Opinion: Record Heat Threatens Life as We Know It. A Call to Action

Love, Justice and Climate Change

At the beginning of April, I wrote about record-breaking heat in Rio de Janeiro and in Africa. This week the news is about an intense heat wave in south and east Asia.  The temperature in Bangkok, Thailand was over 104°F. Bangladesh has had 23 “heat-wave days” in April, with temperatures surpassing 108°F (42°C in some areas). The heat forced schools for 33 million children to close. Schools in India and the Philippines have also been closed because of extreme heat. In Myanmar the temperature reached 113°F.

I find these temperatures mind-boggling. It’s hard to imagine people carrying on their lives.

Eleven Months of Record High Temperatures
Although I’ve been writing about rising global temperatures for a while, this chart had a big impact on me.

It shows the monthly global average temperatures from 1940 to the present with the blue lines toward the bottom from the 1940’s and reddish lines toward the top from the 2020’s. The two dark lines at the very top show that every month since June 2023 has set the all-time record for that month–not just by a little bit, but by a large margin.

I find these temperatures frightening. However, for those of us well engaged in the climate movement, they validate the importance of what we are doing. For some of you on the margins, I hope this can be an alarm bell that will stir you to greater action.

A New Thought About Hopelessness
I realize that for some, this information may lead you to feel hopeless and be pulled to give up. I had a new thought about hopelessness today. A situation is hopeless, when nothing you can do makes any difference. But that is not the situation we are in. In this situation, everything you do makes a difference.

Every conversation you have, every petition you sign, every email you write, everything you post on social media, every climate meeting, rally, or protest you attend makes a difference. Every one of these things builds the momentum for decisive climate action by governmental officials and opinion leaders.

There is no doubt that momentum is growing. The task we all share, both in the U.S. and around the world, is to accelerate its growth.

In some ways the situation is very simple. Humanity needs to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. Many things will make a difference–our levels of consumption, what we eat, the transportation we use, how we heat and cool our homes and businesses, how we grow our food and protect our forests, and more. The biggest single thing we must do is eliminate the use of fossil fuels, starting immediately.

Every Step Makes a Difference
Every step we take in that direction will slow global warming, save lives, reduce suffering, and give more children a chance to have better lives.

If you are already deeply involved in climate action, thank you! If not, please tell someone this week that you care about what’s happening with the climate. You don’t need to be an expert. Tell someone you care and then listen to their thoughts and feelings. (You might want to read some of my past posts on talking about climate.) Share any of my blog posts with someone and invite their reactions. Write to your municipal, state, and federal representatives and simply tell them you want them to make climate a top priority in their work.

We are approaching a big election in the U.S. Decide which candidate(s) you think will take the most positive climate action and get involved in some way to help that candidate win the election.

Sharing One of the Actions I Joined Recently
You may have noticed that I’m particularly passionate about the responsibility of the Global North, which has done so much to create the climate crisis, to provide funds to nations in the Global South so they can respond to the crisis – transition to clean energy, adapt to climate change, repair loss and damage, and keep their fossil fuels in the ground. One of the keys to this effort is cancelling the debt of Global South nations.

So two weeks ago I took the train to D.C. and joined Debt for Climate in a demonstration outside the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. We blocked traffic, held banners, and chanted “Cancel the Debt” and “People Over Profit.”

Every delegate from around the world saw and heard us as they walked into their meetings. We even got some feedback that we were acknowledged in at least one of their internal meetings. There were demonstrations in many other nations that same week protesting World Bank and IMF practices. As I participated in this demonstration, I experienced with a palpable sense of solidarity with my fellow demonstrators and with debt cancellation demonstrators in other nations.

Russ Vernon-Jones was principal of Fort River School 1990-2008 and is currently a member of the Steering Committee of Climate Action Now-Western Massachusetts. He blogs regularly on climate justice at www.russvernonjones.org.