Earth has issued its wakeup call

I wish I could be more positive on this fine Saturday in New England, but this post will be rather grave. If you don't want to hear some worrisome truth, then you can stop reading here.

This past week, planet Earth has sent us a crude wakeup call that we need to take action to fight the climate crisis. Let me sum up what has happened in the past week.

Record high temperature in Death Valley

As I discussed in a post earlier this week, the temperature in Death Valley, CA skyrocketed to a scorching 130 °F, which, pending verification, is the hottest temperature we have seen on earth since 1913.

(Richard Brian/AP)

While I think that temperature extremes do not say much when it comes to understanding the severity of the climate crisis and that long-term gradual trends are more telling, this 130 °F temperature reading is certainly a sign that we need to take action to curtail carbon emissions. I'll add that the high temperature at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, NV, has been at least 110 °F everyday since August 14th.

Fires in the West

Wildfires are ravaging the western United States right now, as a result of the high temperatures and a lack of rain that persist there.

(Noah Berger/AP)

While California has seen the brunt of the conflagrations, there are currently fires ablaze in 15 western states, and there are 2,106 active fires in the United States right now. Many of these fires were caused by lightning strikes in northern California, and the the extreme heat in the west has only worsened them. Here is a GOES-17 satellite image showing just how extensive the fires are.

GOES imagery from Aug 20 (NOAA/CIRA)

With no real end in sight, over 100,000 people in California have been ordered to leave their homes. The smoke from these fires has made the air quality extremely unhealthy in California, and the effects of the smoke can be felt as far away as Nebraska.

Air quality map (AirNow/ESRI)

I have read that certain smoke models are forecasting the smoke to spread all the way to the eastern U.S.

Two tropical storms in the Gulf Coast

The tropics have been very active this year, and we are already at the "M" storm at the point in the calendar year when we are just beginning the brunt of hurricane season. This is the earliest that the 13th tropical storm has been named. One reason for this is the unusual warmth in the Atlantic Ocean this year. Here in New England, we have seen the crippling effects of Hurricane Isaias, and I worry that another storm could strike us at some point this year.

For Earth to make its point that we need to take action clearer, it has formed two tropical storms (Laura and Marco) that will look to be in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time. Here is some satellite imagery of the tropics now, showing the two storms.

GOES-16 Channel 13 brightness temperature (Tropical Tidbits)

While this is not the first time that we could see two named storms in the Gulf of Mexico simultaneously (it happened in 1933 and 1959), it is an extremely rare phenomenon and should certainly serve as yet another wakeup call for us.

It is still a little early to forecast the impacts of Laura and Marco here in the United States, but we should be prepared for damaging storms.

Arctic sea ice extent at lowest levels in history

While this has been overshadowed by the fires, heat, and hurricanes, the current arctic sea ice extent is approaching some of its lowest levels in history. This is particularly worrisome because so few people notice it. In the climate crisis, people get worried if it affects them, but they become complacent when they cannot see the effects of climate change.

Arctic sea ice extent (NASA/NSIDC)

The melting of this arctic ice has serious implications for sea level rise. A simple 1 meter rise in sea level can have crippling effects. 

COVID-19

If the above problems were not enough, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to kill over 1,000 U.S. citizens daily. I'm not sure how direct the connection is between climate and this pandemic, but there surely is some link. The virus has proven to spread more readily indoors, and with warmer temperatures, we are apt to remain indoors, which could exacerbate the spread of the virus.

Donald Trump's response

Clearly, Earth has issued it's wakeup call. Heat and extensive fires continue to plague the western United States, two tropical storms are set to hit our country, the arctic keeps melting, and we are in the middle of a global pandemic. How has our president responded to this wakeup call? Aside from ridiculing the DNC on his twitter account, saying that mail-in voting is corrupt, and remaining largely silent on the issues I have discussed in this post, he announced a plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, threatening the largest remaining wilderness area in our country.

Where do we go Now?

Like John Kasich said earlier this week during the DNC, America is at a crossroads right now.

John Kasich saying we are at a crossroads, while standing at a crossroads (CNN)

Earth has issued it's wakeup call, but it is now on us to take action. We need to recycle. We need to consume less. We need to invest in renewable energies. We need to educate. We need to compost. We need to invest in R&D. We need to vote for a presidential candidate that does not think climate change is a hoax.

Earth has spoken up - it is now time for us to respond.