“We were just living our lives,” we’ll say. “We didn’t mean for it to get so bad.”
But we knew what was going to happen if we continued on our current course.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report has provided us with an unmistakable preview of the world that we will be leaving for our children and grandchildren.
If we ignore these signs, continuing as we are and putting off needed changes, we will deliver trillions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. That will raise Earth’s temperature by least 5°F and possibly as much as 10.6° above preindustrial levels by 2100.
At such elevated temperatures, approximately 90 percent of all marine life and 18 percent of land species could go extinct. Chinook salmon, green sea turtles, Adélie penguins, North Atlantic right whales, Asian elephants, even bumblebees could disappear forever. There would be few, if any coral reefs left to explore. And to make matters worse, the year 2100 could be the tipping point towards the worst mass extinction since “the Great Dying” 252 million years ago. Our children and our children’s children could be faced with the irreversible loss of the joyous bounty that nature gives us. They will have to say goodbye to the animals we love.
“Did you ever swim over a coral reef?” they might ask us. “Was it beautiful?”
“Yes,” we’ll tell them.
“Then how could you let it all die?”
That’s not an unreasonable question. Just keeping the increase less than 2°C would have reduced the risk of extinction by approximately 98 percent.
In addition to the tragic loss of species and their natural beauty, climate related catastrophes will be devastating. What we now call “once-in-100-years” extreme weather events” will torment us many times more frequently. Some will occur every year. Damage to property, infrastructure and food supply will be staggering, reducing our grandchildren’s income to barely half of what ours has been. The increased temperature, droughts, floods, superstorms, poverty and mass migrations will have left our grandchildren with a world far less prosperous than what we have known. We can barely imagine the social and political chaos such environmental catastrophes will bring.
“So this is our legacy?” they’ll ask. “You left us this mess?! You saw the storms coming, the desperate crowds at the border, the world’s instability. That was just the beginning. That was a cakewalk compared to what we’re suffering now!”
It’s easy to understand their distress and dismay. Not only will they be denied the ease and comfort we enjoy now, but they will be burdened with the expense of extracting the CO2 that we pumped into their sky — that or suffer progressively worsening climatic, social, and political catastrophes. For the year 2050, the cost is projected to be as much as $540 to remove each ton. As we are currently emitting 14 tons of CO2 per person each year, that will be a very unhappy inheritance.
“Did you even try to stop it?” they might ask. “Caring for the future was your responsibility. Did you drive an electric car, or at least a hybrid? Or maybe you drove one of those oversized, CO2-polluting gas guzzlers.”
The typical gasoline-powered car produces 4.6 tons of CO2 annually with average driving. At $500/ton, that’s over $2,000 per driver per year, and much more for larger, heavier vehicles, and for those who drive more. Our grandchildren will expect us to have embraced efficiency. For all of our energy choices, we have to be mindful of the consequences that they will suffer.
“There were so many things you could have done — your cars, your food, travel, the size and energy efficiency of your house and business. Did you try to lead by example, or did you just go-along-to-get-along?”
They will be right, of course. So many things we could have done. We know that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere will continue increasing and global temperatures will continue to rise. How much it increases depends on us. A sincere and concerted effort on our part, especially if we could hold the line at 1.5 degrees, will avert a multitude of climate-related disasters and save countless lives. If we do nothing, the consequences will be catastrophic.
Come what may, how will you answer when your grandchildren ask what you did to try to prevent it? Will you be able to say that you did think of their well-being when you made choices about how you were going to live, and that you valued their future more than your own style and convenience?
When you made purchases, was it conspicuous consumption to show how rich and cool you were, or did you try to show how cool and caring you are about the lives of your children and children’s children? Did you learn as much as you could about climate change, advocate for strong policies to combat it, and did you initiate friendly conversations by asking people how they felt about climate change? Did you try to lead by example?
Your answer will determine how they respond to you. Will they turn away, accusing you of being complicit in the conspiracy of silence about the slow-motion train-wreck that we are leaving for them? I hope, instead, they will they will praise your efforts, embrace you and say, “Thank you.”