Conserve earth’s resources to cope with climate change

Contrary to what letters in this newspaper reported, the climate crisis remains. It is a crisis. It is peculiar to our time since the Industrial Revolution. Readers of The Gazette should know about it.

Media stories covering the impact of a changing climate continue to appear: Canadian wildfires, heated ocean temperatures off the Florida coast, abnormal melting sea ice, Hurricane Hilary in California, Maui wildfires, the Midwestern drought … you know the list. It is as if The Gazette was live blogging the end times with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse nearby.

Our community is at risk due to the changing climate. Our family conserves water from our public well on the Silurian Aquifer because it is faltering with increased usage. A deep and extended drought means surface waters have not been able to recharge the aquifer to meet demand. The water supply is not endless.

Society should do something to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Here’s the rub. People enjoy current life in society, and we don’t want to change, even when inconvenienced by extreme weather.

Environmental activism seems unlikely to solve the climate crisis. All the talk about climate change distracts us from the fundamental problem: the effect of unmitigated capitalist growth ravaging the resources and systems of the earth and its atmosphere.

Maybe we should forget about the climate crisis to focus on what matters more: conserving Earth’s resources for future generations. I’m on board.

Paul Deaton

Solon