The Grandpa/Grandma (or aunt/uncle) Challenge

With the 2016  election we now have a new president who appears uncertain about  climate change. During the campaign he openly questioned whether climate change was real or whether its impact on humanity was significant.  And his cabinet appointments to the EPA,   Department of Energy and Interior Department seem to suggest that he will be pro oil and coal and skeptical of the impact of climate change.

The climate change deniers say increased carbon emissions are not a problem. Environmentalists warn of dire consequences if we don't cap our CO2 emissions. So who is right? The reality is that the next generation will be able to say who is right in this debate.  

According to the UN Sustainable Goal 13 climate change is now affecting every corner of life on earth

http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change-2/  This goal states:  “.. greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are driving climate change and continue to rise. They are now at their highest levels in history. Without action, the world’s average surface temperature is projected to rise over the 21st century and is likely to surpass 3 degrees Celsius this century—with some areas of the world expected to warm even more.”

Even Pope Francis, in his Encyclical Laudato Si, warned of the dangers of climate change: “ Doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain. We may well be leaving to coming generations debris, desolation and filth. The pace of consumption, waste and environmental change has so stretched the planet’s capacity that our contemporary lifestyle, unsustainable as it is, can only precipitate catastrophes, such as those which even now periodically occur in different areas of the world. The effects of the present imbalance can only be reduced by our decisive action, here and now. We need to reflect on our accountability before those who will have to endure the dire consequences. (Par 161)

Here's your challenge: write a letter to your grandchildren and ask them to read the letter some 25 to 40 years later. The purpose of the letter is to ask them if the effects of climate change have created a big or small impact in their lives. If you don’t have grandchildren or children, then write a letter to a nephew or niece or even a child sometime who will live sometime 25 to 40 years from now.  If you don’t agree that climate change is a bid deal say so. In your letter to your future grandchild assume that carbon emissions have gone unchecked.

Ask your future grandchildren these questions:

• Is your life better off with increased carbon emissions and increased global warming?
• Have the coastal cities worldwide been inundated and the coastal populations forced to move further inland due to sea level increase?
• Have there been increased drought and crop failure due to climate change?
• Have there been forced migration of millions of people seeking drinking water and food due to the impact of climate change?
• Have there been increased conflicts and disruptions in food production and distribution?
• Are there parts of the world that are now uninhabitable because temperatures there have made it inhabitable?
• Have there been major disruptions in our fisheries due to ocean warming and acidification, have our coral reefs died?
• Do you blame this generation for not doing anything to limit carbon emissions and move to green technologies and thus bringing down the CO2 present in our atmosphere?

Some of us might be alive 25 to 40 years into the future.  You might be able to hear what your own grandchildren think of our generation today, with our reluctance to limit carbon emissions. Will our grandchildren blame us for  gratifying our short term desire for quick and cheap energy with the consequence of long term pain for the future generations?   Let's not use the excuse "we didn't know any better" or "we trusted in our leaders who said everything would be ok".   Now is the time to be very mindful of the impact of our carbon habits.  Can you hear the echo of the future generation asking, "why didn't you do something to prevent this?"