We believe in science | climate change

Of course, it is too early to declare victory.

Defeating COVID-19 is still out of reach, sadly, out of reach. Although some countries have made important progress in fighting this stubborn mutant virus, other parts of the world are still ravaged by a secret infectious disease that has infected and killed millions of people and will infect and Kill countless others until this sinister threat hopefully disappears.

Nevertheless, it is undeniable that there has been undeniable progress in preventing the sustained damage to humans caused by a deadly pathogen that paralyzed most of the world in more than a year and forced many of us. Consider the unpredictability of nature and our fragile mortality rate.

Leading the way to the salvation of mankind is the “white army” of scientists and doctors that I mentioned earlier, who helped to control the earth and our gentle hearts during these painful and turbulent times.

The white-clothed army is free from the interference of scammers, quacks and dangerous political hackers. They have carried out the necessary, thoughtful, and empirical work to design vaccines so that we can be vaccinated and protect us from a kind of indiscriminate killing. The fatal consequences of the virus, this virus has caused such long-lasting suffering, suffering and loss.

In addition to weirdos, quacks and dangerous political hackers, a greatly relieved and grateful world responded to this simple but powerful acknowledgment: We believe in science.

Understandably, the prospect of sudden or long lonely death captures our collective consciousness. Most of us have listened to the erudite advice of the white coat army, if possible, change our way of life and work, not only to protect ourselves, but also to protect our loved family and strangers we will never know people.

If someone suspects that not following their instructions is usually fatal stupidity, then almost all of the deaths of patients who have recently fought COVID-19 in the United States are caused by delayed or refusal to vaccinate, which is bitter and straightforward. statement. Refute the weirdos, quacks and hackers who spread crazy superstition and incredible ignorance, they cannot explain or understand.

If the world can celebrate victory, to a large extent, it will be because sentient citizens admit that if stupidity, greed and selfishness prevail over knowledge, sacrifice, and the pursuit of common interests, we will face unmanageable bad luck.

When some of us temporarily emerged from the boredom and uncertainty brought about by the blockade, we knew that sacrifice, knowledge, and the pursuit of common interests were needed to deal with the existential threat posed by a new stubborn virus.

We proved that it can be done when needed.

Now, we need to use the same faith and determination to finally and resolutely deal with the existential threat posed by the ancient and accelerating threat of climate change.

Otherwise, the arduous and costly struggle to defeat COVID-19 will ultimately be a short-lived and disastrous success, and the near future impact of our failure to take action will lead to the distressing effects we have suffered in the past 16 years. Uneasy disorientation, absence and loss compared to picayune.

Regardless of what weirdos, quacks, and dangerous political hackers say, accepted science tells us that if we do not fundamentally and comprehensively change the way we live, work, and behave, this will happen very quickly: the earth may become uninhabitable.

Last week, a severe alarm sounded again. Agence France-Presse report The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is preparing a draft of a long-form research report, which is scheduled to be published in early 2022.

Unsurprisingly, the terrible predictions in the draft report failed to pierce television and newspaper editors’ near-full attention to other more frivolous news.

In any case, the core findings of the 4,000-page draft report clearly show that a long time has passed since we were “worried” about the devastating and irreversible effects of climate change. If we continue to delay, hesitate, and deny, the time has come to adopt a more appropriate attitude to the unfolding and impending destruction on Earth: panic.

If you tend to think that this warning is an irresponsible exaggeration, then please consider how, according to the IPCC draft report, how the effects of climate change will be permanently recorded in decades on planets that rely on terrestrial life support today.

The important ecosystem hanging on the cliff will collapse. The sharp rise in temperature will make large areas of the earth uninhabitable. Chronic hunger, disease and poverty will become the norm for hundreds of millions of people. The scores of coastal cities will be included in sea level rise. Droughts and uncontrollable fires will spread. The extinction of species will accelerate.

The draft report said: “The worst has yet to come, and the impact on the lives of our children and grandchildren far exceeds our own.”

The earth will adapt. However, due to our common negligence, gluttony, and procrastination, we will become the architects of our own demise.

The draft report added: “Life on Earth can recover from drastic climate change by evolving into new species and creating new ecosystems.” “Humans cannot.”

Although an author of the report warned that the draft seen by AFP will be revised and some parts may be added, the overall conclusion is too familiar and ominous.

In fact, in a prescient speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2019, the indomitable youth climate activist Greta Thunberg issued an urgent warning and a frank call for action using frank and unadorned language.

“Our house is on fire,” Thunberg said. “I don’t want you to have hope. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. Then, I want you to act. I want you to act like you do in a crisis. I want you to behave. It’s as if the house is on fire, because it is on fire.”

Although Thunberg’s remarks predate the emergence of a pandemic, she intuitively understands that it is imperative to address the dangers posed by climate change, just as a wise world responds to the dangers posed by viruses, with the same urgency. Sex and loyalty to science to deal with the dangers of climate change.

And Thunberg’s prescription for avoiding disasters reflects the prescription for avoiding disasters in the draft report: only transformational changes can save us from the burning house.

“We need to make transformational changes in processes and behaviors at all levels: individuals, communities, companies, institutions, and governments,” it said. “We must redefine our way of life and consumption.”

Therefore, we must listen again to the white coat army that led us out of the COVID-19 abyss, and generations told us what we need to do to avoid another looming abyss.

In science, we must trust again.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.