applying our intellectual power

seizing the climate challenge

The much desired rain, promised in torrents, appears sadly to be missing us yet again. I wouldn’t want flooding to endanger anyone’s life but we are definitely under the average rainfall by more than 11 inches. We had a soaker several weeks ago but not much since. Earlier today it was sunny, of course

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They are literally telling us on television as I type, with a sunlit Illinois golf course in the background, that Baltimore and Harford County to the north and northeast are under thunderstorm warning for another 44 minutes. We in Anne Arundel are among the counties with a thunderstorm watch for almost 5 more hours but what is falling outside is pretty miserly at present.

I realise if you have been reading this column, you’ve heard me say this before. I noticed earlier this year we were receiving fewer spring showers than usual but I didn’t realise it was quite as bad as it’s been.

And this past week, it’s been sweltering. No, not the furnaces of Arizona and New Mexico where venturing out must be a serious choice rather than a hum drum action during the day. Our heat is more like a warmed blanket being wrapped around you as soon as you depart the building. It’s not yet at that point where it’s hard to breath but the predicted 91 degrees in Annapolis later this week will fit that description.

My son, liberated from the proofreading and other nit noys of completing his degree, reports that his backpacking trip in the San Juans of southwestern Colorado was notably warmer this weekend than he could remember at the altitude. Sure, by the time the sun set later in the day, he was at a higher altitude so he needed the multiple layers he had schlepped in with him. But, he said he also felt really dumb with a pair of jeans in his pack as he was drenched in sweat on most of the 13 mile hike into his campsite. Except as an experienced backpacker, he knew he had to have the jeans just in case.

My son noted that this trip reminded him the planet’s temperature is changing. He also noted that there appear lots of trees succumbing to all sorts of beetle disease which offered him far fewer trees for a few minutes’ respite from the brightness.

I didn’t ask whether beetles somehow result from heat but I suspect, as a good scientist, he would say he did not have enough data to state that unequivocably. But, the decrease in trees around the world certainly offer fewer sites for the photosynthesis vital to our planet. Even a few trees would make me feel better but I do like green. We know there are several reasons for the decrease in trees (certainly not just rising temperatures) but he did comment on how many fewer places there were to stop for just a slight respite from the bright, hot conditions.

Stories this week indicate that Monday and Tuesday were the hottest days ever recorded. We have discussed the debilitating heat in China and our own southern tier the droughts afflicting so much of the world. I also read that perhaps this is the warmest overall stretch for the planet in 125,000 years, obviously before we recorded such things. Sure, the planet was intolerably hot when it was formed but that was a while back. 125,000 years seems like quite a record to me.

We saw shocking news that Montevideo, the lovely capital of Uruguay on the northern bank of the Rio Plata, expects to run out of water for its 1.3 million inhabitants by Labour Day 2023 if current conditions persist. Let me repeat: the drought in Latin America is so severe that Uruguay’s capital will not have water within two months unless massive rains appear. Where else is this likely to occur?

The irony, of course, is that this reality coincides with the rapid melting of the fresh water in glaciers around the world, especially in Greenland and Antarctica. Similarly, China is facing way too much water from massive flooding yet again in the southeast of the country.

Those advocating decoupling between the United States and China, two paramount green gas emitting states over the past century, will not be happy that former Secretary of State John Kerry visits Beijing this week to restart conversations with his counterparts in the Middle Kingdom on measures we can take as the two primary economies and leaders. Yet, one has to wonder how we can avoid discussing the climate issues with China—and our partner India, for that matter? It’s obvious that there is no ‘drop fairy dust here’ solution that anyone is offering. Real people around the globe are confronting immediate problems resulting from substantial increases in temperatures and associated effects. Actions create consequences.

During this tenure as Combatant Commander of what is now the Department of Defense Indo-Pacific Theater, Admiral Sam Locklear attracted ridicule in 2014 when he cited climate change as the greatest threat in his AOR (area of responsibility). As a keen analyst said to me, Locklear lost all credibility on Capitol Hill when he listed climate not China as the threat.

A decade later, Locklear’s brutal assessment is looking more relevant even as we worry about China. The problem with the damage climate change is wrecking is that it is not obvious all of the time but accumulates daily. And the solutions all appear to require multinational solutions rather than simply one instrument of statecraft applied in a creative manner.

Instead of discussing steps to address the problem, far too much of our discussion wastes time on reminding everyone China is now a major emitter of greenhouse gases. Yes, they are. And yes, they are likely to continue but does that mean we stand down without applying our power? Seriously?

This is a topic upon which U.S. ingenuity, creativity, and scientific drive can make a tremendous difference for our standing around the world, far greater than anything China appears likely to offer at this point if their past behaviour is indicative of the future. Yet, our determination to spend less on anything in our budget other than defense may undermine our ability to lead. Our creative ideas often, though not invariably, are best when the private sector cooperates with the governmental but our current drumbeat about China’s threat does not seem to grasp this historic fact.

China is a threat but so are a number of other things. For those affected by climate change, China is probably not number one at all even if it is heavily involved in states such as those of the Southwest Pacific. Keeping the land above water is more important than who is dominating their politix.

We could make a difference in advancing serious solutions if we recognise this problem is real and must receive more attention, regardless who the guilty emitters are. The citizens of Uruguay are going to want water rather than kvetch about who caused their current predicament.

We in the United States need recognise we have underutilised instruments of this country which can make a real difference in people’s survival. By helping with solutions rather than focusing on placing blame, we are squandering the opportunities at our disposal. We don’t have the absolute answers on climate yet but we are miles ahead of others anywhere because of the intellectual capital to take on the quest as we have taken on so many over history.

I am all for moving forward to address these problems instead of remaining stuck on making an incompetent, autocratic state take responsibility for its failings. What do you think?

The rain is finally coming down heavily. Make my afternoon. Bring it on.FIN

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CNN en español, ‘Crisis hídricareservas de agua en niveles críticas’, youtube.com, 28 June 2023, retrieved at

Stew Magnuson, ‘PACOM Commander Sticks to Climate Change as Asia-Pacific’s Number One Threat’, nationaldefensemagazine.com, 3/6/2014, retrieved at https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2014/3/6/pacom-commander-sticks-to-climate-change-as-asiapacifics-number-one-threat