At a critical point in human history, experts at the climate conference in Poland are working to finalize rules to implement the Paris Agreement to limit carbon pollution.
Recent U.S. and UN reports forecast catastrophic consequences if urgent measures are not implemented. Oceans are warming and acidifying, sea levels rising, glaciers melting and corals dying. Climate driven heat waves, wildfires, floods and droughts are becoming worse and more frequent. Climate change is becoming a "medical emergency" threatening death and disease for millions according to the Lancet medical journal.
The 20 warmest years recorded have occurred in the last 22 years, the last four being the warmest. The world is not on course to achieve the modest Paris Agreement goals to limit temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius. If current trends continue, temperature increases this century will be far greater and the consequences dire. We will have converted a miracle planet, a paradise of healthy oceans, clean skies, pure fresh waters and abundant life, to a degraded, more hostile, more barren environment.
At the conference in Poland naturalist broadcaster David Attenborough described global climate change disaster as "our greatest threat in thousands of years" of human history, threatening "collapse of our civilization and the extinction of much of the natural world".
The sooner we act, the less damage will occur. As solar and wind energy become even more economical it is time for every citizen to demand and participate in action to convert from fossil fuels to 100 percent clean sustainable energy. This will result in healthier people and a healthier planet while saving money on energy costs, healthcare and damage from climate related disasters. Minnesotans should demand that the legislature and governor increase the state Clean Energy Standard with the eventual goal of 100 percent clean energy.
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Larry Fisk
Fort Ripley
