Stopping Our March Towards An Unlivable World
By Mark J. Palmer
Climate change is happening now. Climate experts were right who predicted dangerous weather conditions, including unprecedented heat waves, out-of-control wildfires, stronger storms, drought, and floods around the globe. Further dangers, such as sea level rise that will swamp major cities of the world, are expected in the not-too-distant future. Fresh water is becoming scarce in many areas, and in some areas, going outdoors can prove lethal for people due to extreme heat.
We have seen the impacts of global warming already on many species of whales and dolphins. Gray whales have experienced large die-offs along the US, Canadian, and Mexican coasts, attributed to a decline in their food sources in the Arctic due to warming. Large whales in Southern California are thought to be moving closer to shore due to climate change, making them more vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear and ship strikes.
More severe impacts are feared as the saltiness of seawater is transformed by acidic carbon dioxide being sequestered in the ocean, which can result in devastating losses of krill, a major source of food for whales and other species, unable to incorporate calcium into their shells.
In the petrostate of Abu Dhabi, ironically, the leaders of the world, along with lobbyists from many countries intent on supporting the oil and gas industry, are meeting under the auspices of the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference #28 (COP28), which environmentalists fear will once again cop out of any serious climate change actions, as did the previous 27 COP conferences. A recent report counted 2,456 lobbyists from the oil industry attending COP28 –larger than the representatives (1,509) from the ten nations most vulnerable to climate change.
Many excellent environmental groups sent delegations to COP28 to counter the pressure for continued exploitation and burning of fossil fuels, which causes global warming by blocking radiation of heat from the planet out into space. (Similar to a car left in the sun – the sun’s rays penetrate the windows of a car and are turned into heat energy, which cannot dissipate through the glass to cool the interior.)
The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute did not send a delegation, having a small staff dedicated to protecting whales and dolphins, but we hope our presence will be recognized along with the many other contributions of non-governmental organizations.
In 2010, the Deep Water Horizon oil platform exploded, killing several oil workers and polluting the Gulf of Mexico with an estimated 134 million gallons of oil for days on end. Offshore oil drilling is a huge threat to marine mammals and our oceans, and burning oil, coal and gas is making our world hotter and hotter.
IMMP joined 310 other organizations in signing an open letter to the delegates of COP28, with the headline: The World Needs A Transformational Outcome, Not More Voluntary Pledges.
The Open Letter states: “The COP28 Presidency has an opportunity to secure a transformational negotiated outcome, if it secures a robust negotiated energy package, including an unambiguous agreement to end all new oil and gas expansion, a clear call to equitably and rapidly phase out all fossil fuels, and a commitment to triple deployment of nature-positive and community-beneficial renewable energy and double energy efficiency.
“COP28 must adopt a comprehensive energy transformation package with legal force – including a full, fast, fair, and funded fossil fuel phaseout, renewable energy and energy efficiency targets, real protections for people and nature, and massively scaled up public funding on fair terms.
“Despite this, fossil fuel companies and their enablers – including some governments – appear to be trying to ignore the scientific reality, pretending cutting their operational emissions is enough to meet climate targets, while approving new projects that expand overall oil and gas production and worsen the climate crisis."
IMMP and all our colleagues hope for the best at COP28, but it is clear that the fossil fuel industry is expanding production and drilling, not reducing activities, at the expense of our global climate and human security.
This is a prescription for disaster! It is past time to pay the piper for our profligate damage to the Earth’s basic living systems, including our oceans.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Are you worried about climate change and global warming? Don’t despair. You can alter your energy impacts by reducing use of energy, buying appliances with energy conservation modes, using more efficient light bulbs, unplugging appliances not in use (even when off, energy leaks out of most appliances), reducing use of plastics, and driving and flying less, using public transportation. You can also take action by contacting your representatives and senators in Congress to back efforts to end the burning of fossil fuels and substituting green sources of energy, like wind and solar. Work for peace, as the U.S. Department of Defense is one of the largest energy consumers and polluters on the planet. Spend more time in nature. Join a group of like-minded individuals who care about the planet. We need both massive changes globally and individual changes locally – you are part of the solution!
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The International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute has been in the forefront of protecting whales and dolphins for more than forty years. Your support for whales and dolphins is the reason we can make progress on the many threats posed by commercial whaling, entanglement in plastics and fishing gear, ingestion of plastics, toxic pollution and global warming. Please donate to protect whales and dolphins today. Thank you!
