Climate Change is Immediate
Climate Change is Immediate
The conversation around climate change in the United States mainly revolves around its direct effects on U.S. cities and territory or its impact on the planet overall. It rarely focuses on the specific effects climate change will have on other parts of the world that will also be highly relevant to the United States. This overly nationalistic view is not just naive. It is also remarkably harmful. In an increasingly globalized world, no country will be immune to the consequences of climate change even if they play out on the other side of the world. Any country that refuses to acknowledge this is only setting itself up for a nasty surprise when it will have to respond to the international effects of climate change unprepared. However, this doesn't mean that climate change won't have massive direct effects on the United States. Natural disasters like hurricanes will get worse. Large parts of the coastline will sink below the waterline. Wildfires will become worse than ever before. Worrying about these future events is as good a reason as any to work to defeat climate change, but only focusing on them ignores the global narrative of climate change that will have massive consequences for every nation on Earth — including America.
It is easy to overlook climate change as a pressing issue in our time. Although it has certainly had its effects on the world as a whole already, they are not immediately apparent, especially to the residents of wealthier countries like the United States. This creates a dangerous sense of security for the residents of more developed nations. It is human nature to ignore issues until they are at our doorstep. While climate change is at the doorstep of some countries already, many countries refuse to focus because climate change does not seem immediate. Countries that don't focus on climate change now will eventually have to take action because no country on Earth will escape the effects of climate change. However, by the time they decide to act, it may be too little too late. Consistently in many of the world's democracies, other topics are pushed to the forefront of national discussions. At the same time, climate change is considered a side topic. The problem with this attitude in more developed areas of the globe is its refusal to recognize the modern threats that face our world. It also means that the countries needed most to slow the progression of climate change and minimize its consequences are the last to take action.
Global Impacts
Somalia already saw how harmful climate change could be from 2010-12 when a changing climate combined with an El-Nino-like event in the Indian Ocean created a massive famine. 260,000 Somalians died in the 2010-12 famine, a death toll much higher than any more developed nation has experienced from a climate-related disaster. However, Somalians emitted only 0.9 tons of carbon dioxide per capita in 2016, in contrast to the 15.52 tons Americans emitted in the same year. Part of the injustice of climate change is that the more developed world is creating the problem for the most part. In contrast, at least in the present, only the less developed world sees extensive consequences.
Attitudes in the United States are changing, although United States residents' relative immunity has from the worst effects of climate change. Americans have not faced the death toll countries like Somalia have due to climate change. The record-setting wildfires in the Western United States in 2020 had a death toll of around 44, which, while significant, does not compare to the hundreds of thousands that have died due to climate-linked disasters in less developed nations. However, worse wildfires, hurricanes, and scientists' warnings convince Americans that climate change is worth addressing now. In 2020, Pew Research found that over two-thirds of Americans believed the government wasn't doing enough to fight climate change. The real question is whether the government's policies will catch up with Americans' newfound concern for the planet soon enough. The current American government has moved towards more drastic climate action. However, little actual legislation reducing greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging green energy has been passed. To some degree, it is fair for this to be blamed on the legislative deadlock that has characterized American democracy throughout recent history, but draw in the American political system is not going anywhere. The government must take direct action to prevent the adverse effects of climate change. However, its current state of inaction shows that ordinary people must also join in the fight. Organizations like Light CO2 work to make the fight against climate change accessible. Numerous other entities provide additional information on lowering your carbon footprint. The war against climate change is not one of the future, it is one of the present, and until we treat it that way, it will not be easy to find solutions.
Detailed Source Overview
Hey there! Below you can find the sources we used to research bees and how they are affected by climate change. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding these sources.
Our Sources
15, Abrahm. How Climate Migration Will Reshape America. 15 Sept. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/15/magazine/climate-crisis-migration-america.html.
Fischetti, Mark. "New Data: Hurricanes Will Get Worse." Scientific American, 16 May 2018, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-data-hurricanes-will-get-worse/.
Taiwo, Beba. "The Case for Climate Reparations." Foreign Policy, 10 Oct. 2020, https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/10/case-for-climate-reparations-crisis-migration-refugees-inequality/.
Podesta, John. "The Climate Crisis, Migration, and Refugees." Brookings, 25 July 2019, https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-climate-crisis-migration-and-refugees/.
Rattner, Emma. "These Charts Show How Wildfires Are Getting Larger, More Severe in the U.S." CNBC, 18 Sept. 2020, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/fires-in-california-oregon-and-washington-data-shows-blazes-getting-worse-.html.
Somalia CO2 Emissions - Worldometer. https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/somalia-co2-emissions/. Accessed 23 June 2021.
"Somalia Famine ‘Killed 260,000 People.’" BBC News, 2 May 2013, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22380352.
United States CO2 Emissions - Worldometer. https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/us-co2-emissions/. Accessed 23 June 2021.
Yeung, Jessie. "Climate Crisis Could Displace 1.2 Billion People by 2050, Report Warns." CNN, 10 Sept. 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/10/world/climate-global-displacement-report-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html.
https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disaster/2020-california-wildfires/. Accessed 23 June 2021.