Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology forecast that global warming's effects this century could be twice as extreme as estimated just six years ago. They found that Earth's median surface temperature could rise 9.3 degrees F (5.2 degrees C) by 2100 compared to a 2003 study that projected a median temperature increase of 4.3 degrees F (2.4 degrees C). The new study, published in the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate, said the difference was due to improved economic modeling and data. The paper calls for "rapid and massive action".
I'm searching for a metaphor to which people can relate. If space aliens were slowly filling our atmosphere with a poison, wouldn't the world "leaders" throw everything we have at them?
Or how about this one: If the US was involved in World War III, and the nation needed everyone to conserve all resources, stop unnecessary traveling, and focus on growing as much of their own food as possible, wouldn't you want to do that? To prevent the destruction of our country?
Still not quite right, and the reason is clear: those scenarios present threats from others. I think it is safe to say that most people don't see capitalism, the endless growth economy, and big corporations as "others." I think most folks generally feel all this is necessary to their way of life. That is why I've said before we need to redefine ourselves and our culture.
Maybe I'll return to the psychopathic murderer metaphor, but this time, the murderer is your best friend, someone you trust completely. So Western industrial civilization is your best friend, and he's got a gun, which is CO2 emissions, and he's running around shooting anyone he sees. Do you try to talk him out of it (and get shot in the process) or do you do whatever it takes to knock the gun out of his hands?
Hmmm, that still does not quite capture the situation. It portrays the urgency well enough, but it is maybe too immediate. And it requires a rather natural response. Plus, the threat is only to people, not everything else we need to survive. And, he's only one person. Not a great metaphor, really.
We have all become so enculturated that we don't know how to respond. We don't have a culture that demands genuine democracy with threats of revolution. But that is what we need. Of course we need a few thousand people writing letters and making movies and posting to blogs and raising awareness, but at some point VERY soon, we need to take it up a few zillion notches and start general work stoppages, start taking land away from corporate polluters by use of sheer numbers (let them send ten thousand policemen, we will have 500,000 squatters willing to risk all to save our home).
Too radical for you? Then maybe you could join in on the awareness-raising. Maybe only 3 million Americans could demand sane policies that would lead us toward the kind of paradigm shift we so desperately need. Maybe we need 10 million, who knows, but I'm back to my original phrase: we don't know until we try.
I hope to hear from more of you that you want to make action for climate justice a regular part of your life. It really is more urgent than we've been lead to believe. And there is still a sliver of a chance that it isn't too late.
But inaction will guarantee the death of most life on this planet.
Oh, and if you think of an appropriate metaphor, let me know please!
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