Tuesday last week, the United States of America, commonly considered the world’s strongest and most influential power, with the current era of modern history commonly being referred to as the “Pax Americana” (American Peace) due to the domination of the United States over global affairs, published its Fifth Annual Climate assessment, with the report focusing on the evaluation of the climate and the effectiveness of U.S and global policy in combating said climate change.
The report outlined that the cost-effective tools that could be used to significantly reduce the United States’ contribution to climate change already exist, and that not a major amount of research or development needs to be in order to properly employ these tools. In addition, the report stated that U.S emissions of heat-trapping gasses fell by 12 percent between 2005 and 2019 as a result of larger usage of renewable energy sources over fossil fuels and nonrenewable sources.
Climate change, the colloquial term for the human alteration of nature and the climate through our own actions, has long been considered a real issue. The theory first gathered steam in the 90s as scientists began to notice the catastrophic effects of rapid human advancement and industrial production upon the environment, yet, in that time period it was not taken seriously by world governments. It was only in the late 2000s that the effects, which by then had become so terribly catastrophic, that the response to the disaster was immediate and rapid, with a global climate accord being formed in 2016 known as “The Paris Accords,” in which a large amount of the world collectively agreed to curb their emissions. The United States notably withdrew from said accord during the Trump Administration.
Although the report bears good news, the reality still remains grim, evident by the whirlwind of natural catastrophes that continue to rock the Earth as a result of humanity’s own actions. The sluggish rate at which the United States and industrialized nations have addressed climate change has only made for a reality in which humanity must learn to survive in the world that we have inadvertently created. The fundamental issue is that the response to climate change has been far too little, and perhaps, far too late.
The report addresses this, stating that Americans need to make greater changes to their lifestyles, ranging from the way they work, manage the environment, and function in day to day life. The issue stems from the fact that this human-engineered mass extinction is an event unseen in the history of Earth. Sure, the Earth has suffered blows, but always a result of natural occurrences. The Permian “Great Dying” was caused by large amounts of volcanic eruptions that spewed CO2 into the atmosphere, fundamentally altering the composition of the atmosphere and killing 99.7% of all life on Earth. The KpG Cretaceous extinction was caused by an asteroid striking the Yucatan peninsula, essentially superheating the Earth and resulting in a mass extinction event.
But this is far different from those events in the history of the Earth, as the rate of which humanity has changed our mother Earth is not only unprecedented, but remarkable in the capability of the human race. Regardless, the report makes a stark warning , that not just the United States of America, but all humanity needs to listen to. We must change, lest our Earth change into a planet that we cannot survive upon.
