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Great
wisdom – and a reminder of our tremendous, sacred responsibility – is
reflected in the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy, which declares: “In
our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on
the next seven generations.”
Sustainability – economically, environmentally, and as it relates
to the public health and quality of life – is achieved only when
those who propose, advocate for, make, and implement public policy keep
in focus the best interests of residents and visitors – now and far
into the future.
“This is how we evolved.
There was great Darwinian pressure to pay attention to the tiger roaring
in front of you. It’s no wonder that
we find it hard to concentrate on something like global warming that plays
out over decades, not news cycles." - Bill McKibben
The EPA, and the national
science academies of every country that have opined on the matter,
have taken a stand on the certainties associated with global warming:
The earth’s
climate is warming and humans are the cause due to our burning
of fossil
fuels.
Greenhouse gas emissions are
also responsible for the alarming phenomenon of ocean acidification.
Carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere and in water are
in equilibrium with one another. Therefore, as atmospheric levels increase,
so do the levels of CO2 dissolved in the ocean waters, especially in
shallow waters where most ocean life flourishes. Dissolved CO2 reacts
with seawater
to form carbonic acid, which increases the water’s acidity.
According to a 2005 report of
the Royal Society of London, in the past 200 years the oceans have
absorbed approximately half of the CO2 produced
by fossil fuel burning and cement production. Calculations based on
measurements of the surface oceans and our knowledge of ocean chemistry
indicate that
this uptake of CO2 has led to a reduction of the pH of surface seawater
of 0.1 units, equivalent to a 30% increase in acidity. This constitutes
an enormous threat to much of the life in our planet's oceans.
One specific Pacific Island is disappearing under rising ocean waters.
The prime minister of New Zealand had to give haven to islanders from Tuvalu
as floods have made the island uninhabitable.
Global warming results in killer heat waves. In 2003, the August European
heat wave broke all records for heat-related deaths.
There were 35,000 deaths, with the death toll in France alone nearly 15,000.
A group of British scientists has concluded that the risk of major heat
waves has doubled due to climate change. In the US, heat-related deaths
exceed those from all other weather-related deaths combined.
Coastal regions, with about half
the world’s population, are at
enormous risk of massive flooding, as glaciers and ice shelves are melting
at rapidly accelerating rates.
For instance, the Arctic Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, 150 feet thick in 1980,
thinned to less than half that depth by 2003.
The Kyoto Protocol is not enough
to protect us from devastating climate change. High Road for Human
Rights will work toward the global community
can joining together as it did through the Montreal Protocol, which
put in place the policies and practices that significantly limited
the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the atmosphere and
ultimately
solved
the problem of ozone depletion.
We must unite and act quickly
to achieve these same results as it pertains to climate change. Ultimately,
the responsibility for mitigating the disastrous impacts of climate
change on human rights rests on each
of us.
Let us do
all we can
to assure
that
the failure to protect the atmosphere, as well as protecting the
human rights effected by global climate change, is never again condoned
because of a perception of public apathy in the
United States – and to do all we can, consistent with our moral
values, to express our concern, compassion, and insistence on constructive
action
in the clearest, most powerful possible terms. Together, through
High Road for Human Rights, we can change the wind. We can increase
awareness
about
preventable suffering and work together, through focused organizing,
to effectively push for change that will bring about a safer, kinder,
more
just world.
CLICK
HERE to learn more about what you can do, by joining together with
other High Road members, to
make a difference…
