Climate Conference Opening Day

Two issues related to the climate crisis emerged today as the UN global climate conference opened in Poland.

AP coverage began:

KATOWICE, Poland (AP) — As leaders attending the U.N.’s annual climate summit heard fresh warnings about the dire consequences of leaving global warming unchecked, a new issue emerged Monday as a pressing concern: how to persuade millions of workers their industry can’t have a future if humanity is to have one.

Hosting the talks in the heart of its coal region of Silesia, Poland tried to set the tone for the two-week meeting by promoting the idea of a “just transition” for miners and other workers facing layoffs as countries adopt alternative energy sources.

“We are trying to save the world from annihilation, but we must do this in a way that those who live with us today in the world have the best possible living conditions,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said. “Otherwise they will say, ‘We don’t want such policy.’”

This issue only suggests the range of consequences that also must be addressed for successful attempts to lower and eliminate greenhouse gases pollution that cause global heating.

Some activists criticize the choice of  Poland for the conference because of the country's dependence on coal. Coal remains a major greenhouse gases pollutant, and coal-fired plants in many parts of the world (including planned new ones in China) remain a major threat.   Yet Silesia (which may be where my paternal great-grandfather came from, when he was brought to America to mine coal in the late 19th century) has great symbolic power in reminding the powerful that workers and poor people as well as the poorer countries of the world should not be left to bear the burden either of the climate crisis nor efforts to address it.

Coinciding with the start of the international conference is the annual 24 Hours of Reality, a global stream of information and advocacy on the climate crisis, associated with Al Gore.  In an interview with New York Magazine's David Wallace-Wells, Gore honed in on another issue, this time on the effects side of the climate crisis: public health.

Gore began by pointing out, that during the northern California wildfires: "For most of the week, the four most polluted cities in the world were Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, and Chico, worse than any cities in India."

The Bay Area experienced as much air pollution in a few days as the entire state experiences from automobiles for the year. This pollution came from the wildfires, which burned not only trees but houses and other structures, releasing toxic chemicals into the air.  A wide range of illnesses is now associated with air pollution, including obvious ones like asthma (a growing problem) but also unexpected ones like schizophrenia.

The public health issue--which extends to effects of floods, hurricanes, heatwaves and other disasters induced or exacerbated by global heating--is also more directly linked to greenhouse gases pollution, especially from burning coal.  Air pollution is now killing more than nine million people a year globally.

In Poland, the distinguished natural historian David Attenborough spoke on the opening day: "If we don't take action, the collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon."  He spoke as the official representative of the people of the Earth, and showed a montage of video messages made by ordinary people around the world.

"The world's people have spoken. Their message is clear. Time is running out," Attenborough said. "They want you, the decision-makers, to act now."