07.23: Heat

Climate News 07.2023: Heat

As some of you may know, July was Earth’s hottest month on record and many devastating effects of climate change started to show themselves such as huge wildfires in Hawaii and Canada as well as dying coral reefs in Florida and Australia. As I sit here on a high mesa in Southwest Colorado I can feel that this summer has been warmer than in the past and every year there is less snow on the mountains. But so far I have been relatively shielded from the biggest impacts. In order to save our dying planet we must all work as one which means that some people who are more protected from these climate horrors must work to fight for those who are suffering most, largely because of what we more protected people have done. Each of us has some responsibility to step out of our personal experience and fight for climate justice and the people and animals who are suffering. 

While much of the planet was sweltering under a heat dome, for the first time in fifteen years leaders from the 8 different countries that encompass parts of the Amazon (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela) met at a summit in Brazil. Although the countries have not yet finalized commitments for moving forward with reductions in deforestation, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil has plans to end deforestation in his country’s part of the Amazon by 2030. This summit meeting was a critical first step in the cooperative efforts needed to stop the destruction of the rainforest. The importance of the Amazon in countering global warming and providing habitat for species cannot be overstated. Additionally, it is home to 2.7 million indigenous people whose understanding of environmental stewardship will be key to reversing the damage we have done. President da Silva has also said that in order to save the Amazon they will need significant funding and help from countries in the global north such as the U.S. 

So, my challenge for each of you reading this is to think about what it would be like to be in the position of somebody who is suffering from these climate disasters and take a small action such as donating money to a non-profit organization that supports the world in a positive way, voting or writing a letter to an elected leader about supporting climate action, researching, or doing something else positive to help your community. Every small action is practice for the work of coming together to face these challenges.