For everything, its place. For every place, its thing.

In 2009 a consortium of 18 top notch US science organizations serving 10 million scientists wrote a letter to the US Senate containing a warning:

“If we are to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change, emissions of greenhouse gases must be dramatically reduced. In addition, adaptation will be necessary to address those impacts that are already unavoidable. Adaptation efforts include improved infrastructure design, more sustainable management of water and other natural resources, modified agricultural practices, and improved emergency responses to storms, floods, fires and heat waves.” 

https://www.aibs.org/position-statements/20091021_scientists_issu.html

One of the organizations signing on was the American Institute of Biological Science, a premier organization studying life. The organization itself has 5,000 biologists and represents 200 professional societies whose total membership is over 250,000.

Why were these biologists, who study life, worried about climate change? 

Let’s create a learning opportunity today. The coronavirus, COVID-19, for many of us, has resulted in us confined in our own homes. There is one exception. We are encouraged to walk if we stay six feet from one another. That means hikes in the woods are fair game. 

Here is a simple enlightening task you can do on a walk. It highlights why biologists are worried sick about climate change. On your walk spot a handsome mature tree. Walk over to it and point your nose to the north with the tree off one of your shoulders. Take two small steps north travelling approximately 3 feet nine inches. Stop and taunt the tree, “Hey can’t you keep up?”

The next day, go visit your new tree pal again.  This time double the distance turn and say, “Hey pal, you are falling behind get them roots moving!”

Over the last 10,000 years the earth has been, climate-wise, relatively stable. In fact, some historians attribute our once stable climate as the precursor essential to civilization.

For the natural world it means plants and animals have created and settled into an ecosystem they love. A place they not only survive but thrive. 

For your newfound tree pal, that means the seed it came from found a place so special that it out competed thousands of other plants to reach maturity. But today, that tree is no longer in its most favored place because the temperature has warmed. 

Here is another simple task. We are comfortable and productive if we keep the rooms in our homes around 68 F.  Try turning up the thermostat a tenth of a degree each day. At some point, we will not function well. Climate Change is doing that to our forests, in fact, the whole planet. 

The warmer climate creates warmer winters bringing with it a host of insect predators. Pine bark beetles and Ash borers who were once kept in check by winter cold are now overrunning our hapless forests. And, all these pests are marching north 3.8 feet per day.

Nearly all animals, birds, fish, insects, and plants are in a worldwide exodus looking for a new home. In 2009 biologists were sure it would happen. Now it is documented beyond any doubt. And what is more troubling is via the fossil record they know some plants and creatures will not make it. And worse yet, because of the massive greenhouse gasses we are spewing into the air, the earth is heating ten times faster than any other identifiable period.

The novel coronavirus pandemic creates a great analogy to climate change. Medical pandemic scientists, called epidemiologists, have been warning us for years that we need to prepare. Even In the face of MERS, SARS, and Ebola we didn’t. Even when the Covid-19 erupted our administration squandered 70 days of critical lead time. Now, America is First. We lead the world in fatalities caused by COVID-19 because we ignored the men and women in the white lab coats.

In the race to survive a rapidly heating world we have ignored climate warnings for decades. Instead of educating ourselves we set our thermostats to 68F, pulled the window shades, turned on Fox News and pretended nothing was happening. We elected politicians whose sole contribution to science and civilization was altering documents with sharpies and firing any civil servant who mumbled “climate change”. This strategy works well if your projected remaining life span is short. Some days I wish I had taken this route. Don’t worry, be happy, right?  

Our kids haven’t lost yet. There is still time. The cost to turn things around is not prohibitive and is less than fighting a war and exponentially less than doing nothing. Brilliant people are fine tuning solution after solution. The world looks to us to lead.  They look to us to elect responsible leadership. We need to elect men and women who surround themselves with the best and the brightest whose guiding principle is everyone’s health and well-being.

One of my favorite quotes is, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is today.” 

We can plant a seed today. The tree growing from this tiny seed is called Hope.