Climate change visceral in recent weather

By Rachel Duckett
Contributor

After a year of extreme weather aggravated by global climate change, temperatures in Michigan hit record breaking cold during the final week of January.

Wind chills, which reached as low as 40 degrees below zero, can be attributed to a “polar vortex,” according to the National Weather Service.

A polar vortex occurs when the temperature gradient between the arctic and southern latitudes is reduced, causing the arctic to get hotter as cold wind swoops down into the midwest, said Smita Malpani, an environmental science teacher at Washtenaw Community College.

Across the U.S, at least 21 people died of weather related incidents during this winter’s polar vortex, according to Time Magazine. At least two of those 21 deaths occurred in Michigan. Two Detroit men were found frozen to death, said the Detroit Police.

Despite contrary belief, much of this extreme weather is a direct result of global warming that shows no signs of stopping as the oceans continue to get warmer, affecting weather patterns through a continuous exchange of heat, moisture and carbon with the atmosphere, said Malpani.

There has been a significant increase in natural disasters since 1960, according to the International Disaster Database.

In 2018, a report released by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that based on current levels of greenhouse gas emissions, temperatures will reach a critical threshold in the next 12 years, causing extreme droughts, disaster, loss of coral reefs and food shortages.

According to Malpani, extreme weather is already greatly affecting society.

“This is the new normal,” Malpani said, in reference to the series of wildfires that ravaged Northern California in 2018 and two of the most destructive, costly hurricanes of the last decade: Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Sandy. The California wildfires killed at least 88 people and decimated almost 18,000 structures, according to Sheriff Kory L. Honea of Butte County.

In 2018 alone, natural disasters cost the U.S. $91 billion, said a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“We need to stop thinking of climate change as only an environmental issue. Climate change is a moral, social justice problem,” said Malpani, in reference to the the billions of people most vulnerable to the changing weather.

“Less money means less resources to pick up and adapt. People in safe places are being priced out of their homes,” she said. “Last year was the third year in a row that we’ve seen an uptake in hunger.”

According to a new report from the World Bank, the effects of climate change may cause as many as 143 million people to be displaced by 2050.

In Michigan, climate change is already affecting ecosystems, according to Rebecca Esselman, a climate change specialist at Huron River Watershed Council. The Huron River Watershed Council has observed more ticks and less stonefly larvae in recent warmer winters, which indicates subtle changes in our ecosystems, and greater abundance of poison ivy, a plant that thrives when there is more CO2 in the air.

“Climate change is going to push the limits of our natural systems and our built systems,” said Esselman. “As an organization, the implications may shift our priorities.”

Last month, Governor Whitmer signed two executive orders and one executive directive designed to protect the Great Lakes, clean Michigan’s drinking water, and join the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition of governors committed lowering greenhouse gas emissions in their states.

“We’ve also got to take action to protect our state from the effects of climate change,” Whitmer said. “The science is in, and it’s time we get to work to mitigate the impact of climate change for the sake of our kids and future generations in Michigan.”

Similarly, WCC released a Climate Action and Sustainability Plan in 2014, in which WCC President Rose Bellanca vows to prioritize energy efficiency and renewable energy in order to “make the college carbon neutral by 2060,” as part of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment.

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