Too Little Too Late? The New IPCC Report is the Comet in “Don’t Look UP”
On February 27, 2022 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the IPCC) published a new Summary Report for Policymakers on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Many will call this report stunning, shocking, or surprising; I call this report long OVERDUE.
Why?
Because I’ve been studying climate change and its effects on food security — specifically for individuals in developing countries who are entirely dependent on the natural environment to meet their food-security needs — for more than a decade; and saw/predicted — whichever you want to call it — these dangerous environmental changes then.
So, in a sense, it is heartening to see these real-world risks finally acknowledged at this level, with the IPCC, and mainstream media reporting on it; but it is also demoralizing to have waited for so long for the IPCC — the “trusted source” — to finally catch up to what I, and some of my other “alarmist” colleagues, have been reporting on for years now.
I began writing my book Recipe For Survival: What You Can Do to Live a Healthier and More Environmentally Friendly Life (2022) in 2014, a year after completing my PhD. In the book, I address risks we (the collective we that includes Earth) face if we lose coral reefs, which we are well on our way to making a reality. I discuss what the loss of rainforests means for water cycles and the ability to grow sufficient foods and maintain climate resilience. I describe the many ways we overfish the oceans and what that means for the stability of the oceans and all they do for us and give to us. And I provide examples of how we abuse the environment and the natural world around us, from tarnishing the soil to polluting the atmosphere and oceans.
In presenting and researching all of these issues, it is clear, we cannot continue this onslaught against Earth and expect Earth will continue to recover; eventually, like a human who has overdosed; support systems WILL cease to function, and will shut down. We need to take our heads out of the sand and acknowledge that Earth is SICK.
Every day we spew oil, methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, animal waste from feedlots, pesticides and fertilizers from farms, and chemicals from textile plants and battery-producing factories into the atmosphere and oceans.
These discussions are not hysterics, they are not hyperbole. Read the IPCC report for yourself and see that it acknowledges that the dangers from climate change are occurring at a far more rapid pace than previously anticipated. This report FINALLY acknowledges that climate change and climate extremes have led to irreversible damage to natural systems as species: plant, non-human, and human alike, get pushed beyond their ability to adapt.
And yet, even with this new, alarming report, the focus will remain on reducing and limiting our use of fossil fuels, oil, and energy; for that’s where our focus always is — on sectors that take time to act on; sectors that involve governments and regulations and agreements that never come to fruition — because the will to act just isn’t there YET.
And, while I absolutely acknowledge the unprovoked war in progress is an absolute tragedy; innocent lives are being taken; it is also taking precious time, effort, and resources away from other pressing issues — such as the perilous dangers of climate change. In fact, one of the concerns coming out of this war is what it means for oil and gas.
Instead of coming together and fighting for the common goal of protecting this one home we ALL live on, called Earth, we are fighting against each other and causing severe social, mental, and physical harm.
We’ve lost our way and I don’t know what are we waiting for anymore. Total Environmental Collapse? Like the comet from Don’t Look UP?
Earth, the planet, will still be here hundreds of years from now. The question is: Will we? And how many other species (plant, nonhuman) will we take down with us?
For more information and ideas: Recipe For Survival: What You Can Do to Live a Healthier and More Environmentally Friendly Life
Twitter: @danaellishunnes
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Publicist: megan@meganbeatie.com
Dr. Dana Ellis Hunnes, Assistant professor of public health and dietitian in Los Angeles, and author of Recipe For Survival: What You Can Do to Live a Healthier and More Environmentally Friendly Life. Cambridge University Press.
