Covid-19 And Climate Change Pose Similar Challenges For Montana And The Greater Yellowstone Region
The arrival of novel coronavirus, two scientists say, is forcing us to move beyond short-term thinking—the exact thing preventing us from dealing with the climate change future
There's no speculation on what hotter and drier summers will mean for forests in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Northern Rockies. Like the science related to pandemics, so too is the data-driven insights into climate change build on solid ground. Mike Lewelling took this NPS photograph of the Alder Fire in Yellowstone.
If we’ve learned anything from the Covid-19 pandemic, it is the importance of reducing risk and the real cost in terms of lives lost when action is either half-hearted or poorly implemented. In the months ahead, the world hopes to overcome this pandemic, but solving this immediate catastrophe does not address the fact that a more significant and dangerous crisis lies ahead—climate change.
What can we learn from this Covid-19 experience that can be applied to the way we attack climate change and motivate action in the coming years?
1. Scientific facts matter and need to be taken seriously.
2. We must value science and the warnings of scientists when they make projections about horrific but plausible scenarios.
3. Suppressing critical scientific information leads to a failure to mitigate the problem and amplifies negative consequences.
Like Covid-19, increased rates of greenhouse gas emissions will overwhelm our capacity to cope with extreme events (e.g., drought, floods, and wildfires). Climate change will compromise human health; food security and water quality; agricultural sustainability; and political, economic, and social stability.
Like Covid-19, increased rates of greenhouse gas emissions will overwhelm our capacity to cope with extreme events (e.g., drought, floods, and wildfires). Climate change will compromise human health; food security and water quality; agricultural sustainability; and political, economic, and social stability.
The ripple effects from climate change depend on how quickly we prepare and respond: what are credible sources of information, what mitigation strategies must be instigated, and how we, as Montanans, can adapt to change?
First and foremost, respected scientific assessments, like the 2017 Montana Climate Assessment, need to be regularly updated to address current understanding on topics important to Montana.
Broad climate monitoring across Montana is required to provide data necessary for climate-change adaptation. Similarly, technological solutions are needed to develop alternative energy sources, design climate-ready infrastructure, and store carbon.
Equally important, we need social science research to understand the human cost.
Delayed response costs lives and hurts the economy. Impacts from Covid-19 occur over days to weeks; whereas those from climate change extend over decades to centuries.
Dramatic institutional changes are needed in the next decade to avoid projected impacts due to warming. The less we do now, the more overwhelming will be the consequences later. Will we accept the gravity of climate change and the negative, possibly irreversible, effects before it’s too late?
The response of South Korea to Covid-19 shows the power of open information, public participation, and rapid response, and contrasts with countries that suppressed information and delayed action. Delaying our response to climate change will result in massive economic harm, with estimated global incomes dropping by 23 percent by the end of the century.
Imagine losing three months of your annual salary with no hope of recovery!
Coordinated policy and planning measures are required at all levels. In the face of any crisis, the ultimate role of government is to facilitate appropriate action.
Covid-19 has engaged leaders at all levels, and we’ve seen positive outcomes from timely directives. However, climate-change leadership at global, national, state, and local level is poorly coordinated or lacking.
Covid-19 has engaged leaders at all levels, and we’ve seen positive outcomes from timely directives. However, climate-change leadership at global, national, state, and local level is poorly coordinated or lacking.
In Montana, the Montana Climate Solution Council has developed proposals for adaptation planning, mitigation strategies, and technological investment. Unfortunately, motivation to address climate change is tied to the cost of fossil fuels; as long as they are cheap, little will get done.
Required actions include carbon fee and dividend legislation; investments in clean power, battery storage, and carbon-capture technologies; incentives for low-carbon buildings and online training for green-economy jobs; and broad educational efforts especially for the generation inheriting this problem.
Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park, drained of its reach in a low precipitation summer and when downstream water users in Idaho—potato farmers—exercised their water rights to flows in the Snake River. Photo by Todd Wilkinson
Although the Covid-19 crisis was not of Montana’s making, we have risen to the challenge and responded in ways that no one could imagine. We can learn from this experience to prepare for climate change. First, timely and accurate scientific information relevant to Montana is essential; fortunately, our state has the expertise to address this need.
Second, our emergency and health services must be ready to protect public health in the face of multiple and changing threats related to extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and vector-borne diseases.
Third, communities must increase their resilience to natural disasters, and government, assisted by non-profits and the private sector, should lead this effort.
Fourth, as individuals and organizations, we can greatly reduce carbon consumption by limiting unnecessary travel and waste and increasing energy and water efficiency in our day-to-day life. Climate change demands that each of us examine the cost of our actions and choices, and that everyone does their fair share.
Finally, Covid-19 reminds us that Montana’s extraordinary natural resources, including our clean air and water, are essential for human survival and well-being; they should be protected at all cost.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The first volume of the Montana Climate Assessment examined the impact that rising temperatures will have on people, such as the effects on water availability and crop and timber production, The next part of the research focuses on ecological impacts and will include a deep dive into what is known and anticipated for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. For further reading, check out Mountain Journal's report on climate change For Yellowstone And America, Climate Change Brings Our Moment Of Truth.
About Cathy Whitlock and Bruce Maxwell, PhDs
Cathy Whitlock is Regents Professor of Earth Sciences at Montana State University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Bruce Maxwell is Director of the Montana Institute on Ecosystems at Montana State University, where Whitlock is also a Fellow. Both are authors of the 2017 Montana Climate Assessment and serve on the Montana Climate Solutions Council.
