The effects of climate change are becoming more evident every day, with extreme heat, floods, fires and other potential effects that put society at risk. The social costs and public reactions as our politics become deeply polarized leaves a landscape increasingly affected by climate impacts.
The most visible damage will be to health, the increase in diseases will be present and reactions with 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 Ethnic Media Services.
Hannah Hess is the associate director of the Climate Impact Laboratory, an important organization in studies on the effects of climate change in the world, and where they convert their research into statistics to help design policies that reduce gas emissions, as well as as well as reducing the impact on the environment.
In his speech, Hess explained that making the necessary changes to take care of the environment is very expensive, which is why it requires a large investment, support from governments, educating in schools in a different way, and changes in homes and In the ways of working, actions generate great costs, making 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 available 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 that are generated in each part of the world.
This is a very broad platform, with information of great value for anyone who is interested, and whose purpose is to keep more people informed.
Jon Christensen, associate professor at the Institute of Environment and Sustainability of the Environmental Narrative Strategies Laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), assures that climate change must be taken as an opportunity to tell stories that can change society. Well, involving people is essential.
Christensen also highlighted that it is important not to only think about climate change as a problem to be solved, since that way it is not analyzed in 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, we feel that it needs to be solved in order to solve anything else, its power as a resource to weigh in a critical way is low. If we think of it more as a resource to understand 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 Luskin Center for Innovation at UCLA, explained that the issue of climate change always puts political forces into discussion, since it seems that it is not something that affects everyone, but only a group.
With the passage of time, actions to reduce the risks due to the effects of climate change had to come, governments invested in programs for the extreme heat season, as well as fires, but also in floods and other risks that affect the population. .
«While Republicans continue not to accept how severe climate change is and prevent government action, clean energy is being seen in red states as well, we know that 28 percent of clean energy capacity is located in 4 states that are traditionally Republican, this is because the states have the necessary conditions to implement the use of clean energy», he detailed.
It is expected that governments will join the same issue to generate the necessary investments, however, Mullin assured that there is nothing that unites them in a true way to work together for a common good.
The director and founder of the Climate Museum, Miranda Massie, invited everyone to visit the museum, which is not only present with exhibitions, but also carries out different 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 are more active on this issue.», he commented.
Massie assured that in the United States, 63 percent of the population is concerned about climate change, but very few take action, since they do not know what to do and how to change. This museum seeks to change hopelessness for motivation, leaving the feeling that each person must be part of the problem and the solution.
Specialists 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, each one has the power to contribute or pass up the opportunity to take action.
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