Green Junction - Climate Change Close to Home: Extreme Weather and the Power of Everyday Action
Three times in two months, residents in the northwest region of Indiana were alerted about destructive storms and advised to seek shelter. Each storm caused damage and the area of destruction left behind from the third storm was described by many as the worst span of damage anyone could remember. Other areas of the state were inundated with record rainfall that caused flooding. The Midwest also experienced days of dangerous air quality this summer as a result of northern wildfires. Around the country, record high temperatures have been reported. We are experiencing many consequences of climate change.
After the recent storm, I asked my ten-year-old granddaughter what she has learned in school about climate change. Her answer was she has not learned about it in school. I explained to her how the earth’s atmosphere has greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide and water - that warm the earth and make it livable. Without these gases in the atmosphere, the earth’s temperature would be about 5 degrees F, much too cold for life as we know it. Since the industrial revolution, we have been burning coal, oil and gas, which has increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from about 280 (pre-industrialization) to 430 ppm in 2026. The warming “blanket” of carbon dioxide has gotten “thicker” and now holds more heat in the earth’s atmosphere. More heat means more energy. We often hear the term super-charged in the description of present-day storms.
My hope is that we decide that we do not want to experience even more energetic storms in the future. We need to talk more about this problem that is shared among the human race. Laws and policies are the best way to shape our future, but we all have the capacity to make changes that address climate change. I recently heard a wise thought: imagine what can happen when millions of people decide to make positive changes. I told my granddaughter that she and her siblings can turn off the lights, electronics and anything that uses energy when not in use. Children can work with parents and grandparents to reduce purchases of non-necessary stuff and to learn more about clean energy, simpler living and sustainable habits.