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The Arctic Is On The Brink: Here’s Why You Should Care
The Arctic Is Melting And It Will Affect Everyone, Not Just Polar Bears
The Arctic is melting fast and that’s bad for everyone, not just the polar bears. As part of his continued push for climate action, President Obama will visit Alaska next week to draw attention to the Arctic and the effect of climate change on the region. On Monday in Anchorage, the president and Secretary of State Kerry will host GLACIER, a climate change conference where world leaders will discuss strategies to address rapid regional warming and advance ideas for strengthening Arctic community resilience.
The overall goal of the visit is to highlight the fact that the effects of Arctic warming–accelerated by climate change–will extend far beyond the region itself. Our colleagues at CAP created this explainer video, which illustrates (literally) why you should care that the Arctic is melting. Here are a few of the key points:
- The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. This rapid warming is causing glaciers, sea ice, and Greenland’s massive ice shelf to melt. Runoff from all this melting is causing sea levels to rise, maybe even faster than we originally predicted. Sea levels have already risen 8 inches and could rise another 4 feet by the end of the century.
- Communities across the globe are at risk of costly or devastating flooding. In the United States, 123 million people, the majority in the lower 48 states, are at risk of sea level rise from Arctic melting. For people who live in the Arctic the situation is even grimmer as the sea ice that provides a buffer for coastal communities from severe storms is melting away. More than 30 Alaska Native villages are experiencing flooding and erosion and are literally at risk of sliding into rising waters.
- Wildfires in the region could lead to more carbon emissions. This summer, record wildfires have burned over 5 million acres in Alaska. These fires can thaw pre-historic permafrost, which is responsible for storing carbon. As a result, thawing permafrost could increase the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere, accelerating global climate change even further.
But there is action that can be taken to avoid the worst effects of Arctic warming:
- Secure a strong global climate deal in Paris. At the December United Nations climate change conference in Paris, over 190 countries will work to reach a global climate deal to avoid catastrophic warming. Only time can tell how strong an international pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may be. A solid and ambitious agreement will not only slow overall climate change, but will also protect the fastest warming region on Earth: the Arctic.
- Cut black carbon and methane pollution. Black carbon, or soot, from eight Arctic nations is responsible for one-third of the recent Arctic warming. That means the remaining two-thirds of Arctic warming due to black carbon emissions comes from the rest of the world, highlighting the need for global action to cut black carbon, which comes from the burning of fossil fuels. Methane, which also comes from fossil fuel combustion, is a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide. Committing to cut short-lived climate pollutants like black carbon and methane is one of the fastest ways world leaders can slow melting in the Arctic. After all, continued sea ice melt is encouraging increased oil and gas development… and more climate change culprits.
Still not convinced Arctic warming matters? Watch the video.
BOTTOM LINE: Melting ice caps and rising seas may sound like far-off problems that will have an isolated impact. But the fact that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet is bad news for everyone, not just the region’s people and wildlife.
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Molly Keenan, JayInslee.com … get an original Jay Inslee
Traveling around Washington with Governor Inslee, it doesn’t take long to realize how much he loves this state and how much he loves to draw. He doesn’t have a lot of free time these days, but when he has a few minutes, you can bet he’s sketching.
The Governor has been so excited by the powerful response of our grassroots community over the last month and had an idea: He wants to create a drawing for a few of his best supporters.
So, here’s the deal: Donate before our important August 31 fundraising deadline for a chance at receiving your very own Jay Inslee original. That’s right, a drawing just for you, by Governor Inslee. But hurry, because there are just five days left!
He’s really looking forward to thanking three donors with a personal sketch, drawn and signed by him!
Think about how great it would be to hang an original piece of art by the Governor on your wall, and then donate today — before our month-end deadline — for your chance to receive a drawing.
I’m just a little jealous staff aren’t eligible,
Molly Keenan
Political Director
Jay Inslee for Washington
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Playing with Fire …
Federal Funding Hasn’t Kept Up With The Ballooning Costs Of Fighting Wildfires
We are in the middle of one of the most severe wildfire seasons ever. So far in 2015 more than 7 million acres have already burned and five states are currently fighting more than 10 large wildfires. In Washington state alone, where three firefighters lost their lives fighting a fire last week, more than 100 wildfires are burning. Across the country more than 30,000 firefighters are actively fighting fires, the largest number mobilized in 15 years.
In the Western United States some of the effects of climate change such as increasing temperatures, lower rainfall, and decreases in snowmelt have contributed to longer and more intense wildfire seasons: Fire seasons are now an average of 78 days longer than they were in 1970 and the U.S. now burns twice as many acres every year as it did 30 years ago.
Fighting fire and protecting the communities it threatens is expensive. As wildfire season has become increasingly severe, the costs of fighting wildfires has increased dramatically but federal funding has not kept up. The Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service—the agencies tasked with battling blazes—have long faced major budget shortfalls and the problem is only getting worse. Here are a few numbers to put the cost increase into perspective:
- $100 million: The amount the Forest Service is spending each week to fight fires this year. It is expected to exceed its annual budget by September.
- $3 billion: The amount of federal wildfire spending per year since 2002, more than doubling from less than $1 billion a year in the 1990s.
- 50 percent: The percentage of the Forest Service’s budget that will be dedicated to wildfires, up from just 16 percent 20 years ago.
- 30 percent: The percentage of the U.S. Forest Service’s budget that was spent fighting the worst 1 percent of American wildfires between 2008 and 2012.
Because the cost of suppressing wildfires has grown exponentially and funding has not kept pace, the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior have been forced to borrow money from other pockets, including fire prevention, to cover costs, creating a vicious cycle where funding for other important programs is taken to cover the cost of wildfire suppression.
Last year President Obama proposed a plan to deal with these increasing costs, which would treat the very worst wildfires as natural disasters and, in turn, allow funding to be drawn from a special disaster fund dedicated to fighting extreme fires. The president’s proposed reforms would ensure that agencies do not have to divert funds away from important programs like wildfire management and conservation programs to pay for wildfire suppression. But Congress has failed to act on the proposed reforms and other similar bipartisan legislation has failed in both the House and Senate.
BOTTOM LINE: Every year wildfire season is getting longer and more severe, yet Congress has failed to act to ensure that the agencies charged with fighting these fires are adequately funded. Unless action is taken the costs of wildfires—both human and economic—will continue to grow.
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