Climate Change; A look at the bigger picture

A lot of people aren't worried about climate change, or worse, don't believe in it. That terrifies me. How can you, as a human being, living on this planet, regardless of your political affiliation, nationality, or religion, see what's happening to the world around us, and not be terrified? Natural disasters are intensifying: record-breaking tropical storms, drought, blizzards, tornadoes, floods, mudslides, fires, desertification, and more. Man-made disasters are becoming the norm: Fukushima, the Canadian Tar Sands, huge oil spills reported almost weekly, fracking, strip mining, almost the entire country of Indonesia literally on fire to make way for corporate greed (seriously, read this), the Gulf of Mexico 'Dead Zone', ocean acidification, the Great Pacific garbage patch, the destruction of Louisiana wetlands, the draining and development of the Everglades, the Great barrier reef being used as a dumping ground, and I could go on and on.

Political leaders, religious leaders, scientists, CEOs of multinational corporations, visionary inventors, and millions of ordinary people are calling for action. Others oppose this movement in order to push their political agendas or further their greed. The Koch brothers (whose billions come from an inherited oil fortune) have spent at least $80 million funding organizations that deny climate change. Companies (largely coal and oil) which profit directly from activities that exacerbate climate change, such as ExxonMobil, pay off scientists to generate their own studies denying what's happening. Yes, there's an entire industry built around covering up what we're doing to the planet. If you're reading this, and you're skeptical about climate change, I'll be posting links at the end of this for you to do some reading. From here on, I'm going to assume that we're on the same page about what's happening, and I'm going to try to provide a little more perspective on why it should worry you more than it does.

We've all heard about sea levels rising, the global average temperature increasing, weather worsening, and lots of other very big, long-term effects of climate change, but many of us don't think we're going to see drastic effects for a long time. What many people don't realize is that the effects are already hitting us, on a global scale, and in ways that aren't receiving enough attention. The refugee crisis in Europe, and looming over Pacific island nations? Conflicts in Darfur and Syria (Syria explained in 5 minutes)? Climate change is a prominent driving factor in all of them. Environmental stresses from crops dying, biodiversity suffering, forced migrations from uninhabitable areas, and more, are adding to other regional conflicts, and making them worse. Climate change can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. This is only going to spread; we need to be vocal about it, and take action. If you know someone who thinks this isn't happening, explain it to them. Give them the resources to research it themselves, and encourage them to do so. Get involved; there are some great organizations to help you do this (350, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Idle no More, Union of Concerned Scientists, 11th Hour).This isn't going away, and we need to do something about it before it's too late.


Here are some links to get you started. Do your own research; don't take my word for it.

Africa
http://www.ibtimes.com/climate-change-africa-african-global-warming-role-small-crucial-crisis-solution-2008048

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,,contentMDK:22410211~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:258644,00.html

Europe
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1140480/

http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/climate

http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer-2015/europe/climate-change-impacts-and-adaptation

Syria
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/WCAS-D-13-00059.1

Refugees
http://time.com/4024210/climate-change-migrants/

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/07/climate-change-global-warming-refugee-crisis

http://www.ibtimes.com/kiribati-climate-change-relocation-refugee-crisis-sinking-low-lying-island-nations-2127526

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2015-09-28/sinking-states

Indonesia
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/30/indonesia-fires-disaster-21st-century-world-media?CMP=fb_gu

http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/erik-meijaard-indonesias-fire-crisis-biggest-environmental-crime-21st-century/

Antarctic
http://www.asoc.org/advocacy/climate-change-and-the-antarctic

Canadian Tar Sands
http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/Energy/tarsands/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tar-sands-and-keystone-xl-pipeline-impact-on-global-warming/

China
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/rising_temperatures/hotspot_map/china.cfm

United States
http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/

http://www.globalchange.gov/what-we-do/assessment

Global
http://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-point-of-no-return-climate-change-nightmares-are-already-here-20150805?page=2

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/have-we-passed-the-point-of-no-return-on-climate-change/

Leadership
http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/world/pope-francis-climate-technology-encyclical/

http://time.com/4050048/elon-musk-climate-change/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/climate-change

http://www.wclimate.com/world-climate-summit-2015/

http://www.worldmag.com/2015/11/world_leaders_gather_in_paris_for_final_climate_change_conference

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/05/what-the-world-thinks-about-climate-change-in-7-charts/

http://www.unfoundation.org/what-we-do/campaigns-and-initiatives/global-leadership-for-climate-action/?referrer=https://www.google.com/

https://medium.com/@ClimateCEOs/open-letter-from-global-ceos-to-world-leaders-urging-concrete-climate-action-e4b12689cddf

http://www.dalailama.com/messages/environment/a-green-environment

Environmental disasters
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/pictures/5-recent-underreported-environmental-disasters-20140407

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1986457,00.html

http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/category/environmental-disasters/

Denial
http://phys.org/news/2015-11-china-climate-poll.html

http://time.com/4102754/climate-change-us-china-pew-survey/

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/04/06/new_climate_change_poll_shows_americans_believe_in_global_warming.html

http://ncse.com/news/2015/08/new-poll-climate-change-0016608

http://ncse.com/news/2015/01/views-climate-change-among-public-scientists-0016161

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/climate-deniers/koch-industries/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/connor-gibson/charles-koch-admits-clima_b_7153084.html

http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/koch-bros

http://davidsuzuki.org/issues/climate-change/science/climate-change-basics/climate-change-deniers/

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/revealed-exxon-secret-funding-of-global-warming-junk-scientists/

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/exxon-lying-climate-change-much-longer-thought/

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/fight-misinformation/global-warming-skeptic.html#.VjzlJrerS9I

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/07/upshot/the-limits-of-the-tobacco-strategy-on-climate-change.html

Conflict
http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/does-climate-change-cause-conflict

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/science/earth/study-links-syria-conflict-to-drought-caused-by-climate-change.html

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/syria-climate-years-living-dangerously-symbolia

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-climate-change-cause-conflict/

http://podcast.zirve.edu.tr/sandbox/groups/economicsandadministrativesciences/wiki/fa50c/attachments/0e400/Climate_change,_human_security_and_violent_conflict.pdf

http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2007/climate_security_threat_africa.pdf

http://www.irinnews.org/report/72985/sudan-climate-change-only-one-cause-among-many-for-darfur-conflict

http://www.csun.edu/~dtf46560/630/Misc/Reuveny-ClimateChangeMigration-2007.pdf