The Climate Conversation: We Can Do It!

It’s the first week of December, and one of us spent an entire afternoon working in the garden, while the other hiked in the Missions to 5,000 feet without encountering snow. Like the drought that choked the inflow to Flathead last summer, we’re entering unchartered territory due to our warmer, more erratic climate.

This might be a good time to bring your attention to a new report called the Fifth National Climate Assessment, which is ordered by Congress every five years under laws passed in the late 1980s and 90s by the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations.

Written by some 500 authors and 250 technical consultants and peer-reviewed before publication, the Fifth Assessment is meant to be a one-stop shop. The authors describe it as “the state of the science.” It doesn’t offer any new research but summarizes what we know about climate change to give decision-makers in Congress the best possible information. It can help guide our decisions, too.

It's not all doom and gloom. We’ve cut greenhouse gas emissions by 12 percent since 2005. The report says, “the benefits of deep emissions cuts for current and future generations are expected to far outweigh the costs [of climate damage].” And reducing emissions is getting significantly easier. Since 2005, the price of solar energy has dropped by 90 percent and wind by 70 percent.

This is good because we must move a lot faster if we’re going to keep temperatures below the global target of 1.5oC (2.7oF). The report says we need to cut greenhouse gases by six percent a year between now and 2050 to avoid the worst effects of global warming. To do this, we need everyone on board.

The study’s favorite word, it seems, is “unequivocal,” meaning the authors, at this point, found no reason to deny the science behind global warming. Burning dirty fuels (coal, oil, gas) results in greenhouse gases, which, as their name suggests, trap warmth close to the Earth. This warmth makes the summers hotter, the winters shorter and rainier, and sets us up for extreme weather: the fires, floods, drought, dying trout, melting glaciers, lack of snowpack, and the powerful storms we are experiencing.

The more the planet warms, the greater the impacts. As these impacts intensify, we must adapt to the warmer world and take action to turn off the greenhouse gas spigot that causes it. “While there are still uncertainties about how the planet will react to rapid warming, the degree to which climate change will continue to worsen is largely in human hands,” the report says bluntly.

Back in the 1980s, the U.S. suffered weather-related emergencies costing more than $1 billion every four months (three a year). In 2023, the U.S. has already experienced $25 billion disasters, and the report says there’s a billion-dollar catastrophe hitting this country every three weeks. Climate change is costing us more than $150 billion a year.

It’s time to shake off our lethargy and kick it into gear. Start by reading the Fifth Assessment’s overview, https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/ or listen to the podcasts, https://www.globalchange.gov/nca5/podcast. Or join in a monthly conversation at the “Climate Café” sponsored by the Flathead Lakers every third Friday (Dec 15), 9 a.m., at the Lakers’ office on East Main Street in Polson.

Jeffrey J. Smith is co-chair of 350 Montana and Hannah Hernandez started the Flathead Lakers' climate cafe. Both live in Lake County.