How many times have we heard the term “New Normal” when we’ve seen images or heard accounts of western wildfires, mid-west tornados, eastern floods, and diminishing polar ice caps? My internal reaction to the statement is to say, “Not so fast.”

Many of the drivers of climate change are still in place and on the move; CO2 levels continue to rise sharply as indicated in the NOAA graph below. The collective will of the country, let alone that of the planet’s governments, has not yet coalesced into a forceful response. There is yet no indication that we are anywhere near a plateau to consider as the New Normal. I am afraid that reaching that point will take a while and unfortunately, we have not yet experienced the full effects of change.

Figure 1: Recent Atmospheric CO2 Trendline.[1]

When faced with something as massive and complex as climate change, it is not unexpected to think that it is overwhelming and beyond what any individual can deal with in a meaningful way.  And yet the example of the last hundred years has shown us that individuals working as societies are capable of moving planetary conditions – although now we need to pull instead of push. But where do we start? We should start with what is in front of us, in the normal and often mundane decisions we make every day. As individuals, we make countless decisions over the course of our lives, what car to buy, what house to live in, what product to purchase, etc. Some decisions are made after a great deal of consideration and others – not so much. Collectively, these decisions shape a society and a future.

I believe that the first step in our individual response is to form an intention. Long ago, a Chinese philosopher exclaimed, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”  As kids growing up in Levittown, we adopted a condensed version of this ancient saying; “You gotta want it.” Achievement of anything important begins with the first decision; an intention to move toward a goal. Decisions that follow can then be subjected to a simple test; Do they move you toward or away from your goal? To be clear, we didn’t intend to bring about devastating fires, tornados, hurricanes, and floods. Yet now that we can see the connections, we can choose to do something about it. There is a ton of information available to help guide the way.

At my age, I am aware that I will not likely live long enough to see the New Normal. There is a great deal of momentum that continues to push the present trend lines toward an uncertain future which will require generational effort to drag the trajectory downward. Despite the challenges that face us, we are fortunate to have tools and technology to help us going forward. But first, we gotta want it.

*****

Kevin Deeny

[1] Downloaded from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Global Monitoring Laboratory web site, December, 2021. (Global Monitoring Laboratory – Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases (noaa.gov)