Love Pasta? Love Skiing? Become an Environmentalist

The amount of concern over global warming, at least as far as it goes for the countries around the world, has been divided along geographic and economic lines. Countries that are islands or whose boundaries are dominated by low-lying coastal plains—and who are already seeing the effects of rising tides—are most certainly concerned. Wealthy countries who have the resources for adaptations are less concerned about the consequences of climate change than are countries that are poor. Bangladesh, the Netherlands, and the Maldives are freaked out by global warming; Russia, Canada, and the US not so much.

            Reading the accounts of climate negotiations, those are the things that have been dominating the headlines. And there are the headlines that reflect the concerns of scientists and environmentalists: the loss of wetlands, water availability, increased numbers of wildfires, and other environmental calamities.

            Just recently, I’ve noticed a few different sorts of stories about global warming, the concerns that industries and individuals have over how a warming planet will affect their livelihoods and pastimes. Farmers are now figuring out that rising temperatures can affect their crops. As wheat is the one grain that is quite sensitive to higher temperatures, wheat farmers, as well as the folks who make bread and pasta, are anticipating a drop of about 25% in yield of their crop.

            Their current strategy is adaptation. Agronomists are developing and farmers are testing wheat strains that can handle hotter and drier temperatures. I guess that is their smartest move. It is probably easier to pay a few scientists their salaries and perform some trial runs of crops than it is to lobby Congress and other governing bodies for a carbon tax and other climate legislation.

            Folks who ski have noticed that ski seasons are shorter and there is in general less snow on the slopes than their used to be. These skiers and others who enjoy winter sports are lobbying Congress and putting the ski industry on notice that they need to be more involved in keeping the planet cool. Interestingly, just as the oil and coal industries have lobbied and done what they could to keep climate change legislation off the agenda, corporations who have a financial interest in seeing the ski industry thrive, such as The North Face and Patagonia, are sponsoring the efforts of the ski organization.

            Maybe we can think of the ski slope operators and wheat farmers as the poor coastal countries of the economy, the ones who are the first to feel the pains of a warming world. As weather patterns change and the world becomes for the most part hotter and drier, other crops besides wheat will be affected. Orchards may produce fewer apples, and we may not get as many grapes from vineyards that have produced grapes for generations. Other folks besides skiers and ski slope operators could see their pastimes and livelihoods melt away.

As the term is global warming, it’s hard to think of anyone who isn’t going to be affected by a warmer planet. As with the farmers and skiers, however, they only took action once they saw how climate change had already affected their crops and slopes. I guess that explains why so few others are ready and willing to take action. Though we are cognizant of the skiers and wheat farmers, we don’t see how climate change affects us just yet. We are like coal miners who see the canaries getting sick and dying, but we just figure that it’s the birds’ problem and go on digging ourselves deeper into the mine.