Climate Change vs Nuclear Annihilation

One advantage about having been alive for three-quarters of a century involves the quality of life vs quantity of life. I was a junior in high school in October 1962. Living in Los Angeles, we engaged in “duck and cover” drills daily as we believed the Cuban Missile Crisis could result in a nuclear war. Once again, a Russian leader is threatening nuclear annihilation, but I am no longer afraid. There is nothing I can do about it, and at my age, quality of life is far more important than the number of years I have left.

However, climate change remains the greatest danger faced by every man, woman, and child in the world. This concerns me deeply because I have granddaughters who are 16 and 14, and they deserve to live for many years in a world that offers a better quality of life than my generation experienced.

Ignoring the reality of losing our polar ice cap, resulting in rising seas, extreme weather which will make areas in America and around the world uninhabitable, and new diseases and physical ailments which will shorten life expectancy, and result in painful deaths for millions is unacceptable.

Yes, Karen, climate change is the result of man’s use of fossil fuels, deadly pesticides which poison our water supply, and a refusal to sacrifice a few luxuries to save our planet. Lies from the right side of the aisle will not make it go away.

I live in Northern Nevada. Unlike Las Vegas, we normally have four seasons, including snow in the winter. I have lived here since 1986. Our seasons have always varied in intensity. Some summers have been excessively warm, and the snowfall in winter has occasionally crippled the city. I have experienced multiple years when drought conditions forced changes in how we watered in the summer months, and even went so far as requiring restaurants to only serve water by request.

Courtesy of Wolfgang Eckert (Pixabay CC0)

The year 2022 has been historical. Not once in reported history has Northern Nevada experienced a totally dry January. Since January, there have only been a few days when snow or rain contributed to our water table, and today is March 29.

Throughout the month of March, the Reno/Sparks area in the north, and the Las Vegas area in the south have been the warmest areas in the 48 contiguous states. This is climate change to the extreme.

President Joe Biden is poised to sign a proposed budget allocation for our military of $778 billion. The fact is that 50% of the military’s annual budget goes to waste, and our country’s war preparations cost five times more than all other nations combined. I do not know why. Our military has lost every war since WWII.

If the fight to save our nation’s future from climate change received the importance of planning for future wars, half of the funds allocated to the Pentagon would be used to save the planet.

We cannot predict when a madman like Putin could begin WWIII and the end of the world as we know it, but we can foresee the immediate danger to planet Earth from climate change.

One of the realities for refusing to address climate change is undeniable food shortages around the world. If we continue to ignore the scientific facts, in the United States alone states which provide the vast majority of our nation’s food supply will suffer from severe drought and production will become as little as 10% of normal. In the Midwest, grains will dry up in the field.

Unable to feed large herds of cattle and pig and poultry farms, will lessen production and the cost of fresh food will rise three, four, and even five times in price. Every man and woman on the planet will struggle to put food on their tables. Potable water will also be at a premium. Disease and increases in health problems related to the lack of safe water, and healthy foods will begin to shorten the average life span.

Unlike the fantasy world of fake Republicans, “the truth lives here,” and I will guarantee conditions that are unlivable and survival will become the only goal.

Science is fact, and every leading climate scientist in the world agrees. Doing nothing is unrealistic, and will guarantee the end of the world.

Being a denier is chosen ignorance. And this is unforgivable.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Daily Kos: Maybe if the climate crisis were labeled national defense it would get funded like we mean it; by Meteor Blades
Inside Climate News: Complex Models Now Gauge the Impact of Climate Change on Global Food Production. The Results Are ‘Alarming;’ by Georgina Gustin

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Mohamed Hassan’s Pixabay Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Wolfgang Eckert’s Pixabay Page – Creative Commons License