It is humans we save by battling climate change, not the Earth
Horrific fires are burning, again, across the American West. The number of Atlantic hurricanes this year may be a record high. The Earth’s temperatures in two of the past three years have been record highs. The Earth and its oceans are getting warmer and warmer, and the primary reason is more and more carbon in the atmosphere.
We occasionally hear public service announcements from environmental organizations concerned about climate change. One of them, seeking financial support for litigation, concludes, “The Earth needs a good lawyer.”
The Earth needs no such thing. The Earth has been around for some 4 billion years and has undergone numerous radical climate shifts without legal representation and has always come through them well. The fossil evidence demonstrates that complex life forms have existed on Earth for over 500 million years. The time from 359 million to 299 million years ago is called Carboniferous, so named because of the thick coal beds laid down during this geologic period.
Over these millions of years countless species have inhabited the Earth, adapting, evolving and dying out. We are encouraged to mourn the plight of the polar bear, but what about the woolly mammoth? Who mourned them or the dinosaurs or the Neanderthals? Species have come and gone, over and over and over. Life on Earth is resilient and will find its way.
The Earth and its varied and evolving life will survive just fine. It is we humans and all that we depend on and consider normal that is under threat. The fight about climate change is not about the Earth, it is about we human beings and our long-term prospects.
Why are we having such difficulties organizing an effective fight? I think the primary problem is the inability of us humans to comprehend time adequately. We’re short-term thinkers. Governments think about annual and biennial budgets and projects; a long-term project is 10-20 years. For a person, or a corporation for that matter, 20 years is a huge time span.
To succeed we will need to think about time differently — both the past and the future. Mitigating climate change will take dedicated actions implemented (and that means funded) over decades if not centuries. They will require thinking far beyond our own lifetimes, which is a skill we seem to lack. Geology can teach us how to think about time in a better way and help to deepen our understanding of the planet we live on.
Will corporations take the lead? Probably not, unless there’s profit to be made, which is unlikely given the uncertainty of any one approach. How about non-profit corporations? Maybe, but ultimately, they get funding from you and me. How many climate change mitigation projects can we expect to fund through donations?
No, I think the only way to effectively wage the battle against climate change is through collective actions, implemented over decades, and that means government. There are many viable governmental actions, including controversial ones such as regulation and taxation, to fund research and projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions and developing non-carbon energy solutions.
What is needed is clearer thinking and a clear sense of purpose. Our mission is not to save the Earth, which could do fine without us. Our mission is to preserve the climate conditions needed to save our own species. This will require a global human solidarity that we are far from achieving. It will require better leaders and better followers in every country on the planet.
If our experience with COVID-19 and masks is any indication, our current leadership and followership is insufficient. Just remember, the Earth is indifferent as to whether we humans succeed or fail. But every human’s grandchildren, and their grandchildren, will thrive or suffer depending on decisions we make in the next few years.
George Walter is the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s environmental program manager and is a member of The Olympian’s 2020 Board of Contributors. He may be reached at gwalter5665@gmail.com