News & Articles

On July 22, the climateandeconomy.com website reported on the latest climate news from around the world. 

There was heavy rainfall and flooding in Moscow, which broke the city’s precipitation record from 1879. 

Also, Italy faced an intense heatwave; worsening desertification was affecting 43% of Nigeria; Doha, Qatar recorded a heat index of 133 degrees Fahrenheit; floods and landslides hit Fuzha, China with 11.65 inches of rain in 12 hours; and Scandinavia recorded the hottest heatwave in its history. 

A day earlier, there was an article in the New York Times titled “Climate Change is Making Fire Weather Worse for World’s Forests.” 

According to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the area of forest canopy lost to fire in 2023 and 2024 was at least two times bigger than the annual average of the previous two decades. 

And presented in a study in the journal Nature Communications, climate change is making severe fire weather more common around the world which is raising the chances of more extensive forest fire seasons. 

Also, on July 21, Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) presented a piece titled “Climate change continues to drive warmer weather extremes in Great Lakes Region.” The article reported that the region had already warmed about 3 degrees and the precipitation increased by 15%. 

In an updated study by the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the average annual temperatures were 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit warmer for 2017-2024 as compared to the prior four decades. And increased warming and precipitation are contributing to the formation of harmful algae blooms. 

It’s now July 25 and there is another air quality alert in Duluth due to the wildfires in Canada. 

With more alarming and disturbing climate news coming out every week, it’s easy to understand why so many of us are feeling more anxiety and stress. And when the climate events hit closer to home, like the growing number and intensity of Canadian wildfires to our north and the air quality alerts in our city, it’s no surprise why many of us, even here in Duluth, are beginning to panic. 

Ira J. Allen, in his book Panic Now?, talks about the importance and value of acknowledging panic when it comes to facing climate change. Allen proposes that we need to learn to live with panic in order to help us grapple with our future and create new worlds. And then he asks “how exactly can we panic wisely?”

It is through the practice of solidarity that we can allow ourselves to be “shaped by the struggles of others” and to realize how much we need each other. Allen argues that we can also explore new possibilities with our most vulnerable neighbors. 

And he also encourages us to seriously consider “new forms of living together” that we can undertake right now. 

The Dalai Lama examines what he calls “the faculty of wise discernment” in his book Ethics For The New Millennium. It is through the process of “skillful means” (where our actions are motivated by compassion) and “insight” (using our critical thinking), that we look at any particular situation with the hope and ideal of “nonharming” others. 

In Duluth, how do we embrace the faculty of wise discernment as we explore the city’s future climate reality? 

If we listen to Allen and the Dalai Lama, then we should begin by exploring new possibilities and creating new worlds for the vulnerable populations in our city. 

If we look back at the 2018 climate vulnerability assessment for Duluth, it’s clear that we need to consider the needs of such groups as children, senior citizens, the homeless, disabled community and those who are unemployed. And we need to critically think about how our city can choose compassion, and find nonharming ways to help and support these groups in Duluth.

Looking at the mission and work of our Loaves and Fishes community, it’s become apparent that we also need to explore possibilities for new forms of living together and opportunities to share resources and experiences; especially in collaborative ways with those who are vulnerable and struggling.

For those of you who are reading this column, take a moment and ask yourself what you can do today to make wiser choices and decisions in this new climate-change world that we’re all facing and living through.