Climate change causes rising sea levels due to the melting of the polar ice caps which contribute to greater storm damage; warming ocean temperatures are associated with stronger and more frequent storms; additional rainfall, particularly during severe weather events, leads to flooding and other damage; an increase in the incidence and severity of wildfires threatens habitats, homes, and lives; and heat waves contribute to human deaths and other consequences. I read this in an article today: “I’ve seen the worst-case projections, and it’s a scary world out there if we don’t do something. I looked at maps of the areas in the US most vulnerable to climate change — Florida, the Carolinas, New York, Texas, California — and I realized I had a lot of family in these areas. So then I pulled up maps showing the areas with the fastest-growing Latino populations. They were almost identical.” What can we do to make a difference? Should we be concerned? Let’s talk about it…

Eliseo Moreno:
“Climate change will happen as it’s happened for 4 billion years on earth; it never has remained the same. Our lives are short and human beings have only been on the planet for about 200,000 years which is a small fraction of time in comparison to 4 billion. It is an illusion of our time that makes us think it should and will always be as it is as we know it in our brief period of time. We are changing things with pollution no doubt. We are changing the composition of our atmosphere and that will have a reaction. We can buy some time for future generations but this planet is doomed regardless of what we do.”

David Martin Repya:
“Just look at what has been going on in Australia..It is shocking.”

Javier Antonio Guzman:
“95% of the earth’s life has been hotter than it is in this current cold cycle; this is the lowest amount of co2 in the earth’s recorded natural history. Banks would never make loans or investments if the area was gonna flood in the next 10 decades.”

Candace Price:
“Climate change is a ploy for socialism to in fact take over and tell you what to do, drive, eat, hike up gas prices and so on. It’s the only purpose is control. The climate is and will always change, regardless of our efforts.”

Penelope Perez:
“Climate change has such an awful stigma associated with the semantics. I see a lot of really important work being done on the grounds of sustainability and resilience. Even if it is a huge ploy to control every aspect of our lives, there is still so much more we can be doing for the earth that would benefit us personally. Especially in this city. We give so much love to the Edwards Aquifer recharge zones, but little to nothing for the sacred watershed areas that are intimately connected to the San Antonio River. If we are worried about being controlled, we should battle big agriculture, big consumption and big pharma. We can help ourselves and our tierra and it begins with the soil, our gente must be willing to dig.”