Are You Aware? Taking Our Temperature

This is part I in our “Concerning Climate” Awareness Wednesday series. Read the other posts in the series here.

The night of Tuesday, November 8, 2016, I couldn’t sleep. I tried distracting myself to calm my nerves but to no avail. The few moments I did sleep were fitful and short lived. Anxiety for the future had replaced disbelief and was my companion all night. My number one concern was climate change, and I knew the president-elect didn’t share my concerns and, in fact, held policy positions in opposition to my concerns.

You may not have experienced this same apprehension or felt it to the same extent. If that’s the case, that’s OK. You may have different priorities than I do. Public polling shows Americans are all over the map on this issue.

In 2020, the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication identified six American attitudes toward climate issues.

Alarmed: The 31% of Americans who are convinced that climate change is occurring and is human caused. They strongly support actions to alleviate the problems associated with climate change.
Concerned: The 26% of Americans who see climate change as a distant threat, affecting other places many years from now. They still support action to reduce the threat.
Cautious: The 16% of Americans who agree that climate change is happening, but they question what is causing the problem. Some of these people may believe the earth is going through a natural warming cycle.
Disengaged: The 7% of Americans who haven’t given climate change much thought.
Doubtful: The 10% of Americans who question whether climate change is happening. If the climate is changing, they do not believe it is caused by humans.
Dismissive: The 10% of Americans who believe climate change is a conspiracy theory.

As you can probably guess, I identify most strongly with the alarmed group. For me, it is an existential matter for not only the human race but all life on earth as we know it. I believe our Heavenly Parents have given us stewardship to watch over and care for the earth and all its creations, and to care for one another. And while I believe this strongly, that doesn’t mean I’m immune to feeling helpless and even participating in behaviors that don’t align with that belief.

While each person’s response to climate change will be different, here are some possible reasons why Americans don’t act and vote with more urgency in regard to climate issues:

It isn’t personal. Humans tend to react more to threats from other humans, and the climate doesn’t have a face.
We have poor memories. Climate change is happening gradually, and we tend to react more to sudden changes.
Climate issues don’t trigger strong feelings about morality.
We tend to respond more to immediate threats. Many don’t see climate change as impacting them personally.
We tend to feel more comfortable with the status quo. We feel uncomfortable with the idea that we might be participating in the problem and therefore need to make changes.
We are getting used to the reality of more frequent severe weather events.

But whether we acknowledge it or not, climate change has already started to affect most of us, if not all of us. And while the number of Americans who are included in the “alarmed” category is rising steadily, many of us still don’t understand what this could mean for our futures. Here are some ways climate change will probably affect you — if it isn’t already:

Damage to homes
More expensive insurance
Outdoor work more unbearable
Higher utility bills and increased blackouts
Higher taxes
More allergies and other health problems
More expensive food and less variety
Lower water quality
Outdoor recreation more difficult
Travel disruptions

I can personally identify several of these that I have experienced in recent years. How about you? About 57% of Americans say climate change is affecting their community on some level already.

With all the ways climate change may affect us on a personal level, it is going to affect those who already have the least in the most dramatic ways. If personal considerations aren’t what motivate you the most, consider the ways climate change is already affecting communities around the world.

Living in poverty means people have fewer resources to start, but they also have fewer — if any — options to resolve the problems associated with the changing climate that arise in their lives. Shelter, food sources, and livelihoods in many communities are already under stress.
More frequent hurricanes, wildfires, and droughts are already devastating some of the poorest communities in this country and around the world. Rising sea levels are literally threatening the existence of some island states.
Three out of four people living in poverty worldwide rely on natural resources, including agriculture, to survive. Unpredictable weather patterns, shifting seasons, natural disasters, and extreme temperatures are threatening the most vulnerable populations and endangering their livelihoods.
Hunger and poverty decrease stability in communities and nations, increasing the risk of conflict, war, disease, and displacement of people. All these things are contributing to our ever-increasing worldwide refugee crisis.

I understand how tempting it is to think God will take care of all of this. But, in all my life, I have rarely, if ever, experienced the divine hand without taking action myself or without having other humans involved in this work of salvation. In fact, it is part of our doctrine that faith means nothing without action (James 2:17-18):

17. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

So what can we do as individuals — and collectively — when the task seems so daunting? As I was writing this, I thought of Elder Michael Dunn’s conference talk from this last weekend. He relayed the inspirational story of the British cycling team, recalling how a set of small, seemingly insignificant changes made all the difference between defeat and success. Can you identify areas in your life that you can improve, even one percent, to work toward living in a sustainable way?

This month we will be exploring the ways climate change is affecting the world around us — particularly the most vulnerable. Maybe the conversation will help you identify ways you can adjust or advocate for a more sustainable way of life, now, for the benefit of our children and those with less access to all of life’s essentials.