Earth Protect Blog

By Dr. Jonathan Harrington, author of The Climate Diet: How You Can Cut Carbon, Cut Costs and Save the Planet (Earthscan 2008).

Virtually all religions embrace once central moral tenet, do no harm. In America parents, preachers and teachers endlessly drum this age old mantra into our heads. You would be hard pressed to find someone who is willing to admit that they don’t care about harming others. However, our actions often tell a different story. This is certainly true in the case of global warming. Most scientists agree that our high consumption, fossil-fuel using lifestyles are spewing so much CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that it is literally warming our world. Americans are collectively responsible for producing more than 20 tones of CO2 per person per year (vs. the world average of less than 4 tons per person). Each one of us bears some responsibility for global warming, and its effects are becoming more apparent every day, especially in less economically wealthy parts of our planet.

As our climate changes and more parts of the world become less habitable, all creatures great and small have three choices: adapt, migrate or perish. Some species are capable of moving to more favorable climes and locations, while others are not. Humans have long proven their ability to both adapt and migrate when times get tough. But over time, we have built so many social, economic, and political barriers around ourselves and our non-human cousins that both migration and adaptation are becoming options for only a lucky few.

My wife constantly reminds me about the number of times we have “migrated” during our marriage. Part of the reason why we have been able to move from one state or country to another so easily is luck: we are citizens of a country where people have freedom of movement. The United States is also respected by the rest of the world (motivated by love, fear, or a combination of both), so we can travel to or live in other countries with relative ease. The same is true for European Union citizens, Japanese, Australians, and residents of a few other wealthy countries. But what about the other eighty-plus percent of the world’s population? For them, different rules apply. Congolese, Sudanese, or Guatemalans cannot easily travel anywhere they want. Numerous political, economic, social, and cultural barriers stand in their way. Any young mainland Chinese graduate student can tell you how hard it is to get a visa to study in the United States. And immigration rules are getting stricter by the day. This is especially true in northern Europe where anti-immigration politicians have made significant electoral gains in recent years. Rioting in France and terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom have soured feelings about immigration there as well.

What does this discussion about human migration have to do with global warming? In recent years, hundreds of millions of people have been displaced by severe weather events, e.g., desertification, flooding, and related environmental stresses in countries surrounding the Sahara, Kalahari, and Gobi deserts and in low-lying delta regions. Rising seas are already reaping disaster on coastal residents. Hurricane Katrina-like events are all too common in other parts of the world. Each year, millions of people are temporarily displaced by powerful typhoons.

The Ganges River Delta is one of the most heavily populated places on the planet. Kolkata (Calcutta), the surrounding state of Uttar Pradesh and southern Bangladesh are especially susceptible to flooding. In fact, millions of people are displaced from their homes every year by seasonal floods. The southern third of Bangladesh is at best ten feet above sea level. Many scientists are predicting that on average, global sea levels will rise more than 1.5 meters in the coming decades. It could be much higher if scientific predictions about accelerating Greenland and Antarctic ice melt come to fruition. India and Bangladesh do not have the resources to build thousands of miles of dikes and sea walls to protect coastal communities. India’s population is already over one billion and it is projected to rise to 1.6 billion by 2050. Where are all of these displaced people going to go?

We could see similar scenarios unfold even in large, wealthy cities. For example, the Chinese cities of Tianjin and Beijing are located at the mouth of the Yellow River while the mega-city of Shanghai sits atop the Yangtze River Delta. Shanghai, my wife Kathy’s hometown, is a city on the rise. Thousands of skyscrapers dot the skyline. In fact, Shanghai has more than twice as many skyscrapers as New York City. Shanghai is a central player in China’s breakneck race towards modernity. Millions of migrants flock to this city-state every year in search of the good life: a high- paying job, an apartment, an automobile, and unlimited shopping opportunities in one of the city’s 250-plus air-conditioned indoor malls.

While I prefer the relative quiet of Mercer Island, Kela is crazy for Shanghai. She loves the pace of the big city. Shanghai, being on the water, is especially famous for its seafood. Whenever we visit, Kela cannot resist the endless succession of restaurants that fill every nook of this metropolis. Unfortunately, like many other major cities worldwide, the lifeblood of this metropolis is coal-produced electricity. That, combined with the explosive spread of automobiles and other forms of conspicuous consumption are harboring the seeds of the city’s own possible destruction.

Like other delta areas around the world, Shanghai is susceptible to catastrophic flooding. Planning is already underway to stave off the expected rise in sea levels. In future years, tens of billions of dollars will be spent to shore up the city’s low-lying areas. But as sea levels rise, it too may suffer a New Orleans-like disaster, for Shanghai lies well within what the Japanese lovingly call “Typhoon Alley.” As the strength and frequency of typhoons increase in coming years, Shanghai’s future will increasingly be threatened. Yes, China is a large country like the United States, and may be able to accommodate tens of millions of displaced refugees, but at what cost?

Also on the list of sea-rise victims are small island nations, mostly in the South Pacific. For the residents of Tuvalu, the effects of global warming are already being felt. The highest point in this small country is about 10 feet above sea level. New Zealand and Australia have already started accepting Tuvalu refugees as the water rises and the landmass of the nation shrinks. This tiny nation will more than likely cease to exist during the next century. The same fate awaits much of the Maldives. Male, the capital of this island state, is already protected by a massive sea wall that encircles the city. Whole nations swallowed up by the sea—can you imagine what it would be like if you and your family were in the shoes of these people? What would you do?

Finally, we need to acknowledge that the United States and other developed nations bear a heavy historical burden when it comes to suffering brought on by climate change. Between 1850 and 2000, the United States produced almost 30 percent of total cumulative global carbon emissions. This is especially notable given the fact that only 2 to 4 percent of the globe’s population called the United States their home during the same period. The actual values are staggering: 81,969 MtC or 283 tons per person. Per capita values for Canada and Australia follow close behind.

Citizens of economically deprived and environmentally shattered communities face a double whammy. First, the fossil-fuel intensive economic model that contributed to our parents’ and consequently our own prosperity is becoming less and less of an option for people in developing countries who still hope to improve their socio-economic circumstances. Second, most developing countries lack adequate land, technological, and other material resources to adapt to intensifying climate related problems such as desertification, extreme weather events, sea rise, and others.

We all need to become more aware of how our actions influence the world around us. Everyone says they want to avoid doing harm to others. So lets go out and “walk the walk” by doing whatever we can to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions (by using less fossil fuel produced energy at home, on the road and in our communities). We can only solve this problem if we work together, one family and community at a time. It is just the right thing to do.