July was the hottest month on record for the globe, but this new high mark passed with little fanfare. Maybe we’re just getting used to constantly increasing temperatures, maybe the fact the middle of the U.S. was one of the very few relatively normal temperature spots on Earth, or maybe we’ve just given up. For people in Oregon, Spain, Sicily, Australia, and much of the rest of the world, there was no option to just baking it out.
The dire report, and I think that is an appropriate description of our climate situation by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), prompted scanty and short-lived interest. Maybe we were all too busy arguing about who should have to wear masks when. Farmers who are hoping to cash in on the carbon markets put less emphasis on reducing carbon emissions, focusing instead on sequestering carbon in the soil. Meanwhile, other industries and governments are adapting to climate change and working to lower carbon emissions. Perhaps it will take a long-running drought throughout the Midwest or severe flooding from higher moisture content summer air or a winter where it never gets cold enough to apply anhydrous ammonia for many farmers to take notice.
Climate change is like other problems farmers face, from weed resistance to soil erosion – so slow that actions to remediate the problem seem hardly worth the effort early on when they would be most effective. We seem to live in the short-term, and it’s getting shorter. Another factor is hassle avoidance. We have developed tools for rapid and strong criticism of any proposal, but particularly predicted problems. Not talking or more importantly expressing any opinion makes our lives today simpler, even as it allows unfortunate trends to gain steam. Planning for tomorrow is much easier if that’s all the farther into the future you’re interested in going.
