Arzoumanidis: Climate Change Should Be a Political Priority
In recent weeks, fires around the Los Angeles area have destroyed more than 16,000 homes and buildings and resulted in 29 deaths. Globally, climate-related hazards contributed to 26.4 million human displacements in 2023 alone, a number that continues to increase as the globe heats up. More than half of the world’s coral reefs have been lost since 1950, disrupting key marine ecosystems and ocean oxygen production. The seas are expected to rise a foot due to thermal expansion of the oceans and the melting of icebergs at unprecedented levels, threatening the displacement of more than 410 million people. Last year was the hottest on record, reaching temperatures more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This surpasses the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recommended limit to prevent irreversible tipping points and runaway warming, in which positive feedback loops accelerate the rate of climate change beyond the capacity of human control. The issue of climate change is more important than ever, and no one is coming to save us.