Climate Adaptation: Can We Do It?

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
 
Episode 97
 
Climate Adaptation: Can We Do It?
 
 
As talks about climate change become increasingly serious, many of us are either weary of hearing about it, we are anxious about it, or we just do not know what to do. More and more often we hear this term “climate emergency” knowing very well the use of the term“emergency” usually means do something now.  
 
Despite our present predicament, are we as humans resilient enough to adapt to what is going on? What is the difference between climate mitigation and climate adaptation?  How is all of this going to affect our daily lives? These and many other questions will be answered in this episode on Climate Adaption: Can We Do It?
 
Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E97 which is called Climate Adaptation: Can We Do It?
 
Before we get started I would like to remind everyone that if you have questions, comments, or even suggestions about a particular topic of interest, please feel free to email me at adventuresinsustainableliving@gmail.com. Repeat. 
 
In this episode I am going to discuss several different points regarding climate change. 
 
-Climate change mitigation
 
-Climate change adaptation
 
-How mitigation and adaptation work together as a two fold process to resolve our climate challenges
 
-Examples of adaptation in the animal kingdom
 
-What humans need to do to adapt to climate change
 
-Five main steps we need to take to defect climate change
 
-Can we do this?
 
First of all I want to say that discussions about the climate are now in the news almost everyday. It seems as if every little thing that happens around the world is getting blamed on climate change, whether that is the case or not.  Most of us are likely tired of hearing about it. With some people it produces a considerable amount of anxiety especially because we think our future is uncertain. And maybe with others we just ignore the topic because we hear about it almost everyday. 
 
But, from the outset, I want to once again point out that we are in a crisis of our own making. The first seminal paper about climate change was published in 1896 and by the 1930s we had a solid understanding of the potential consequences of our carbon emissions. Presently, we are in crisis mode and we commonly hear the term “climate emergency”. However, it did not have to get to this point. 
 
We have known about this possibility for over a century and yet we did nothing. And now of course everyone wants to believe that we are basically doomed.  But the truth of the matter is that our climate future has still not been decided and we do in fact have time to make important choices that will alter our future on this planet. Those actions fall into two broad categories: mitigation and adaption. But what does that actually mean? What are the main differences between the two. 
 
Climate Change Mitigation
 
Climate change mitigation simply means avoiding the behaviors that promote further climate change. It means reducing our risks factors. This is accomplished by avoiding and reducing our carbon emissions and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases in order to prevent further warming of the planet. You can sort of think of it as an insurance policy. For example, your home owners insurance company may reduce your premium if you do a  certain amount of forest fire mitigation, meaning, thinning of trees and backing up the tree line away from your residence. By doing so, it reduces your risk of fire and total loss of your home  and thus reduces your risk. That is mitigation.
 
However, mitigation is truly one piece of the climate puzzle that is easy to explain but difficult to accomplish. What this means is that we must stop deforestation and habitat loss. We must take great steps to protect, preserve, and restore the natural world because everything we need for our survival is literally connected to the natural world. The entire planet must transition from powering our world with fossil fuels to using renewable energy. We must reach net-zero carbon emissions. This simply means that our production of carbon emissions must be balanced by our capture and storage of those emissions. Once again, I would compare this to an insurance policy or maybe even a retirement fund. In other words, the sooner we act to mitigate the affects of climate change the brighter our future becomes. 
 
The challenge is that the world is slow to act and slow to change. And as you could imagine, regardless of the effects on the planet, big oil companies and all the people connected to it are not going to easily give up their billions of dollars in profits. Consequently, they will continue to lobby and downplay the importance of the transition to renewable energy. But all of this could be avoided with a little forethought and planning. Big oil companies could easily become the primary investors and lead the way to a renewable energy transition and consequently reap the financial benefits. 
 
This situation reminds me of something I dealt with when I was working on Saint Kitts. I could not help but notice that on the entire island there were only three households taking advantage of renewable energy. Two had solar and one had a wind turbine. When I inquired about the possibility of setting up a renewable energy business and importing such products to the island I was laughed at. This was because the former prime minister owned the company that imported all the oil and owned the utility company. That person had considerable political influence and would likely be an enormous roadblock to such a transition.  Once again, a vision of a future powered by renewable energy could still keep people such as this in the money game. And money seems to always be the primary motivator. 
 
 
Climate Change Adaptation
 
Now the other side of this coin is climate change adaptation. What this means is adapting to the changes in our lives produced by climate change. So we have to alter our behavior and change the systems that run our society and economy in order to maintain a quality of life. In other words, we have to adapt to changes that are being forced on us at this point.  
 
For example, if you were living in a coastal community in Mexico and decided to attend a university in Anchorage, Alaska, you would have to alter many of your behaviors if you planned on staying there for very long. This is because you now live in a completely different climate. You would need warmer clothes, winter gear, and have to learn how to drive in winter conditions. You would even have to become accustomed to different light conditions. In other words you would have to adapt to a new climate if you were going to survive. 
 
But the same is true for what is going on in the world today. Our world is changing at a rapid pace in ways that we never imagined and in ways that we can no longer control.  Consequently, we are going to have to adapt to these changes because our efforts at mitigation will take decades before we will see a substantial difference. 
 
This is because climate change has far reaching affects. It changes where we can grow food, where we can build homes, and even how much water we have. It causes forest fire seasons to last longer and become more intense. Public health organizations are going to have to learn to manage emerging diseases.
 
We are going to have to stop moving to areas that are prone to natural disasters and areas that have limited resources. For example, with intensifying storms and more frequent hurricanes, people are going to have to stop moving to coastal areas. Additionally, Phoenix, Arizona is one of the fastest  growing metropolitan areas in the United States. Yet it is a city that should not even be there. There is no natural water supply. Yet people are moving there by the thousands when sooner or later due to climate change, it will become one of the most inhospitable places in the United States. And these are just two examples of how our idea of housing development needs to change. 
 
Additionally, adaptation solutions are going to vary from place to place and in many ways are difficult to predict and will involve many trade offs.  But you know, incidentally, the same is true with sustainability. It also involves many trade offs. But some of the trade offs we will have to mange is crop diversification because we are going to need crops that can tolerate warmer conditions and most likely drier or even wetter conditions. We may also need to change our building methods. We will need homes and infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather. 
 
The changing climate also means additional pressure on ecosystems and wildlife. Further action is going to be needed to stop poaching, reduce over fishing, and preserve the natural world that we are so dependent on for our very survival.
  
 
Two Fold Action Plan
 
So what you have to understand is that this is a two fold process.  Mitigation and adaption both solve the same problem but from difference perspectives. While adaptation is important and will ensure our survival, it also deals with things after the fact. Mitigation is thinking upstream. We are addressing the systems, behaviors, and choices that got us into this predicament in the first place. 
 
Efforts and discussions at mitigation tend to be the focus of the global community. Adaptation tends to be the focus of local communities. However, in order for things to actually work, the global community needs to tackle mitigation while large groups of people on a local basis actually need to agree to change their lifestyles. To reduce global emissions, big governments need to work together. But for renewable energy to become the norm, every person needs to agree to use renewables instead of fossil fuels. 
 
In other words, this is not an either-or situation. To fix the problem we need to address the source of the problem. That is mitigation. But we still have to deal with the mess that our behavior has already created. That is called adaptation.
 
There is no doubt that we are going to have too continually adapt to our changing world because the effects of mitigation will take decades, if not a century, to truly make a difference. But it is a two fold action that will have a direct affect on each and every one of us. 
 
But at the end of the day, the question is can we actually do this? Is humanity willing to actually change their behavior in order to ensure the survival of the plant? 
 
 
Examples of Adaption Among Animals
 
I think because I am a veterinarian with a strong background in biology, I always like to compare humanity to the animal kingdom. So let’s start by looking at a couple of examples of animal adaptation. 
 
Free roaming predators such as wolves are a good example. As long as there is a good supply of food, they continue to hunt in a particular area, reproduce and increase the size of the pack. Once a steady food supply is no longer available, they are forced to move to a different area. During particularly hard times, weaker members of the pack are simply not going to survive. In other words, they adapt to a changing environment to ensure survival of the species. 
 
Another example is large herds of grazing animals. For example, the caribou in North America. Large herds migrate in order to maintain access to a good food supply, to protector new borns from predation and to avoid persistent pests such as mosquitoes.  
 
Even smaller creatures such as the Monarch Butterly migrates every fall from the northeastern United States and Canada to overwintering grounds of southwestern Mexico, which is a distance of over 3,000 miles or 4828 kilometers. Some species of hummingbirds also migrate.  
 
But the underlying reason for animal migration is adaptation. Animals migrate in search of food, water, mates, new territories, and to escape harsh weather conditions. But the underlying reason is adaptation which reduces their vulnerability to harsh conditions, lack of food, better breeding grounds. All of which ensures their survival. 
 
And one absolutely amazing example of animal adaption to harsh conditions are the birds that have adapted to living in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Twenty eight years after the meltdown of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant scientist have found 16 species that have adapted to the higher levels of radiation. 
 
So what we see here are several examples of how animals adapt in order to ensure their own survival. 
 
 
Now that next logical question is how are humans going to have to adapt in order to survive climate change? And are we actually willing to do it? 
 
 
Measures for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change
 
Now I am going to list several things that humanity needs to do in order to adapt. Overall, I found a lot of interesting information on this, and one article in particular I have to give credit to for the bulk of this information. The title of that article is Adapting to climate change: what will the Earth look like in 2030? I will post a link to this article in the resources section of this transcript for this episode because I have to give appropriate credit.  
 
It is interesting to note that all the steps we need to take for mitigating and adapting to climate change go right along with all the basic principles of sustainable living. So, here we go: 
 
 -Improving energy efficiency and opting for renewable energy over fossil fuels.
 
  -Promoting public transport and sustainable mobility This can be accomplished by riding a bicycle for shorter trips, reducing the amount of airline travel, taking more trips by train or in shared cars.
 
  -Promoting ecology in industry, agriculture, fishing and livestock farming. Focus more on food sustainability and responsible consumption. Always remember the 3Rs rule (reduce, reuse, recycle).
 
  -And as has been done is so many other countries,  taxing the use of fossil fuels and CO2 emissions.This is one thing that many European countries have done for decades in order to push the general population toward sustainable transportation and the use of renewable energy. 
 
-Push for sustainable building practices and infrastructure that is safer and more sustainable.
 
  -Replanting forests and restoring damaged ecosystems.
 
  -Diversifying our crops and other food sources so that they are better able to adapt to changing climates.
 
 -Investigating and developing innovative solutions to prevent and manage natural catastrophes.
 
  -Developing action plans for climate emergencies. 
 
Now if you have been following me for some time, you will know that each of the topics above are things I have covered in previous episodes and these points cover many of the aspects of sustainable living and development. 
 
But to summarize, there are 5 main steps we all need to take to defeat climate change: 
 

Efficiency and Innovation: We need to prioritize the use of renewable energy systems and promote the needed efforts to save as much energy as possible. Remember that the greenest energy is the energy you never use. 

 

Environmental Awareness: People will protect what they love and respect and will thus do their part in fighting global warming. Being aware of the environment, learning more about it, taking time out to spend it in nature, will help everyone to learn to respect the very thing that keeps us alive. 

 

Healthy Habits: Getting outside and exercising such as walking and riding a bike, eating healthier non-processed foods, cooking meals at home from basic ingredients, reducing your food waste are things that all of us can do to help the environment.

 

Participation: Active participation in the sustainability movement and teaching others what you know is one of the best ways to spread the word. 

 

Commitment: Last but certainly not the least, is personal commitment to live a sustainable life. Change things in your life one small thing at a time and a year from now you will be making a significant personal impact. 

 
Can We Do This?
 
My point here about climate change is that there are three things that are quite obvious:
 
-We are now in a crisis of our own making because we have known about this possibility for over a century and we did nothing. 
 
-Despite the fact that we are literally in crisis mode, our climate future has not yet been decided. We still have time to act. 
 
-The answer to our dilemma is staring us right in the face.
 
All of that being said, are we really willing to do something about it? Are we willing to make the needed sacrifices to have a more sustainable life? 
 
As you have likely heard me say before, the one basic principle of sustainability comes down to what kind of future we are leaving the next generation.  Basically it comes down to the fact that we can no longer afford to be cavalier about the way we live. We are going to have to make some changes whether we like it or not.  Some people, and indeed some cultures, will handle this better than others.  
 
I do find it interesting when you go back in history and look at all the things that influenced how a culture and society was actually founded. When you learn this it helps you to understand why it is the way it is in modern times. I learned this years ago when I started spending a lot of time in Spanish speaking cultures, especially in parts of South America. I attended two days of cultural lectures on the founding of modern society in Latin America and how and why it differs from modern day American culture. It truly helped me to better understand the culture and why people act and do the things they do. Knowing this it helped me to accept and respect the culture on a deeper level and also helped me to function better.  It made my life easier.  
 
That said, if you examine how American culture was founded you begin to understand our fierce independence and desire for personal freedom, more so than most cultures. And during the height of the pandemic, what I saw was a lot of angry people because they felt as if their freedom was being restricted.  
 
In light of this, I think Americans in general are not going to like some of the changes that will be forced on them especially when it comes changing how we do things in order to be more environmentally and climate friendly. I already hear people complaining about things and saying “Well they just can’t do that.”
 
But I have been telling people for a couple of years now that you had better start learning to live sustainably while you still have a choice. You had better start making your own transition to renewables while it is still a choice. I have pointed out in several of my episodes that living a more sustainable lifestyle is actually less expensive, less demanding and will actually give you more personal freedom. Additionally, a sustainable life also give you more personal security. But this also means you will have to make some compromises. Granted, I do not expect everyone to live off the grid as I do. But, I also have a modern lifestyle with modern conveniences. My lifestyle is just a little different from most.  
 
At the end of the day, the question becomes what are you willing to do? Climate change is here whether you like it or not. If you are not convinced, then go back and listen to E92 The Science of Climate Change. We are going to have to deal with this through a process of mitigation and adaption. 
 
Mitigation is more on a global scale. Adaption tends to be more localized.  But this is not an either-or situation. To fix the problem we need to address the source of the problem. That is mitigation. But we still have to deal with the mess that our behavior has already created. That is called adaptation. Consequently it is a two fold process. 
 
I also gave several examples of how animals very quickly adapt to a changing environment because their survival is dependent on it. Yet we humans are so accustomed to manipulating the natural world in order to get what we want that we think we can get away with ignoring the issue. We are so accustomed to throwing money and technology at our problems that we think that is the answer. When what we need to do is address the underlying behavior of what got us in this mess in the first place. 
 
What that means is making some compromises. What that means is changing our lifestyles. It means making a commitment to lead a more sustainable life. It means active participation. Teaching others what you have learned. It means having a more healthy lifestyle. It means making the transition to renewable energy. And finally it means ultimately respecting the environment because we are truly dependent on the natural world for our very survival. 
 
Now in closing I just want to repeat one of my favorite quotes.  Now I wish I knew who actually said this but I do not. But when I am trying to accomplish something that is difficult, here is what I always remember and think about because it is a huge source of motivation for me. If you will do today what other won’t, you can do tomorrow what others can’t. That said, years ago most people that knew me thought I was crazy for living off the grid.  But as a result of my lifestyle choice I am now have more personal and financial freedom than anyone else that I know. And I am not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. 
 
The same is true for anyone. I know that we presently live in a world that is changing so rapidly that most people are having trouble feeling some sense of personal security. But if you have been following me for some time you know very well that living a simple sustainable lifestyle can in fact give you the personal security that we all crave.  You also have to know that our climate future has not yet been decided. But you can take charge of your own future by deciding to live sustainably.  But just remember whatever changes you decide to make, and whatever our climate future turns out to be, it always amounts to a bargain. But believe me, we are going to have to make that bargain with the climate and the environment if we are going to develop the resiliency that is needed for our future on this planet.  
 
Well, that’s it for this week folks. I hope you will join me again next week for another episode of the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. If you have enjoyed this episode then don’t forget to take the time to leave me with a review.  I would greatly appreciate it.  And also remember to subscribe to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast as well as my companion blog Off Grid Living News.  Until net week, this is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.  
 
Patrick
 
 
Resources
 
 
Adapting to climate change: what will the Earth look like in 2030?
 
What’s the difference between climate change mitigation and adaptation? 
 
Communities adapt to changing climate after fires, floods, storms, National Geographic
 
Climate solutions: Adaptation and Mitigation, NASA
 
5 Strategies to Achieve Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Simultaneously 
 
Climate Change, Climate Adaptation, United Nations
 
 
Patrick