Climate Awareness

On Tuesday [May 6], the United States government released a report about the current and future effects of climate change in the country. With this scientific study, filled with somber prognostics, the White House wishes to counteract, in some way, the disbelief that many of its citizens and politicians manifest with respect to the effects of global warming.

In essence, despite scientific and empirical evidence of this phenomenon throughout the world — like the increase in the number and intensity of fires, torrential rains, floods, freezing temperatures and droughts, more extreme each time they occur, retreat of glaciers, or tornadoes and hurricanes that cause historic damage each year — the majority of Americans show skepticism toward climate change, or in the best of cases, they think that it only affects glaciers or polar bears.

This disbelief comes from a systematic campaign that big business and politicians — especially Republicans — have carried out for years against the evidence for global warming. One would suppose it is so, so that public opinion does not exercise pressure in favor of the environment, which would force large companies to reduce their pollution levels, ultimately affecting their earnings. For this reason, it is not a surprise that the U.S. Congress has denied ratification of the Kyoto Protocols, the only agreement reached as of now that requires governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This remains true even though the northern power is the country that releases the most greenhouse gases, currently surpassed only by China.

From there arises the importance of this report that tries to change the American mentality, which in turn would contribute to political support, once and for all, for measures against global warming. Something urgent then, as this column has pointed out repeatedly, is that the overexploitation of natural resources and minerals has provoked an unprecedented ecological crisis, which threatens to destroy life as we know it.

In the same way, it would be pertinent for similar campaigns to be carried out in the country regarding environmental consciousness, as there are still many authorities who, if they do not deny the existence of global warming, they do nothing to counteract the phenomenon in practice: for example, by subsidizing fuels or encouraging deforestation, instead of protecting our forests, which are the only ones that can thwart the expansion of greenhouse gases. This also takes place on a personal level, although there are many people who prefer to forget contributions as simple as avoiding forest fires, caring for our water, or turning off lights and computers that are not being used.