Storm surges. Heat waves. Coastal erosion, landslides, fire and drought. An increase in sea levels and disease. Shortages of food and water.
The news from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change isn’t great. It is too late to stop these and other dire consequences of global warming, the panel says in its latest assessment report, and we need to focus on how we will adapt to what’s coming as much as we focus on mitigating the impact.
The report was unveiled April 6 in Belgium, and additional details were released Tuesday in a series of briefings around the world.
While many other reports have focused on slowing down or even stopping global warming, this report, the second of four to be released by the IPCC this year, focuses on adaptation. Yes, the global community needs to work together to protect and preserve our world, but we also must work together to find ways to live in it as it changes. Governments and communities and individuals need to prepare for disasters. Health-care workers need to be ready for disease outbreaks and mass-casualty situations. Policymakers need to plan for the worst. And the rest of us? We need to stay informed, do what we can to make a difference, and hope for the best _ even when the prognosis is grim.
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As long as people are imagining better ways of doing things, there is hope.
And sometimes, nothing motivates people to apply their ingenuity more than the promise of money and fame. Remember the Ansari X Prize? In October 2004, the X Prize Foundation awarded $10 million to the first team to build a privately owned craft that could fly in space.
Now, the nonprofit educational organization is holding another multi-million-dollar competition: the Automotive X Prize, for a clean, super-efficient car with a fuel economy equivalent to at least 100 miles per gallon. It can’t be a concept car; it has to be a real vehicle that manufacturers want to make and people want to buy. In draft guidelines released last week, the foundation says the goal of the contest is "to inspire a new generation of super-efficient vehicles that help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change."
There will be two categories: Mainstream, for cars with four or more passengers and wheels, and Alternative, for cars with at least two passengers and any number of wheels. Fuel sources will include gas, diesel, biodiesel, electricity, natural gas and E85. In addition to meeting fuel economy and emissions standards, cars will be judged on manufacturability, marketability, safety, durability and performance. The competition will culminate in 2009 with two long-distance stage races that reflect real-world driving, including city driving, commuting, hills and varied weather conditions.
Will a car that gets 100 miles per gallon solve the problem of global warming? Of course not. But it could help, and if it also reduces our dependence on oil, all the better.[an error occurred while processing this directive]
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As long as people care enough to make their voices heard, there is hope.
Today, people all over the country will join in a National Day of Climate Action, billed by organizers as "the largest day of citizen action focusing on global warming in our nation’s history." More than 1,000 Step It Up campaign events are planned across the country, including several in the area. The purpose of the campaign is to ask Congress to enact immediate cuts in carbon emissions and pledge an 80 percent reduction by 2050.
In Oneonta, events are planned on and around Main Street throughout Saturday, including a bicycle parade, educational fair, rally and conference, plus a movie and discussion at the Teen Center on Academy Street in the evening. In Cherry Valley, there will be a hike to the overlook on Mount Independence.
In Andes, there will be a conference titled "Rural Life in the Catskills: A Forum on Food, Water and Wood for the Future." And in Cobleskill, there will be a vigil at the corner of Union and Main streets.
It’s hard to be pessimistic when people _ not organizers or activists or politicians, but regular people who you might see at work or the grocery store or your child’s school _ are getting involved at the grass-roots level.
When people truly believe they can make a difference with their voices and their votes and their small, everyday actions, there is reason to dream that the world could not only come through this crisis, but become a better place.
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Lisa Miller is a freelance writer who lives in Oneonta. She can be reached at lisamiller44@hotmail.com.
Lisa Miller
Ingenuity, activism best hopes for climate
- Lisa Miller
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A view from above
Fire towers in the Catskill Mountains have always been destination points, built to capture some of the region’s best views. These sentinel stations served an important role for the earliest possible sightings of forest fires in the remote mountain ranges. But the fire towers and those who manned them fulfilled a multitude of other roles as well.
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Being a parent is a constant learning process
I am sitting cross-legged on the floor in the dressing room, waiting for Allie's dance number to be called. The cave girl costume has been donned, the jazz shoes double-tied, the hair pulled back, the requisite dab of lipstick applied.
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Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
Half of Americans will be obese by 2030 if current trends continue, according to a report released last week in the British medical journal The Lancet.
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A family era ends with close of Potter series
As Harry Potter fans the world over flock to theaters for the final screenings of the final film in the eight-part series, I'm marking the end of an era myself, reading the last pages of the last book to my last child.
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Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
For many small communities, the Borders store at the nearest mall was the only place to browse and buy a variety of books, beyond the few titles offered in Walmart bestseller and bargain racks.
- Saturday, July 2, 2011
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Untethered from the cable box
I never imagined it would be so easy to be cable-free.
- Saturday, June 11, 2011
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On cells, sprouts and sodas
It figures. Six weeks after we dropped our landline, the World Health Organization issued a warning that radiation from cell phones might cause brain cancer. Meanwhile, the ultimate health food, organic bean sprouts, is being blamed for one of the deadliest E. coli outbreaks in recent history.
- Saturday, May 21, 2011
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End of the world as we know it? I feel fine
If you're reading this article after 6 p.m. and the ground is not shaking beneath your feet, then Harold Camping was wrong. Again.
- Sunday, May 1, 2011
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Song lyrics are an odd measure of attitudes
It was the third rainy weekend in a row, and I was scrolling through comments to a post by MSNBC blogger Melissa Dahl about a new study linking song lyrics to cultural changes.
- Saturday, April 9, 2011
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Parenting adventure takes a turn
On Friday, my 13-year-old daughter, Abby, will embark on the biggest adventure of her life.
- Saturday, March 19, 2011
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Japan devastation: Powerful reminder of our limitations
The images were surreal. People screaming from higher ground as they watched the relentless wave of brown water sweep up houses and topple power lines. Cars and boats floating like bath toys. Aerial photos of flattened villages, with crumpled roofs jutting out of the debris-laden landscape and orange-suited rescue workers like ants on a mountain of twigs.
- Saturday, February 26, 2011
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As food prices rise, sustainability makes more business sense
Frustration with high food prices is among the underlying causes of the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, and a global food crisis may be brewing.
- Tuesday, February 8, 2011
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National agenda needed to advance green technology
In his State of the Union address, President Obama issued a call to action for Americans to "out-innovate" the rest of the world and build on our history of doing "big things." Green technology is the next big thing, and it's our best hope to reinvent ourselves as competitors in the global economy. But we won't get there without a comprehensive national agenda supported by all parties -- political, yes, but also businesses, consumers, educators and students.
- Saturday, January 15, 2011
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Shootings remind us of need to teach children to hope
They should have been chattering about spelling tests and Hannah Montana songs. But instead, the two second-graders in my backseat were talking about the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. They had heard about it at school and were commiserating over the "sad" and "creepy" news as we drove home for a play date.
- Friday, December 3, 2010
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Marketing tactics could get kids to eat healthy foods
In a new twist on the "Super Size Me" fast-food diet experiment, the executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission ate nothing but spuds for 60 days.
- Saturday, November 13, 2010
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'Oneonta 360' captures essence of our area
The fact that Oneonta's new branding campaign has generated so much controversy shows how passionately people feel about this place. One thing everyone might agree on is that the essence of Oneonta cannot be easily conveyed in a few words or a logo. However, photographer Stephen Joseph makes a fascinating attempt to capture it in his new book, "Oneonta 360." If you haven't seen it yet, stop by Huntington Library, where one two-page spread is on display each day.
- Saturday, October 23, 2010
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Stem cell research must move forward
Robert Edwards of Britain received the Nobel Prize in medicine earlier this month for research that led to the birth of the first "test-tube baby" in 1978. Hugely controversial 32 years ago, Edwards' work is now lauded as a medical breakthrough that has brought immeasurable joy to the families of the 4 million babies born through in vitro fertilization.
- Saturday, October 2, 2010
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Supersized salmon? No thanks
Davenport Garden Center owner Dennis Valente drizzled maple syrup over sweet potatoes in the cafeteria kitchen while a group of sixth-graders topped pizza crusts with pesto they'd made using basil from their school garden.
- Saturday, September 11, 2010
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Chobani yogurt: Nothing but good for the area
I'm in love with Chobani. True to its marketing slogan, this locally made, Greek-style yogurt is, indeed, "nothing but good." First of all, it's delicious: thick, creamy, fruity and sweet (but not too sweet).
- Saturday, August 21, 2010
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Summer is a perfect time to unplug
Last month, I wrote about the rewards of disconnecting from information technology during a weeklong family camping trip. Since then, I've picked blueberries, skipped rocks, curled up with my 6-year-old and a pile of books, walked in the woods, and spent a gorgeous day at the lake picnicking with friends and watching the kids swim.
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