Unfortunately, We Haven't Seen Anything Yet (9/16/20)

At first I thought it was a red moon. But quickly I realized it was the sun peeking through a sky permeated with smoke that had drifted eastward 2,500 miles from catastrophic forest fires in California, Oregon, Washington and other western states. The sunlight colored the smoke in the sky orange. Just an hour earlier I received a text (with photo) from my sister who lives a few miles east of Pensacola, FL. She had been up most of the night monitoring the water level in her yard as sustained heavy rain from Hurricane Sally continued to fall and water edged toward her door.

Contrary to what some may say, we have a clear understanding of the mechanisms by which the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (foremost among them carbon dioxide and methane) is negatively impacting the earth and will continue to do so. There is no Plan B - no alternative living space. Serious leadership and aggressive action are needed worldwide starting now and across this decade to hold the average temperature rise on earth to a dangerous, but possibly manageable, level - 3.6ºF (2ºC) - by 2050.

Temperature rises above this level as a result of unprecedented climate change would have catastrophic effects; for example, additional large-scale plant and animal extinction, invasive patterns of infectious disease, calamitous changes to ocean circulation patterns and so weather, massive human migration and associated conflict, and significant political and economic upheaval.

Man-made Global Atmospheric Change is THE existential threat to life on earth.