Taking the climate seriously
A significant group of scientists –in both quantity and quality–, accompanied by a series of names from civil society, has signed an open letter to the governments of the two Generalitats (those of Catalonia and Valencia) alerting them to the need to take measures in the face of the threat from the meteorological phenomenon known as El Niño. This letter is part of the international campaign Alert El Niño, and whoever takes the trouble to read it will realize that there is little room for personal opinions, and even less for table or bar-side discussions. Clearly and concisely, the letter sets out what El Niño is, what its causes are, why this time it is more dangerous than on any other occasion, and what its consequences could be. It is not about creating alarmism, but about becoming aware of the reality of our natural environment, which of course has and will always have primacy over any other consideration. We are in the middle of the Mediterranean, one of the areas of the planet where climate change has a stronger and faster impact. In addition to awareness, the letter urges those in government to take the measures that are within their power to take: some are for immediate application, others are for the medium term, but all are necessary. The authority and prestige of the scientists who have signed the letter (such as CSIC researcher Jordi Solé or Physics doctor Olga Alcaraz) make it a document that must be taken very seriously.
Taking it very seriously means not trivializing issues that affect not only security, but also public health and even food sovereignty. That is why it is surprising, in a medium like the public and national radio of Catalonia, to have to hear pundits who allow themselves to dismiss the issue with four dismissive and supposedly ironic comments, before moving on to the next point on the script. Being right-wing does not force one to behave like the brothers-in-law on duty, especially if one has higher education and certain airs of notoriety, and a desire to impart learned opinions on everything that arises. Because if we trivialize issues like climate change, we run the risk of ending up like in the film Don't look up, a recommended satire in which the Earth is destroyed by a meteorite while the usual deniers dedicate themselves to claiming that there is no reason to be so alarmed.
The world is facing three emergencies: one political, in which democracy is in question; one climatic, about which scientists have been issuing alerts for years and years, and which are only now beginning—but just beginning—to be heard, and one housing-related, linked to the previous two, in which an increasingly large part of the population suffers from the impossibility of accessing decent housing. In all three, the right has much to say and much to contribute: in fact, the contribution of serious conservative thought is essential. It would be a pity to waste the occasion with a repertoire of contempt and jokes.
