We Got It, Greta. Now What?

Greta Thunberg, and for that matter, Al Gore, don’t have to tell us that they told us so. The climate is doing it for them, with triple-digit temperatures in many places that aren’t used to them.

Certainly, the inaction of governments and corporations around the world and our habits as individuals have contributed to this, but while I am not a “climate denier,” I don’t think it’s ALL our fault. The Earth has done a fine job of changing climate all by itself over time, but the cycles are so long between upswings and downturns that humanity doesn’t notice.  

But really, the whole notion of “fault” is almost useless. The days of woulda, coulda, and shoulda are over. We can build electric charging stations for cars and put up windmills along our coastlines, but what are we doing about the calamities happening this summer?

The days of “it can’t happen here” are also over. Moving to a different climate doesn’t always help. I live in coastal Northern California, which has only light to moderate humidity and almost never sees triple-digit temps in summer or well-below-freezing ones in winter. But then there are the wildfires, which can pump so much smoke into the sky that a moderate day is turned into a hot night where windows have to be closed and we bake inside. So almost every place has its downsides. But tell me what they are in Hawaii. I haven’t seen many, although it’s useful to remember that all those idyllic islands are volcanos.

We have to start thinking defensively right now about living with change in equal proportion to our thinking about the future. The good news is that new ideas are always emerging. One of my favorites is in Phoenix. The simple act of changing the pavement color on streets to gray means that the pavement is up to 12 degrees cooler to the touch, helping cool both daytime and nighttime air around it in those blistering desert summers. Suppose other major cities did that. How about adding or renewing insulation in existing homes to keep inhabitants cooler in summer and warmer in winter?

While we carbon-based beings are pretty good at procrastination, we are also good at adaptation. Some of us live in deserts and others close to the poles, and have survived these climates. Some of us are fortunate enough to live where we prefer. But for most, we are where we are. What are we doing about weather extremes today? We can learn a lot from each other.