Our economy and our quality of life depend on addressing climate change
People are less likely to want to come to Montana if it means dealing with a smoky fire season and dried up rivers. With bad fire seasons becoming more common, plenty of tourist-based retail establishments are feeling the impact of climate change
Beth Berlin, Montana Director
By Beth Berlin
Montana Director
When I first moved to
Missoula over twenty years ago, I was told by many folks that grew up here and whose parents grew
up here that we regularly have two week stretches of temperatures reaching 20˚ below. I've
seen some big snow storms, but I have yet to see more than a few days of
weather that cold. And now we’re dealing with over two weeks of
sweltering temperatures in the high 90's, breaking all kinds of
temperature records nationally and in Montana. The weather here and throughout the country is
changing and not for the better.
In Montana, as
temperatures get hotter, fires start raging earlier and earlier in the season
and continue well into the fall. The largest fire this season, the Southeast
Montana Complex, spread to over 300,000 acres.
We now know that much of the weather extremes we are seeing — like
record heat, severe droughts, destructive
widespread wildfires, and an increase in the number and intensity of severe
storm events— are due to global warming. One of the most conservative industries— the
insurance industry—bets on it by continuing to re-evaluate their rates based on
the increased risks of climate change. Bill Mckibben does a great shocking
rundown of these extreme events nationally in his new
piece in Rolling Stone.
In the newly released State
of the Climate Report by the National Oceanographic Atmospheric
Association (NOAA), researchers used a variety of approaches to analyze a
half-dozen extreme weather and climate events that occurred last year. Each
year this report provides updates on the changes in over three dozen major
global climate indicators –or our planet’s vital signs –such as snow pack,
surface temperatures and glacial mass that provide data that shows how our
planet is warming. The 2011 report found that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations
increased by 2.10 ppm in 2011, and exceeded 390 ppm for the first time since
instrumental records began. 2011 was the
hottest year on record with extreme weather events much more likely to occur in
a warming world.
Why continue to put
Montana’s $2.2 billion tourism and recreation economy at risk? My husband and I own a store
that has operated for over 27 years selling and trading outdoor recreational
gear. We depend on
tourists for much of our income. But I can tell you first hand that people are
less likely to want to come to Montana if it means dealing with a smoky fire
season and dried up rivers. And when they don't come, we don't sell gear.
With bad fire seasons becoming more common, plenty of other retail
establishments, watering holes, lodging facilities, raft companies, and main street
businesses are feeling the impact as well.
Let’s help the folks who
continue to deny that the climate change is tied to extreme weather get their
heads out of the sand and make this a priority issue. Our economy and our
quality of life depend on it.
