“Widespread, Rapid & Intensifying”

Three words sum up the current state of climate change: “Widespread, rapid, and intensifying.” This dire assessment, from the UN’s climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), comes as no surprise for people who’ve been paying attention.  Still, the new IPCC report’s portrayal of climate change’s current and future effects in every region is deeply frightening. Irreversible changes are locked in, and we will not avoid deadly increases in heat, more extremes of precipitation and drought, and more natural disasters and famine.  

But the report also shows us a path forward.  That is a path where we reject fossil fuels, support educational and economic equity, and invest in a just transition through big, decisive governmental policies that will sustain our planet.  Yes, please do drive less, eat less meat, and make other personal changes – but link those to political and policy change.  Our decision makers at every level of government need to hear that we care about a fair and healthy future for our kids and our planet.  We need to tell them that we care enough to make major changes in how we are doing things, and we need to make it unmistakably clear that we expect them to care enough to do the same.  We need major governmental investments in a just transition, in liveable communities, in equitable climate adaptation, and in racial and social justice – and we need it now.  

We are at a tipping point.  We can create a world where we all thrive, but it will take a fierce fight against forces leading us to a world that descends into chaos, deeper inequity, and climate infernos.