Last week, Typhoon Haiyan devastated the shores of the Philippines. There are significant political challenges that have not yet been confronted. Only days after Haiyan dissipated over the Chinese mainland, international state diplomats met in Warsaw, Poland for the 2013 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Among those attending was Filipino diplomat Naderev Sano. During the Conference’s opening address, Sano not only asserted the very real connection between man-made global warming and Typhoon Haiyan but he also implored action. No longer can the issue be ignored by those who have the power to remedy it.
The effects of global warming extend beyond shrinking glaciers and rising sea levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that the rise in global temperature will impact each continent uniquely and increase net global costs. If the annual global temperature increases only three to five degrees Celsius, water availability will decrease in mid-latitudinal regions, food production will decrease and many species will go extinct worldwide.
The United States has been at the center of the climate change debate. As the wealthiest country in the world, the U.S. has the necessary resources to take leadership in combating the effects of global warming. But thus far, it has neglected any meaningful action. The last three U.S. presidents have failed to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty which would bind all parties to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to certain target levels. Even China, the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, has joined the pact and fiercely urged the United States to follow suit.
A new report by the United Nation’s climate panel revealed that scientists are 95 percent certain humans are the dominant cause of climate change. The U.N. Environmental Program also released a report this month warning against a prolonged failure to address the rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The research and facts about human impact on global warming have been available for years, but the United States has failed to pass measures to adequately address these issues.
Combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity and power cars is the main cause of carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in the period between 1990 and 2011 electricity and transportation were the main sources of carbon dioxide emissions in the country, accounting for 70 percent of total emissions. The only impediment for substantive change is a lack of political will, because the alternative technologies — nuclear reactors, hydroelectric plants and electric cars — are already developed.
Our leaders in government are beholden to corporate interests that view renewable energy as economic competition rather than a solution to impending global catastrophe. Until Washington prioritizes progressive environmental policy in the federal budget, the United States will never be an active participant in the fight against climate change. Natural disasters are becoming less natural. We have a responsibility to remedy this inconvenient truth.
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