Immediate risk needs our attention By Dr. Richard Fireman and G. Richard Mode

No one is immune. We all are at risk, and we are placing all of our descendants at risk. There is no escape unless we act immediately, boldly, and with determination to do the right thing. It is not just polar bears that are in danger. All life is vulnerable to one degree or another from the rapidly accelerating effects of climate change.

Of course we have the scientific consensus. The International Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) 2007 report is "unequivocal" -- climate change is occurring and is being caused by human activity. Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the IPCC, has said, "What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment." And that was two years ago.

Since then, despite some evidence that 2009 is not one of the hottest years recorded in the past decade, the effects of climate change are being experienced worldwide. Drought in the Mediterranean contributed to wildfires that almost burned into Athens, Greece. The drought in Australia has devastated agriculture in an area as big as France and Spain combined. Arctic sea ice has thinned so much that scientists believe that it may disappear in summer as early as 2020.

It is not only scientists who believe that climate change needs a focused and urgent response. Our military warns that global warming is a threat to our security. The U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) "is an expanding alliance of major businesses and leading climate and environmental groups that have come together to call on the federal government to enact legislation requiring significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions." Practically all religious denominations in the United States, including the Christian Evangelical community, have eloquent statements about the urgent need for action. The Pope highlighted the urgency in a statement, saying "creation is under threat" and wishing "to encourage all the participants in the United Nations summit to enter into their discussions constructively and with generous courage" to solve climate change.

Recently two unlikely allies, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the National Wildlife Federation, released a report: More Extreme Heatwaves: Global Warming's Wake Up Call. These are the take-home messages:

□ Global warming will bring more extreme heat waves.

□ Urban air pollution will be exacerbated by more extreme heat.

□ Heat waves will disproportionately affect the very old and very young, as well as people who are poor, have asthma or heart disease, or live in big cities.

□ Natural habitats are also vulnerable to extreme heat.

□ We can reduce the severity of heat waves and their impact on vulnerable people.

This report reflects Pachauri's recent comment: "Things are going to get substantially worse than what we had anticipated," and it graphically shows how business as usual will certainly put the great majority of people at risk.

The United States on average has warmed more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 50 years. Anyone who has stayed in one place long enough to tell the difference surely knows this. The National Wildlife Federation membership of hunters, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts have experienced this every time they go out into the forests or put their canoe on a river or lake. Business as usual will make our lives substantially more difficult as average temperatures are predicted to climb by 4 to 11 degrees by 2100.

Two of North Carolina's most prominent cities, Charlotte and Raleigh, are listed in the top 30 that will be affected the most. But no city, town or crossroads is immune to the effects of rapidly accelerating climate change. We all will suffer.

Interestingly, Charlotte, Raleigh and Washington are predicted to have the same number of days with "oppressive heat" in the summer: 15 days. These are the homes of corporate leaders and our state and federal politicians.

As they will be feeling the physical heat, we should be applying the political heat. This should be clear to all of us: The future is in our hands. What we do and say, whether we engage in democracy or sit on the sidelines, will change the course of our collective future.

The Senate is now going to write its own climate and energy legislation. Make your voice heard in the offices of U.S. Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr -- here in Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Washington. The time is urgent. We need leadership, not politics. Our senators need to write the best possible legislation that will begin to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions as quickly as possible.

Dr. Richard Fireman is a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and the public policy coordinator of NC Interfaith Power & Light. G. Richard Mode serves as the North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF) affiliate representative to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).


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