20 Questions About Climate Change - Where do we start with climate change mitigation?

Major U.S. weather events used to occur roughly every four years, yet the frequency today averages once every 2.8 weeks, says climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe.

Hayhoe says 70% of Americans agree that the climate is changing and are concerned, yet only 40% think it will affect them personally. Sixty-six percent say they never talk about it.

Climate change touches absolutely everything, from our food to our garbage, from clothing to transportation — even the energy we use to turn on the lights. All these challenges require mitigation strategies to reach net zero and will necessitate compromise and creative solutions at local levels.

People often don’t know what to do. We get blocked on understanding why it matters so urgently, and discerning how to fix it, says Hayhoe.

Interestingly, most people believe others are hesitant to act. In a recent article in Nature, Peter Andre and his team interviewed 130,000 people in 125 countries, nations accounting for 96% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

They learned that 69% of people are committed to climate change action enough to contribute 1% of their household income.

"Eighty six percent of respondents state that people in their country should try to fight global warming", writes Andre, adding "eighty nine percent stated that their national government should do more."

In other words, while people are willing to be a part of the solution, they think their neighbors are not.

Where do we start? Reducing GHG emissions is paramount. "There is no substitute for mitigation. It is the most important thing," says Kamal Kapadia , co-founder of Terra.do, an educational nonprofit.

That means radically slowing the burning of fossil fuels, no easy task when the entire world economy ($100 trillion for the U.S. alone) relies on them. Yet a net-zero emissions profile is necessary to slow the GHGs already in the atmosphere, thus reducing future harm.

Reducing future harm means connecting to our values to protect future generations. While people will naturally disagree about climate change, especially in our polarized political environment, we can perhaps align around the common value of family and wanting to give younger generations a better life. In this context, "better" means clean air and water, local food, cheaper non-polluting energy, national security and a world that leans into balance.

"Better" also means protecting the elements that define our identity, like farming and ranching, experiencing the Front, and being part of a community.

So where to start? We want to do the easiest and cheapest things first, according to Hayhoe. A few solutions:

First, the economy depends on fossil fuels and they contribute to GHGs. According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development, "redirecting the $570 billion of annual planned new oil and gas investments could fully finance wind and solar expansion." The International Monetary Fund also "calculated that coal, oil and gas received $7 trillion in subsidies in 2022."

Of course, this transition doesn’t work without training and support for those working in the fossil fuels industry. They absolutely need to retain their job security to support their families.

A major focus is renewables, which are far from perfect. It takes energy to build wind turbines and we don’t recycle the blades after their lifespan, says Scientific American. Yet the advances in renewables make them the cheapest energy source to date, Hayhoe says.

When we think about how energy powers our economy, and that renewables offer a solution free of emissions, the transition has merit. Renewables open the door to a more stable climate with less atmospheric damage.

The second piece is creating a more balanced world. This is a lofty goal. Climate change poses the biggest challenge to those contributing least to the problem, people from lower-income countries. Poverty creates an unfair playing field, as there is less buffer around weather events.

The mitigation goals of the United Nations include reducing poverty through education, hunger elimination, clean water and sanitation, gender equity and healthcare. By caring for those impacted, particularly women and children who have less agency in foreign nations, we all benefit.

Perhaps the best mitigation strategy is simply talking to each other.

"Conversations underpin all climate action. Where people choose to invest their money, what party they vote for, what energy sources they use at home, all these actions start with conversations," says George Marshall, author of Don't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change.

Climate change solutions need to resonate with who we are, and hope is necessary for action. We all need good information that we can trust.