When Alertness Isn’t Enough
Our inability to properly understand and measure the risk posed by the phenomenon of global warming limits necessary action
Immigration, the radicalization of politics in the West, the wars between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Hamas, and the recovery of economies in the post-COVID period are topics that occupy priority spaces in the digital media and social networks and, therefore, of our attention.
A less understood phenomenon, but equally important
Global warming is an issue of high priority and urgency that needs our understanding. While we are alarmed by the possibility that our planet will eventually experience a sea level that threatens cities and coastal regions on all continents, we find it hard to imagine that this has a high probability of occurring in our lifetimes.
In the meantime, year after year, we witness an increase in natural phenomena, such as rains, floods, storms, tornados, and fires, with damages to nature, agriculture, and infrastructure in cities and towns. The rise in temperature in the Mediterranean Sea is also blamed for unusual weather changes in Western Europe.
How we came to think and act this way
We can perceive the effects of uncontrolled immigration in our communities with the rejection that this phenomenon generates in the population, in the same way, that we are concerned about the wars between Russia and Ukraine and those in the Middle East due to the risk of escalation of those conflicts at a regional or even global level. Inflation touches a large majority of us in our inability to purchase necessities, and the experience of COVID during the years 2020 and 2021 still causes us pain and grief for the loss of family and friends. However, the threat of global warming is more difficult to imagine because its effects are not palpable for the population. We are talking about changes that will evolve over long periods, with consequences that can be questioned due to their hypothetical nature, even when they have a solid and increasingly accepted scientific criterion.
It is necessary to take a firm step from being alert to acting in the face of global warming.
The agreements reached at the international level under the auspices of the United Nations allow us to act as responsible citizens in support of the actions required to slow down the phenomenon of Global Warming.
Among these, it is worth highlighting the Paris Agreement of December 12, 2015, which reached for the first time the commitment to keep the global temperature increase to a maximum of 1.5 degrees C over the next decade compared to the average in the pre-industrial era. The most recent conference, COP 28, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, ended on December 13, 2023, with an agreement:
“That marks the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era by laying the foundation for a rapid, just, and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emissions cuts and increased finance.”
You can find detailed information on the accords reached during the UN conferences in the following link:
Our purpose vis a vis the environment and the fight against global warming must be clear and precise: take all the necessary preventive actions to limit the increase in global temperature for the benefit of our children and grandchildren.
The politicians who represent us must know what is expected of them, regardless of the party and community they represent. This is an issue in which we must show exemplary civic conduct.
