by MALCOLM ABRAMS
A person would have to be living in a cave (or the White House) to still believe that global warming doesn’t exist or that human activity is not largely responsible.
In Siberia, a wildfire of unprecedented ferocity and magnitude began raging in July. As Bloom went to press, the fire covered 7.4 million acres, an area larger than the state of Maryland. At that time, smoke from the fire had already reached Alaska and the west coast of Canada.
In Brazil, there were 87,000 wildfires in the first eight months of 2019. The Amazon rainforest, often called “the lungs of the world” because it absorbs harmful greenhouses gasses, is ablaze, with repercussions for the entire planet.
Last year, California experienced the most destructive and deadliest wildfires in its history. The flames took more than 100 lives, demolished thousands of dwellings, and exposed millions to unhealthy air.
Across the country, storms, floods, and droughts have plagued farmers, destroyed homes, and taken lives.
For the first time ever, on July 4, the temperature in Anchorage, Alaska, reached 90°F. In Europe, a summer heat wave set records in several countries, with France recording a temperature of 115°F.
While all of this is happening, the world refugee crisis continues to worsen, with hundreds of thousands fleeing their home countries as droughts destroy crops, and food and water become scarce. This dire situation is only going to escalate.
Global warming is not a Chinese hoax or fake news, as President Trump would have us believe. Pretty much every climate scientist in the world, with the exception of those on the payroll of the fossil fuel industry, are in agreement about the effects of climate change. So are all of the industrialized nations of the world.
About the only climate change deniers remaining are the president, Fox News, and the Republican Party. They stand naked and alone against the greatest existential threat the planet has faced.
Global warming is real and people are dying because of it. Yet our local legislators—Sen. Todd Young, Sen. Mike Braun, and Rep. Trey Hollingsworth—continue to support this president.
As President Obama said, “We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.” This is no longer the damaged planet our children and grandchildren will inherit as previously thought. We are already the victims of its fury.
Indiana has been lucky so far. That won’t last. Global warming, scientists say, does not increase the number of weather catastrophes, but it does increase their severity. We should expect to witness drought, heat, flooding, tornadoes, and even hurricanes like Hoosiers have not experienced before.
Time is precious. Combatting global warming needs immediate action. Our president has not only done nothing to help the cause, he has made it worse by removing restrictions on the fossil fuel industry and implementing anti-environmental policies. That America has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, the world’s best hope for concerted action, is a disgrace. Every civilized nation understands that we are all in this together. All, apparently, except the United States.
Doing nothing about global warming is a moral crime. Making it worse, I believe, should be a crime against humanity in the broadest sense. Our representatives—Braun, Young, and Hollingsworth—are complicit. It will be their legacy.
If you are a Trump supporter for any reason—the economy, guns, abortion, whatever—you might think hard about the consequences of global warming. Another five years of your guy could doom us all.
Malcolm Abrams
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