Transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau transcended time once again as Boston University and Harvard University researchers used his centuries-old observations and records to gauge the extent of localized climate change. More than just findings about the famous Walden Pond, these findings should serve as an eye-opening realization about the consequences we all face for failing to address the problem of climate change.
When Thoreau recorded and tracked more than 500 species of flora in Concord during the mid-1800s, not even Thoreau himself could predict the state of the flora150 years later. According to the joint research findings, 25 percent of Thoreau’s observed plants are now extinct from the area, and about 66 percent of once-abundant plants are now considered rare. The decline in diversity can be attributed to the increase in average annual temperature since Thoreau’s observations, according to the findings.
Walden Pond is a case example of a preserved, undeveloped piece of land that is being directly and vastly affected by the habits and behaviors of human activity. Some of these losses undoubtedly occurred due to natural climate change. But the extent of the change in vegetation is too great to have happened without man-made influence.
During the more than 150 years since Thoreau made his recordings, the environmental change is obvious. On a year-to-year basis, environmental degradation may not be so obvious. That’s why it’s absolutely necessary for world leaders to take these findings seriously, not just as the musings of a literary figure, but as historical evidence of a climate in crisis. They should use this information as a catalyst to create meaningful change on a global level.
As the policies of the United States face serious change under President-elect Obama, we must emphasize the importance of addressing climate change meaningfully and quickly. In December 2009, the world will meet in Copenhagen at the United Nations Climate Change Conference with the hopes of creating a treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in 2012. Without immediate preparatory action by the Obama administration, the United States will not be ready to contribute to the conference, and as the world learned with the Kyoto Protocol, U.S. leadership is crucial to success.
The world cannot afford further delay when it comes to addressing global climate change. As we have learned from observations at Walden Pond, serious and irreparable losses to biodiversity can happen on a very local level over a very short timeframe. The problem is as serious as ever, and the Obama administration must be prepared to deal with this threat seriously and without delay.
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