Opinion | The Future of Climate Change: Orange Skies and Red Alerts

The world might not end with a sudden and universal catastrophe, but rather with a series of smaller, more local catastrophes that keep getting bigger and more widespread. Despite some complaints about the media’s attention to New York’s orange skies and red alerts, its predecessors received too little attention. The wildfires in the Western United States were a harbinger of coming climate-related disasters. Today, enough influential people have seen with their own eyes what’s happening and it’s important to learn from these crises.

Climate change has disrupted life for tens of millions and will no doubt take a serious toll on health, including a fair number of premature deaths. Climate scientists have been warning for decades that global warming would lead to a proliferation of wildfires. Last year, a U.N. report warned of a “global wildfire crisis” as many forested areas become hotter and drier. The smoke-filled skies outside our windows are, in effect, a validation of mainstream climate science.

Some people tend to assume that a warming planet is only bad for faraway places that are already hot, but there are no safe places. Right now, even Canada is on fire and central New York State has been hit as hard or harder than New York City. The damage from climate change will gradually build over time, as formerly freakish disasters become bigger and more frequent, affecting ever more people. Even effective climate action now won’t be enough to prevent disasters from becoming even bigger and more frequent for many more years.

All indications are that recent U.S. actions to promote an energy transition are working better and faster than even their proponents expected, with the private sector rushing to invest in clean energy. Other countries should follow this lead. Despite some conspiracy theories about this disaster spreading like wildfire, it is important to face the reality of climate change and act on it. Although taking action can slow the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the climate won’t improve—it may get worse more slowly. So for the foreseeable future, we’ll be facing even bigger climate-related disasters.