On Saturday, it was cold, windy and it rained all day long. The sky was grey and the leaves were brown. I hoped that the sun would come out tomorrow. And it did. Sunday was warm and mostly sunny and I went for a walk at one of my favorite places, the East Ridge High School track. Mother Earth smiled at us as a few folks playing pickle ball on the courts. Were we were going back to the New Normal of drought? September 2023 was the third driest September on record.
For those worried that months of drought could ignite forest fires up in the mountains, more rain would be greatly reassuring. But for many us, months of excessive rain, and flooded, slick roads isn’t much to celebrate. Yet, according to Jon Gottschalck, Operational Prediction Branch chief of the Climate Prediction Center, “An enhanced southern jet stream and associated moisture often present during strong El Niño events supports high odds for above-average precipitation for the Gulf Coast, lower Mississippi Valley and Southeast states this winter.”
Whatever your preference, the effects of climate change are visible and can increase with time. My daughter lives up in Maine and its weird that Chattanooga has the same temperature that she has in Maine during the late fall and early winter. Climate model projections warn that Maine’s average annual climate could warm 2–4°F by 2050 and up to 10°F by 2100.
That figure depends on future greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, an issue that was the topic of the latest climate summit (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Not surprisingly, there was considerable skepticism over having the UAE host the summit since the UAE’s greenhouse gas emissions rose by 7.5% in 2022 from 2021, compared to only a 1.5% increase globally. “They are abusing the public’s trust by naming the CEO of one of the largest and least responsible oil companies in the world as head of the COP,” said, climate advocate and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber is also head of the UAE’s national oil company ADNOC.
Where is the concern for the global south, in countries where there is much poverty. The gender inequality shows up when 4 times as many women as men die in floods. Further, women and children are 14 times more likely to die in natural disasters than men. Coalitions such as the Women’s Environmental and Development Organization (WEDO) have highlighted the connection between social inequalities and climate change.
No wonder that one of the most prominent climate activists is female. Greta Thunberg is known for challenging world leaders to take action for climate change mitigation. And she has paid a high price for her advocacy with arrests for refusing to disperse protests saying, “We need real climate action now!” Meanwhile, UAE’s Sultan Al Jaber claims there’s ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels. It’s rumored hat the Sultan pushed for expansion of his oil interests even as United Nations climate negotiators considered a fossil fuels phaseout.
Why is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) only 10% female? Makes me wonder if action to protect the climate will follow the usual blah blah. Let’s lobby to hold the next climate change summit in Chattanooga and house participants in dry woodlands B&Bs hosting barbeques. When it pours, let them drive themselves down mountain slick roads. Elect a woman from an impoverished 3rd world country to be the organizing president.
I’ll stand downtown with a sign, “We need real climate action now!” Mother Earth needs us, so who’s with me?