To promote awareness about global climate change, UW-Madison joined over 1,600 schools and organizations across the country for the Focus the Nation global climate change teach-in last Thursday. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz teamed up with UW-Madison scientists and business leaders to discuss what the latest scientific evidence says about global warming and Madison's efforts to become a greener"" city. Here's a re-cap:
The moral issue
To understand the full scope of global warming, UW-Madison scientists urged Focus the Nation participants to look beyond global climate change as solely an ecological issue but also as a social issue.
""In the United States, Americans per capita CO2 emissions is six times the global average citizen and 30 times that of a citizen in a developing country,"" said Jonathan Patz, UW-Madison professor of environmental studies. ""We are really over-reaching our resources and stepping on the rest of the world.""
While Americans comprise only 9 percent of the world population, the U.S. contributes to nearly 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. As global climate change continues, researchers predict rising temperatures, sea levels and high hydrological extremes will result in contaminated water supplies, newly evolving vector-borne illnesses, extreme temperatures and displaced populations due to flooding. But it won't be the U.S. that suffers the first health blow, said Jon Foley, director of UW-Madison's Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment.
Warm temperatures bring with them a host of problems for developing countries, explained Foley. Without refrigerators and water purifying systems, warm temperatures mean more insects in water, food and air that lead to diseases such as cholera, malaria and any number of diarrheal diseases - the leading killer of children in developing countries. Scientists say this isn't a far off theory; in fact, the impact of climate change on global health is happening right now.
A comprehensive study published by Patz in 2005 estimates nearly 150,000 people die each year from the Earth's warming temperatures.
""That's about the size of Madison,"" Foley said. ""That'd be like dropping an atomic weapon on a city the size of Madison every year and nobody noticing.""
""People need to be aware that those most vulnerable to global warming are contributing least to the problem,"" said Jack Kloppenburg, UW-Madison professor of rural sociology.
As Kloppenburg sees it, the energy consumption by the U.S. and other northern countries represents social injustice.
""It is unjust and unsustainable that 40 percent of the world's population live on less than two dollars per day,"" Kloppenburg said. ""Those of us living beyond our means need to find a way to share.""
Though Kloppenburg recognizes people are becoming more aware about environmental issues, he believes the movement needs to be intensified.
""We are not living sustainably now,"" Kloppenburg said. ""We are not using the technology we have to become more sustainable.""
""We are interconnected economically and through security. Maybe we ought to be more connected morally as well,"" Foley said. ""We in America cannot just isolate ourselves and hope this will all go away.""
The big picture
If humans are going to slow the gradual warming of the Earth, the time to act is now, Foley said.
One of the greatest contributing factors to climate change is the world's massive human population growth over the past 50 years, Foley said. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the world population grew from 3 billion to 6 billion people between 1959 and 1999, and is estimated to jump to 9 billion by 2042.
The rapid population boom is believed to be one of the major causes behind the depletion of land and water resources, and energy use that Foley said is ""outpacing all previous generations combined.""
""In many ways our planet is being pushed to and beyond its physical limits,"" Foley said. As a result, global warming is rewriting the Earth's map.
Photographs from around the world document charred lands and dusty riverbeds where lush tropical rainforests and raging rivers once stood. Satellite images of Earth show the shrinking levels of Arctic ice.
By studying the Earth's atmosphere with the scrutiny of investigators at a crime scene, Foley said scientists know with certainty the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is entirely caused by human activity and are to blame for the nearly two degrees Fahrenheit the global climate has warmed over the past century.
Though two degrees may seem like a small number, UW-Madison scientists say the changes caused by this rise in temperature continue to appear around the world.
As the Earth heats, Foley said the chemical composition of land and water is changing, sea levels are rising and animal behavior is changing to adjust to new climates.
According to Patz, there is evidence that even Madison is experiencing global warming, with Lake Mendota freezing 25 percent less than it once did years ago.
""These aren't isolated things; they aren't happening on separate planets or in little test tubes in a lab,"" Foley said. ""These are happening on one planet - ours.""
Because of the size of the planet, Foley said it takes the Earth between 30 to 50 years to heat up, and the temperature changes we see today are the result of the warming of the planet nearly 50 years ago.
""If we want to start affecting the climate for not just today but for the next thousand years we need to get moving now,"" Foley said. By making personal lifestyle changes, joining environmental organizations and holding politicians accountable for the implementation of big-picture changes researchers believe people can begin to make a difference.
""If we're going to deal with global warming and environmental change with the urgency it deserves, we need to change the structure of government,"" Kloppenburg said. ""That means knowing where the different [presidential] candidates and [political] parties stand on environmental issues and voting.""
""We are living in an incredibly unique and defining moment in all of human history. In this moment, whether you like it or not, you have inherited a window into history that will effect what happens in the next one thousand years,"" Foley said. ""What you do today will affect our climate, what gets to be living and what gets to be dead for thousands of years.""
The health issue
Though global warming could have potentially devastating impacts on human health around the world, scientists largely agree humans can play a major role in slowing global climate change.
Patz said lifestyle changes to reduce energy and fossil fuel dependency in the United States will not only help to decrease greenhouse gas emissions but can also help improve the health of a country plagued with a variety of diseases caused by the largely sedentary lifestyle of Americans.
""The biggest problem with public health in the U.S. is obesity and the repercussions of obesity,"" Patz said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than two-thirds of all Americans and 15 percent of children are overweight, 7 percent of the population has diabetes and 60 percent of Americans do not meet the recommended levels of exercise.
""Yet, get this: More than 40 percent of trips made by car are less than two miles,"" Patz said. ""Couldn't that be bike-able or walk-able?""
""We have an obesity problem because we've replaced human labor with fossil fuel energy,"" said UW-Madison nutritionist Pete Anderson. ""We've produced two problems: global warming and obesity through the same act.""
""The 10 leading causes of death in the United States are related to sedentary lifestyle, air pollution, or motor vehicle crashes,"" Patz said. ""So, if we can redesign our cities to get cars off of the roads and replace that with walking and biking, [imagine] the disease burden we would reduce.""
Patz and others are working to promote the ""Triple-Win Biking Project,"" motivating community members to use biking for personal fitness, and help to reduce local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Patz said early calculations show that if 20 percent of commuters were to travel by bike each year, Madison would see a reduction in ozone, nitrogen oxide and particulates, thus decreasing respiratory problems and saving money from respiratory health issues and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 16 tons.
To bring the Triple-Win Biking Project into practice, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is working with city leaders to continue to improve and expand Madison's award-winning biking trails.
According to Patz, Mayor Dave has vowed for Madison to be the first city with true winter with the highest levels of bikability.
""Madison can really become an example for the rest of the country for having the most modern transportation system in the country,"" Patz said.
