Gov. Jerry Brown’s Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco Sept. 12-14 is another show by politicians and powerful people to pretend to find solutions for massive climate change.
Global warming and Climate Disruption
Global Warming – Heat: This July record-breaking heat waves were recorded throughout the world: in North and South America, Africa, Southern Asia, Australia and Europe – almost everywhere. The warmest years, since 1880, have occurred since 1998. The hottest six years since 2012! This isn’t just a question of people being uncomfortably warm. It can mean death for many.
Oceans are being warmed, which means more intense storms. Coral reefs are being killed off and fish and other ocean life that depend on them are unable to survive. And sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctica are melting which means that more water is released into the oceans, causing sea level rise, which means flooding of coastal areas. Some Pacific Islanders are being forced to abandon their homes as their islands are submerged by the ocean.
Fire: This year wildfires ripped through Greece, the Arctic regions of Sweden and Norway, Canada and the western U.S. In July nearly two million acres were on fire in the U. S. and more than 1.5 million acres burned this year in British Columbia, Canada.
Scientists say if global warming continues, we can expect these firestorms to be a regular part of life.
Water: This year storms have raged around the world with massive flooding in Japan, Korea, China, Bangladesh, Hawaii, eastern Africa, parts of the U.S. and other parts of the world.
Farming areas in many parts of the world have suffered massive crop failures as drought destroys the lands they farm. At the same time, millions face drought and severe water shortages. South African cities and towns are facing severe shortages.
Changing life on our planet: Climate change is causing the extinction of 150-200 species per day!
Climate Disruption – A Conscious Act
For more than 30 years scientists have warned about the impact of adding more CO2 to the atmosphere by burning oil, coal and gas. The additional CO2 acts as a blanket in the earth’s atmosphere, trapping the heat from the sun that would normally be reflected from the earth. This is called the “greenhouse effect.” The planet has warmed by 1.8˚F since 1880. Scientists say we are are already locked into another 1˚F increase.
An Economy Based on Profits
Fossil fuel industries are the basis of much of the capitalist economy. And those who control them place their profits ahead of the continuation of life, as it exists on this planet. They try to cover up the truth by creating organizations to deny the facts about climate change and supporting politicians who do the same.
Even the politicians, like Jerry Brown, who talk about the threats posed by climate change, refuse to face reality. They talk about solutions in the year 2045 or 2060. We don’t have that amount of time! They refuse to expose the system that is responsible – the system of capitalism that treats the earth (as well as our labor) as an expendable resource.
What can we do?
This problem seems enormous. It is, but it is not beyond our abilities to change this. The vast majority of the people of the world have every interest to bring this destruction to a stop. We have no interest in profiteering off the destruction of our planet. We have the ability to organize in our own interests, and bring this insanity to a stop.
The lives of future generations depend on it.
