Climate Connections: Back to school and time to act for our future
Abby Huseth
The days are getting shorter, the light is changing, and there’s that unmistakable back-to-school buzz around town this week as thousands of students return to the University of Montana and K-12 classrooms. Along with these familiar signs of the season is another one that’s becoming increasingly common: lingering wildfire smoke.
It’s been a harsh year for wildfires, in the Western US and across much of Europe too. Thousands have been evacuated from their homes, from Spokane to Reno, Bordeaux to Athens. Here in Missoula, we’ve experienced some amount of wildfire smoke almost daily for the past month-plus. We can expect at least a few weeks more, with a strengthening El Niño that’s poised to blow all records out of the water thanks to the hotter planet we now live on. Fire season is different now.
A few weeks ago, during a break in the smoke, my 5-year-old son made an offhand comment that he was glad the air was clean enough to jump on the trampoline outside.
Is this our new normal? Summers where camp directors regularly make the call to keep kids indoors when it’s too smoky? Back-to-school seasons where sports practices and recess are held inside, and parents have yet one more reason to worry?
As someone who works on climate solutions everyday – and as the parent of two young kids – I refuse to accept this as normal, and our kids shouldn’t have to, either.
This coming El Niño predicts way hotter than normal temperatures across the globe, but it does not mean that trajectory is inevitable in the years to come. We still have the collective ability to bend the curve downward.
Refusing to accept worsening climate conditions doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take care of ourselves and each other amidst the impacts we’re already experiencing. There’s lots we can do on this front! With wildfire smoke, we can run HEPA filters, check the air quality frequently, and take advantage of clean air days to get outside. The MontanaWildfireSmoke.org website, updated regularly by our team at Climate Smart Missoula, is a valuable resource to help everyone stay healthy. And dozens of local government and community partners are actively putting the strategies in our County-wide Climate Ready Missoula resiliency plan into practice every day, building a community that’s better equipped to respond to climate impacts of all kinds.
These actions are important, but not enough.
In a column entitled “Why you should tell your children about vanishing fireflies,” Washington Post climate columnist Michael Coren writes,
“Today, a new normal is being rewritten in our own lifetimes amid climate-related disasters, from smoke-filled skies to lethal heat waves. Yet accepting these conditions as normal threatens to unravel what made the world capable of withstanding these shocks in the first place. To restore the rich relationships of species, and our place among them, we need to remember our ‘baselines’ …”
This doesn’t have to mean literally going back to the way things were in the past. But we don’t have to resign ourselves to a future where smoke, heat, and extreme weather get worse every year; where the time between a good snow year and a bad one gets longer and longer.
Those of us who remember the time before widespread climate disruption need to tell those stories, so we can reclaim those “baselines” again. We all need the reminder of what we’re fighting for: a future where kids can breathe safely, people can afford their energy bills, and the abundance of clean energy is shared by all. Where billionaires and tech bros no longer profit off fossil fuel pollution, and our democratic systems protect the vulnerable – humans and non-humans alike. Where we all use our unique voices to hum along with the collective chorus, in tune with this amazing place we call home.
The climate movement needs you! There’s so much we can all do to take real steps towards a safer future right now. For one, the extreme weather we’re experiencing is a ready-made conversation starter. There’s still a big perception gap that’s getting in the way of bold collective action: Two-thirds of Americans believe human-caused climate change is happening, but they think only 43% of others do. Here in Missoula County, 63% of people prefer to vote for candidates that prioritize climate action, but only 40% talk about it with family and friends. Simple conversations can help break the cycle of climate hushing and grow support for needed solutions.
And as the season shifts, there are plenty more opportunities for you to hum along during our annual Climate Solutions Week, September 26th – October 4th! With more than 20 events hosted by us and myriad partners, there’s something for everyone. Check out the schedule and mark your calendar. (Watch this space for a more detailed preview of the week coming soon.) Action matters – and it’s a powerful antidote to fear and despair, too.
As bestselling Fire Weather author John Vaillant reflected recently in Time:
“As long as we burn fossil fuels without limits, wildfires will do the same in our forests, cities, and towns. But we are not passive bystanders, and these genuine ‘trials by fire’ are Nature’s stern invitation to mature as a society, to confront with intelligence and courage the daunting energies we’ve unleashed with our own.”
Let’s join together to reclaim a vision of a thriving future for all, taking action and raising our voices right here in our backyard.
Abby Huseth is the Deputy Director at Climate Smart Missoula. Climate Smart Missoula brings this Climate Connections to you twice monthly. Learn more and support our work at missoulaclimate.org.