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Recently we’ve heard references to telltale signs of a warming planet affecting different parts of the world or the projections of a neglected climate. Climate change is a growing topic of focus in the media, where professionals draw the connections between extreme weather patterns, increased population migrations, sea level rise and animal extinctions as a result of the increase of CO2 in our atmosphere.
According to the United Nations, a disastrous event like the Australian wildfires in 2021, that burned 8.4 million hectares of land, is a direct result of extreme drought and intense heat. For context, one hectare is equivalent to 2.47 acres, so the amount of land burned in Australia comes to be around 20.7 million acres. In Texas we love our football so it’s only appropriate to compare that to just about 16 million football fields. It’s estimated that along with dozens of people killed during the weeks-long event, BILLIONS of animals were lost in the process.
So why am i mentioning Australia? Well what happened down under is just one of the many extreme events our planet has experienced because of a warming climate. But don’t be fooled, just because our globe is experiencing an increase in temperature, doesn’t mean every related incident of this crisis results in flames.
Remember those record-breaking temperatures in February 2021 I sure do. I was stranded in Victoria without electricity, far from my home. In January, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration raised concerns about the polar vortex being disrupted due to an irregular warming of the globe. Likely the majority of Americans asked, what’s that?
More:Texans’ trauma from 2021 power grid failure provoked by another winter storm
Our planet’s poles are surrounded by areas of low pressure and cold air but when you throw in rapidly warming geography, you get extreme cold events in southern parts of America. According to NOAA stratosphere expert Amy Butler, “…anything that changes their strength or location—including changes in surface temperature and pressure that result from sea ice loss—can potentially influence the polar vortex.” Butler highlights the fact that as there is an overall warming trend happening around the globe, we may see an increase in the severity of individual cold weather events in places like Texas that usually don’t experience freezing electric grids.
Research has shown that disruptions to the polar vortex can lead to extreme cold air events in the mid-latitudes of America. Academic papers — whether from NOAA, the United Nations, Climate.Gov, National Geographic, or universities — demonstrate the reality of climate change that has affected and will affect different regions of our planet, some of them closer to home.
Corpus Christi is located in a bay near the Gulf of Mexico. It’s known for its recreational beaches, the National Seashore, and being a home to endangered marine animals like the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle and a plethora of migratory birds, which has earned it the title, “Birdiest City in America” for close to a decade now. Our city is one of 254 communities located in the U.S. near an ocean. According to NOAA, these coastal communities are classified as high coastal hazard. The effects of climate change are threatening the lives and livelihoods of the 124,000,000 Americans who live near the coast.
The National Center for Coastal Ocean Science adds that cities like ours face increasing sea levels, flooding, and storm surges. The U.S. alone suffered losses of more than $1 million from weather and climate disasters in 2016. Corpus Christi isn’t unknown to these extreme weather events, winter storms, hurricane conditions, and flooding costs.
We’ve had our fair share of shoveling money towards addressing the aftermath of these disastrous tragedies, but unfortunately we’ve only ever reacted to these sorts of extreme weather events instead of strategically preparing for them long-term. Our coastal community ought to be in favor of protecting our “Sparkling City by the Sea” by acknowledging our risk of an increase in climate change related events. Extreme weather events or sea level rise can affect parts of or whole coastal ecosystems, and the functions they provide for our coastal community’s economy.
As a city at risk of climate change, we owe it to ourselves and the more than 326,000 citizens residing here to prepare for these changes in weather patterns. Resilience can be defined as the ability of a community to plan, prepare, and adapt to adverse conditions. It’s time the “Sparkling City by the Sea” transitions to the “Resilient City by the Sea” by putting climate change on our radar before our sparkle begins to dim.
Armon Alex serves as vice-chair of the Mayor’s Environmental Task Force, is the youngest member of the board of directors for EarthEcho International, is a science communications TedTalk speaker and is the co-executive director of the Gulf of Mexico Youth Climate Summit. He currently is an undergraduate student at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
