“It Is in Our Hands”

Half of humanity is in the danger zone from floods, droughts, extreme storms and wildfires. No nation is immune. Yet we continue to feed our fossil fuel addiction.

. . . What troubles me most is that, in facing this global crisis, we are failing to work together as a multilateral community. Nations continue to play the blame game instead of taking responsibility for our collective future. We cannot continue this way. We have a choice. Collective action or collective suicide. It is in our hands.

– António Guterres
Quoted in Fiona Harvey’s article,
“Humanity Faces ‘Collective Suicide’
Over Climate Crisis, Warns UN Chief”
The Guardian
July 18, 2022

Related Off-site Links:
A 117 Degree Day in Portugal: Record-breaking Heat Waves Hit Europe – Lee Yaron (Haaretz, July 18, 2022).
European Heatwave Death Toll Soars Above 1,500 as Temperatures Soar Across Continent – ABC News) July 19, 2022).
Bill McKibben: Record Heat Wave in Europe Is Latest Warning That Action on Climate Can’t Wait – Democracy Now!) July 18, 2022).
Disappointed by Climate Speech, Activists Say People Are Dying “While Biden Dithers” – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, July 20, 2022).
Rallies Held Across U.S. for “Climate, Care, Jobs, and Justice” – Kenny Stancil (Common Dreams, April 23, 2022).
Climate Emergency! – Marianne Williamson in Conversation With Climate Scientist Peter Kalmus – Transform (via YouTube), April 22, 2022.
Activists Blockade Corporate Newspapers Over Inadequate Climate Coverage – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, April 22, 2022).
We Can’t Solve the Climate Crisis With a Broken Democracy – Mark Hertsgaard (The Guardian, January 10, 2022).

UPDATES: “It’s Already Happening”: Ugandan Activist Vanessa Nakate on Deadly Climate Crisis in Africa – Democracy Now!) July 21, 2022).
Paper Straws Are Not Enough. Only “System Change” Can Halt Climate Crisis, Says George Monbiot – Democracy Now!) July 21, 2022).
Thousands Evacuated Over Wildfire Near Yosemite as California Governor Declares Emergency – Associated Press via The Guardian (July 23, 2022).
Greenland Loses 6 Billion Tons of Ice in 3 Days, Harbinger of Unprecedented Coastal Flooding – Juan Cole (Common Dreams, July 24, 2022).
The World Burns and the Richest Profit. It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way – Adam Ramsay (Common Dreams, July 24, 2022).
Climate Endgame: Risk of Human Extinction “Dangerously Underexplored” – Damian Carrington (The Guardian, August 1, 2022).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Declaration of Interdependence
• For Earth Day 2022
• Biophilia, the God Pan, and a Baboon Named Scott
• Bernie Sanders: Quote of the Day – July 1, 2021
• The Stakes Have Shifted
• Examining the Link Between Destruction of Biodiversity and Emerging Infectious Diseases
• The Landscape Is a Mirror
• Something to Think About – February 10, 2020
• In Australia, “the Land As We Know It Is No More”
• Greta Thunberg: Quote of the Day – September 23, 2019
• Five Powerful Responses to the Amazon Fires
• Greta Thunberg: Quote of the Day – March 16, 2019
• As the World Burns, Calls for a “Green New Deal”
• Thomas Moore on the Circling of Nature as the Best Way to Find Our Substance
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – August 29, 2017
• The People’s Climate Solidarity March – Minneapolis, 4/29/17
• “It Is All Connected”
• Standing Together
• Standing in Prayer and Solidarity with the Water Protectors of Standing Rock
• The Paris Climate Talks, Multilateralism, and a “New Approach to Climate Action”
• Earth Day 2015
• Thomas Berry (1914-2009)
• Rachel Smolker: Quote of the Day – September 19, 2014
• Earth Day 2013
• Superstorm Sandy: A “Wake-Up Call” on Climate Change
• Chris Hedges: Quote of the Day – May 31, 2011

Image: A still from a video by Eusebio Pazos Gullón showing firefighters hydrating a roe deer during the wildfires raging in Spain.