The effects of climate change are becoming more evident every day, with extreme heat, flooding, fires and other potential effects putting society at risk. The social repercussions or costs and public reactions as our politics become deeply polarized, leave a landscape increasingly affected by climate impacts.
The most visible damage will be to health, the increase in diseases will be present and reactions to medications, as well as new diseases that will come into our lives, this will generate more deaths related to extreme climate changes, said Hannah Hess during a conference organized by by Ethnic Media Services.
Hannah Hess is the associate director of the Climate Impact Laboratory, a leading organization in the study of the effects of climate change on the world, and where they convert their research into statistics to help design policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the impact on the environment.
In his speech, Hess explained that making the changes necessary to protect the environment is very expensive, so it requires a large investment, government support, different education in schools, and changes in housing and work methods, actions that generate high costs, which makes it impossible for all countries. However, ways are already being sought to begin to reduce the impact.
As part of the investigations, a platform was launched to make the information that emerges accessible to everyone. Through https://horizons.hdr.undp.org/ You can consult the physical effects of climate change and with this determine which areas will be most affected depending on the emissions generated in each part of the world.
This is a very comprehensive platform, with valuable information for anyone who is interested, and whose purpose is to keep more people informed.
Jon Christensen, an adjunct professor at the Institute for Environment and Sustainability at the Environmental Narrative Strategies Laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), says that we must take climate change as an opportunity to tell stories that can change society, since involving people is essential.
Christensen also stressed that it is important not to just think of climate change as a problem to be solved, since that way we do not analyze how we see ourselves in the world. This, he said, goes much further and involves all areas of life, such as: science, literature, science fiction, geography, sociology, health, economics and many more areas.
«When the problem becomes so strong that we feel it needs to be solved in order to solve anything else, its power as a resource for critical thinking decreases. If we think of it more as a resource for understanding ourselves and the world, we can use it as a way to tell different stories that help us understand different problems and opportunities.», he explained.
Megan Mullin, director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, explained that the issue of climate change is always a topic of discussion among political forces, since it seems that it is not something that affects everyone, but only a certain group.
Over time, actions to reduce the risks from the effects of climate change had to be taken; governments invest in programs for the season of extreme heat, as well as fires, but also for floods and other risks that affect the population.
«While Republicans continue to refuse to accept the severity of climate change and prevent government action, clean energy is being seen in Republican states as well. We know that 28 percent of clean energy capacity is located in four traditionally Republican states, because the states have the necessary conditions to implement the use of clean energy.», he explained.
Governments are expected to come together on the same issue to generate the necessary investments, however, Mullin said there is nothing that truly unites them to work together for the common good.
The director and founder of the Climate Museum, Miranda Massie, invited everyone to visit the museum, which not only hosts exhibitions but also carries out various action and information campaigns throughout the year.
«We use art in a special way to create connections between climate change and personal experiences so that others also understand these emotions and thus people become more active on this issue.", he commented.
Massie said that in the United States, 63 percent of the population is concerned about climate change, but very few take action because they do not know what to do and how to change. This museum seeks to change hopelessness into motivation, leaving the feeling that each person must be part of the problem and the solution.
Experts agree that climate change is not an easy problem to solve because not everyone is doing their part, while for some it remains a false reality and without shared opinions and joint actions the outlook looks quite complicated. However, everyone has the power to contribute or miss the opportunity to take action.
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