The World Is Knocking at Our Door

Guest Opinion

By Cathye Williams | Oct. 1, 2022

Going into the final stretch of 2022, I’d like to take stock of how we are doing environmentally. So, how are we doing?

Well, the U.S. has seen 52,669 wildfires destroy almost 7 million acres in 10 states since the beginning of 2022 (National Interagency Fire Center). California remains in a megadrought with no end in sight. As water wells and reserves dry up, residents swelter and businesses suffer. Oppressive heat waves struck multiple regions, stretching for days, endangering health, and straining relief and power resources. Torrential rains put much of Kentucky in peril this year, killing dozens and causing hundreds of millions in damage. Some even predict that the costs reach $1 billion (NPR).

The U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico, still rebuilding from last year’s hurricanes, once again took a hit, causing widespread flooding, wind damage, and power outages. Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose state is often described as “ground zero” for climate change, faces a tropical storm that is gaining strength and appears on course for his state’s west coast, where it is expected to wreak havoc across the Southeast. Interestingly, the governor, who has declared a state of emergency and who no doubt will accept all federal aid sent his way, also intends to prohibit Florida’s financial managers from considering climate change as a factor when making investment decisions with state funds, thus easing the path for investment in the fossil fuels whose use is threatening Floridians (Orlando Weekly).

Make no mistake, these U.S. woes are just a drop in the bucket of the world’s environmental troubles. Our allies in Europe haven’t had the best year either and are no stranger to heatwaves, fires, and floods. They too are facing the rise of climate deniers and fossil fuel enablers in the ranks of government.

However, it’s the least developed and usually poorer nations, as well as marginalized and oppressed communities in wealthier nations, who continue to bear a disproportionate burden from climate change impacts. For example, deadly flooding in Pakistan in late August has killed at least 1,500 people and displaced and/or left destitute 33 million. As with each disaster, the forgetting has begun. The New York Times’ last story on the subject was Sept. 14, at which time much land remained under water and help for hunger and sickness was only slowly making its way in.

One might wonder why I’m discussing these far-flung calamities in our small community paper. We’re fine! Don’t I have any local topics to tackle? Perhaps because I love NoMi people and places, I believe that these stories are our stories as well. Atoms pay no mind to the lines humans draw on maps. There is no wall that will keep the pollution from the air or water that’s making its way around the world. We each have played a part and benefitted from the problem, and we each hold the hope for a solution.

Experts tell us that even if we stopped all carbon emissions today, the impacts we are seeing are already “baked in” based on the warming that has already occurred. Whether the impacts of a warming planet are physical, economic, or emotional, they will reach us. Billions in human and material resources are already deployed to disaster relief. Markets are affected, as is food security. Millions of people will continue to migrate from the most deeply affected places to find safety and resources.

Climate change is and always will be a local issue, both because it affects us locally and because so many local people care. Who among us doesn’t know a soul who lives in or travels to Florida, Kentucky, or any of the places where climate impacts are more obvious? When we see the images of burning trees, homes and belongings washed away by floods, or survivors picking through rubble looking for some piece of their life, who wouldn’t think, “What if that was me?” Who wouldn’t understand that it could be?

People, I think especially people here in northern Michigan, have the capacity to think and care both about and beyond their present place and circumstance. There has never been a more important time to do so. Hike your trail, tend your garden, cast your reel in one of NoMi’s rivers. Then learn about what you can do to protect them.

Cathye Williams serves as volunteer and media liaison for the Grand Traverse and Manistee chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby. She writes from the northern corner of Manistee County.