The Future in Our Hands

“We don't have time to debate climate change”

Photo Courtesy of Paul Hilton/RAN

By Hannah Johnson

At the early age of 20, Leonardo DiCaprio became an enthusiast for climate change. Throughout his journey, he has spoken with multiple world leaders, scientists and activists to find out how bad our problem really is. DiCaprio, last October, released the documentary “Before the Flood” worldwide with award-winning director Fisher Stevens. DiCaprio traveled around the world over the course of three years to speak with people about the effects our world has seen due to climate change.

During the filming of the documentary, DiCaprio received the title of United Nations Messenger of Peace on Climate Change.

“I want to do everything I can to learn more about this issue. See for myself exactly what’s going on and what can be done, but it all kind of seems beyond our control,” said DiCaprio in the beginning minutes of the documentary.

Burning forests are a large source of carbon emissions released into the air. The Leuser Ecosystem in Indonesia spans 6.5 million acres of lowland tropical rainforests, peatlands and mountains.

“Rainforests are part of the natural cycle for regulating carbon,” said Executive Director of the Rainforest Action Network Lindsey Allen.

Like oceans, rainforests can absorb the released carbon from both natural and unnatural sources. Companies intentionally burn parts of this forest down to make room for palm oil plantations. Palm oil is used in products like chips, crackers, peanut butters, cookies and more.

The Rainforest Action Network is working to stop deforestation.

“Palm oil is now one of the cheapest vegetable oils in the world,” said Lindsey Allen, “We follow the product from the forest to the grocery store, or the bookstore or wherever that may be. By doing that we know we can get those companies that are creating books [and products] that come from rainforests, to tell those suppliers that are actually destroying the forest, that consumers aren’t willing to buy their products, and therefore they aren’t able to buy their products that are coming from rainforest destruction.”

If these fires continue to happen, species will continue to disappear. Many in Indonesia work to save as many animals as they can, and while putting them in cages may seem terrible, the ones in cages are the lucky ones; all the rest are most likely dead.

Many underestimate the power of climate change and what it has actually done to our world, but climate change is coming and it’s coming faster than anyone ever expected. In the documentary, one of the first places DiCaprio goes is the Canadian Arctic. There he met Dr. Enric Sala, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence.

“The Arctic is like the air conditioning for the Northern Hemisphere. If it goes away, that’s going to change currents, that’s going to change weather patterns, that’s going to make floods and droughts more catastrophic. It’s the most dramatic transformation of a large environment ever,” said Dr. Sala in the documentary.

If the earth continues to warm, by 2040, we are going to be able to sail through the North Pole.

DiCaprio’s journey also took him to Greenland where he met Professor James E. Box, a climatologist. In the last five years, Greenland’s surface has melted 30 feet. This amounts to hundreds of cubic kilometers spanning all of Greenland. Like other places located in the Arctic Circle, Greenland contributes to the cooling of the Northern Hemisphere. In the last two decades, however, Greenland’s surface has been getting darker. So rather than reflecting the sun, the surface is absorbing it. This is causing faster melting and less air conditioning.

Feeling the effects of the ever-rising sea levels are the people in Miami Beach, Florida, among many others. A University of Miami team concluded that since 2006, tidal flooding has increased by 400 percent, as reported by The Miami News Times. As sea levels rise, a backflow of water from drains flood the streets. Miami Beach Mayor Phillip Levine has conducted a $400 million city-wide project to help stop the back flooding. This project involves raising roads and installing pumps to keep the water in the ocean. This is not a solution to the problem; this is a temporary fix for the next 40 to 50 years.

“We need to come up with solutions,” he said in the documentary, “We don’t have time to debate climate change.”

Part of the reason we are struggling so much to get the reversal and prevention of climate change going is because of Congress. There are 131 climate change deniers in The House of Representatives and 38 in the Senate.

“We must hold our elected officials responsible. That means voting out politicians who are more interested in doing the bidding of fossil fuel interests than protecting our planet for us and future generations.” said Dr. Michael E. Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State University.

When speaking with Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, he also mentioned U.S. political leaders:

“The two biggest things citizens can do is to hold political leaders accountable for any lack of leadership and lack of progress. Our President is a disaster, many of the cabinet officials he has appointed are taking us in the opposite direction so we need to hold them accountable.”

Congress is not the only reason we are struggling and not the most important one by far. The people are our biggest struggle. No one is interested in waking up one morning and completely switching what they do with their lives, even if it is to help the climate. No one wants to give up their car, invest thousands of dollars in solar panels or become a vegetarian. But that is what it is going to take if we really want to save our planet.

To help prevent climate change, some of the things “Before the Flood” and the Paris Climate Summit are aiming for include: 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 as well as reforestation of our rainforests, raising government ambition, taxing polluters and protecting our oceans. While those things are a bigger picture of what has to be done, there are some things we can do as a community which will help speed the process along.

“We can write letters to the local newspaper to raise awareness about the threat of climate change. We can speak out about it, to our friends [and] our classmates. We can try to make sure that millennials turn out to vote in the next election and try to return Congress to the hands of those who will act rather than block progress,” said Dr. Mann.

“All of our universities should run on 100 percent clean energy and our biggest cities should run on 100 percent clean energy, our biggest companies should do the same. There is a lot we can do at a local level, even if this administration is taking us backwards,” said Michael Brune.

“You are the last best hope of Earth. We ask you to protect it. Or we—and all living things we cherish—are history.”

- Leonardo DiCaprio

Climate change can be stopped. Our world can be saved. You can consume differently, raise awareness and reduce your carbon footprint.

Pulse Magazine