Climate Compassion

Preparing for climate disaster in your area

Three weeks after Hurricane Helene visited us in western North Carolina with its shocking devastation and global “wakeup call”, I am sharing with you below some of the ways you can prepare for climate disasters where you live, excerpted from my book A Compassionate Civilization: The Urgency of Sustainable Development and Mindful Activism.

Climate Chaos and Degradation of Ecosystems

The natural systems of Earth that have supported human civilization for the past twelve thousand years are changing drastically, and human societies must change quickly, as well as adapt to an already-different Earth over the long term. The effects of global climate change and degradation of ecosystems are upon us.

We had thought that fossil fuels were a brilliant solution for our energy needs. It turns out that they have been destroying our life support systems of air, water, ice, soil, plants, and animals by releasing carbon dioxide from the extraction and burning of coal, oil, and gas, creating “death energy”—energy derived from dead life forms that is killing living beings now. Carbon dioxide, methane gas, and other greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere are rapidly warming the planet. The Greenland ice cap is melting. Antarctica, which boasts 90 percent of Earth’s ice, is melting. Mountain glaciers in the Andes and Himalayas and the Siberian permafrost are melting. We are at four hundred parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, already above 350 ppm, which has been calculated as the highest concentration possible without dangerously heating up Earth.

If the rise of carbon dioxide and the warmth of Earth’s atmosphere go unabated, the oceans will rise up to six feet, flood coastal cities, and submerge many island nations and other inhabited landmasses. We already see acidification of the oceans, extensive deforestation, massive desertification, droughts, wildfires, and food collapse. Megastorms will become the norm.

There is already a massive dieback of species, the sixth mass extinction (the first five: Ordovician-Silurian, Late Devonian, Permian, Triassic-Jurassic, and Cretaceous-Tertiary). There will be social, political, and economic volatility with mass migrations and resource wars. Drinking water will become scarce, and wars will be fought over this life-essential resource. The next several years will tell the story of our future—misery or happiness. I remind you of this not to frighten you but to sound the alarm that we must and can change our ways right now.

Who Will Take Us to Safe Harbor?

The autumn air is crisp and cool, and the blue sky is filled with clear light. Red, yellow, and gold mingle and gleam amid shades of brown. More of the river reappears each day. Last night before the frost, I carried the balcony plants into the living room, where they will live for a while. Winter is coming. Leaves fall to the ground, and trees and landscapes are laid bare. Here in the Hudson Valley, we humans are preparing for snow and ice.

And so it goes year after year, season after season. We know that everything is born, lives, grows old, and dies. And out of the old and bygone, new life bubbles up and erupts with buds and babies. This is the way of life on Earth and, in fact, throughout this vast universe. And yet these days, a new awareness is among us.

With fossil fuel–induced global warming, Earth has changed, and life on Earth is in grave danger. This is not happening because Earth is angry or because we humans are bad. It is happening because what had been a brilliant solution to energy production is having unintended consequences, and the laws of physics and ecosystems are at work. We must once again adjust to a new terrain as we have over the eons. It is too late to stop climate chaos, but we must slow it down and adapt to a new Earth.

This will put massive stresses on our political, economic, and social systems. With the human population already over seven billion and heading toward ten billion, the demands for water, food, shelter, air, jobs, schools, and health care will be huge and will create chaotic scenarios.

Again, this is not happening because we have been bad but because we succeeded in extending human life and creating productive societies around the world. What was, however, can no longer be. A whole systems transformation is underway. As the current unsustainable and unjust civilization crumbles under these pressures, a new civilization will emerge. Will it be a more or a less human and sustainable one? It is up to us, to you and me.

Our every decision and action becomes crucial. How we live, work, shop, vote, speak, lobby, petition, write, and act all become paramount. Are we going to angle toward utopia or settle for dystopia? Will we use this time of crisis and transformation to reinvent human society and create a world that works for everyone, or will we withdraw into our small groups and ourselves? Will the rich try to create their own secure world with the masses of humanity suffering and dying all around them?

It is time for the boldest of visions and the bravest of actions. It is time for someone—anyone, everyone—to right the ship of life and to head for safe harbor for all.

Preparing for Impacts of Climate Chaos

We have work to do to stop pumping carbon into the atmosphere, and we also have to adapt to a climate that has already been altered. How should you and I plan for the next twenty years, knowing what we do about climate chaos and the consequent environmental, social, economic, and political upheavals?

1. Prepare for reduced food production and increased prices.

2. Prepare for flooding near bodies of water.

3. Prepare for megastorms.

4. Prepare for water shortages, power outages, and internet and cellular interruptions.

5. Prepare for droughts and fires.

6. Prepare to help your neighbors and/or to relocate if necessary.

7. Prepare for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

8. Prepare for political battles.

9. Prepare for mass migrations.

10. Prepare for economic volatility.

What are implications for one’s life choices?

1.      Don’t live near bodies of water that can rise.

2.      Have a small boat.

3.      Have access to land to grow or buy fresh food.

4.      Have a well or others sources of fresh water.

5.      Have solar panels on the roof of your home and a home generator.

6.      Invest funds in renewable energy, water supply, and food production.

7.      Live in an area that is not too hot or too cold.

8.      Live in an area with fewer megastorms.

9.      Live near family and friends.

10.  Live near services and public transportation.

11.  Be politically and socially active.

12.  Have a spiritual practice.

13.  Be engaged in helping others.

14.  Be flexible, be grateful, and be happy.

What would you add or change?

We can do this.