Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

U.S. lifestyle affects others

The future of Bangladesh, a country about the size of Illinois or Florida, lying on the northern shore of the Indian Ocean, may depend on how U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham votes on climate change legislation currently under consideration in the Senate. Or it may depend on your actions. Or both.

Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to catastrophic flooding from rivers and tropical storms. More than a quarter of the country is flooded annually, and this can increase to 60 percent to 80 percent during major floods. Nearly 20 million of its more than 150 million residents live on land that is less than a meter above sea level.

Flooding in Bangladesh is not a new event. Causes include excessive rainfall and snowmelt in the foothills of the Himalayas, where many global rainfall records have been set. And, like Louisiana's coast, the deltas of Bangladesh are slowly subsiding. But changes in land use that include Western-style development and deforestation in the Himalayan foothills for agriculture, fuel or habitation have prevented the ground from absorbing water, thus leading to increased flash flooding.

Even more ominous than the impacts of development and deforestation, perhaps more appropriately adding insult to injury, are the consequences of global climate change, which may conspire as the perfect storm to perhaps fatally stress Bangladesh.

These impacts include increased melting of the Himalayan snowpack; more extreme weather events that may include increased rainfall and more frequent and intense tropical storms; and the scariest impact of all, rising sea level.

Where is the justice? Bangladesh is an extremely impoverished country that is only a trivial producer of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change. Bangladesh's 2004 emissions of CO2 totaled 33.9 million metric tons, compared to the United States' 5.8 billion metric tons. The annual per capita emissions were even more disparate: 0.22 metric tons per Bangladeshi compared to 19.8 metric tons for each resident of the U.S.

Here's where Sen. Graham enters the picture. Although there is a scientific consensus that it is already too late to completely avoid some deadly climate change impacts, there may still be time to avert even worse consequences. Meaningful progress on what may without exaggeration be characterized as saving civilization depends to a great extent on actions of the U.S., China and India. In the U.S., the most important action is passage of a law reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Sen. Graham has accepted the scientific truth of human-caused climate change. An environmentalist friend who has met with Graham is convinced that his position is sincere.

Most of the environmental and scientific communities disagree with Graham's position that fighting climate change must include increased reliance on offshore oil and nuclear power. And there is the real possibility that courting Graham and other so-called climate-change moderates may give them disproportionate influence on an already-flawed bill.

At the same time there is the reality that what is killing Bangladeshis and causing climate change is in part something that each of us has the power to change without governmental action: our profligate, energy-hogging lifestyles that include big houses, big screen TVs, meat-focused diets and SUVs.

It may be unimaginable that our actions, however innocent their intent, may be making life miserable for people 8,000 miles away, but it's true, and that reality should horrify us all into action.

Abel is a professor at Coastal Carolina University, environmentalist and author.