post.

- Agreement or disagreement with my ideas (but please stay “civil”.  I will not allow this blog to become a forum for insults or nasty arguments.)

- Useful articles/books that you recommend on the subject.

- Errors in my facts, grammar mistakes, spelling boo boos. It's easy for me to make corrections and updates.  

- I’d prefer that you stay with the subject of the blog post but invite your requests for coverage of future topics.

Remember, 100 of your heads are better than my one.  Dog knows, I don’t pretend to have all the answers. 

Here is a preliminary list of topics I’d like to address:

- transportation (personal vehicles and public transport)

- power for our homes with emphasis on heating and air conditioning

- food (going “vegan” and other less impactful food choices)

- human population – should it decrease?

- housing (less impactful residential options)

- migration - moving from climate impacted areas in order to survive.

- water shortages (Does water conservation allow more people to live in dry areas?)

- conspicuous consumption – effects of buying so much unnecessary “stuff”

- sustainable ecosystems – how individuals can help native plants and wildlife

- carbon offsets – are they a good idea and how do they work?

- education – insisting that school curriculums address the climate crisis.

- how to talk with climate skeptics – this is a tough one.

- political involvement – does it do any good and what’s effective?

 

What about my other Wandering Geographer blogs?  First of all, I have no international trips planned until probably the end of this year.  When I do go, I hope to find a destination that will be of interest to readers. 

As for the Southern Africa stories, I’m looking at turning them into a book but don’t want to get bogged down at the expense of the climate change stories or other new writing ideas.  For example, a friend in New York recently spent three months looking for a literary agent who could find him a publisher for a novel he had just written.  He sent out more than 100 query letters to prospective agents which yielded zero interest.  I don’t want to waste my time like that.  Thanks to my publishing-savvy friends; Curt, Jeff and Gary; who recently took time to advise me about getting my stuff into print.

I’ll try to get one post out per week.  For next week, I plan to discuss the dilemmas we personally face with regard to keeping or replacing our gasoline-guzzling vehicles.