Call for reader comments on the climate crisis.

June 8, 2023

          Before addressing the climate crisis implications of the shroud of smoke enveloping the East Coast, let’s acknowledge the most urgent aspect of the pall: The smoke represents an urgent health threat to tens of millions of Americans. If you can, stay indoors and follow the guidance issued by state and local health officials. The fine particulate matter in the smoke is dangerous to your health, especially for the elderly, children, and people with breathing issues. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation issued a health advisory, which states in part:

Fine particulate matter consists of tiny solid particles or liquid droplets in the air that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter.

Exposure can cause short-term health effects such as irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, and shortness of breath. Exposure to elevated levels of fine particulate matter can also worsen medical conditions such as asthma and heart disease. People with heart or breathing problems, and children and the elderly may be particularly sensitive to PM 2.5.

See Updated Air Quality Health Advisory —NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation.

          Please take the advisory seriously. Don’t try to prove how tough you are by running, biking, playing tennis, etc., despite dangerous levels of smoke. And don’t let others in your life do so.

          The situation on the East Coast is an immediate threat to health. But so are the short-term, medium-term, and long-term effects of human-caused climate change. Unfortunately, the effects of climate change are incremental and imperceptible over the short term—until they are not. Although no single weather event constitutes “climate change,” unusual weather trends are warning signals we must not ignore. When regions experience three consecutive “thousand-year floods” in three years, or when the intensity of hurricanes steadily increases with warming oceans, and when both coasts of the continental US experience deadly smoke events caused by massive wildfires in the span of two years, there is a signal in the noise that we ignore at our peril.

          Readers of this newsletter give me plenty of feedback in the form of suggested topics. The “number one” suggestion is to devote more attention to climate change. Every time I resolve to be more focused on climate change, short-term events overwhelm the news cycle. I suspect that it is the same for many of you. Climate change is measured in decades or centuries—until it is impossible to see New Jersey across the Hudson from New York. Then it is measured in minutes and feet.

          I confess that I find it difficult to make recommendations to readers about how they should become involved in fighting climate change. There are so many things we can or should do, it is overwhelming to pick one and say, “This is my cause or contribution to the fight.”

Of course, electing candidates who prioritize the climate crisis is a step everyone can take. But the climate crisis demands more from us. It demands personal engagement in the fight itself. The climate crisis isn’t just about energy policy or macroeconomic incentives. The climate crisis is the accumulated effect of our daily actions and inactions. In that sense, how we choose to live is both the problem and the solution.

          The readers of this newsletter are involved in efforts to fight the climate crisis. So, tonight, I invite all newsletter readers to describe their efforts to fight the climate crisis in the Comments section. (To be clear, the Comments section for this edition of the newsletter is open to all readers; usually, only paying subscribers can comment.)

          As usual, please be respectful and “like” worthy comments to move them to the top for other readers to see. If you are promoting an organization, please include a clickable link to your organization. Make it easy for other readers to connect with you. Tell them what you do and why it is important. Or share a story about how climate change has affected your life. (Suggestion: use paragraph breaks to enhance the readability of your story. An unbroken block of text makes it more difficult to follow the logical flow of your story.)

          A final note: If we want others to join the fight against human-caused climate change, we must inspire them to action. We face huge challenges and will suffer inevitable consequences. But it is not too late to make a difference. If we expect people to help, we must realistically explain how their actions will make a difference without minimizing the threat we face.

Concluding Thoughts.

          There are, of course, a dozen other stories clamoring for our attention. Tonight, I have decided that the urgent will not overwhelm the important. The climate crisis deserves our attention and our engagement. As a community of like-minded citizens, let’s spur one another to action by sharing our stories, fears, and engagement.

          Talk to you tomorrow!