OpinionGuest Essay

Credit...Gabriel Zimmer

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By Esau McCaulley

Contributing Opinion Writer

Humans are a remarkably ambitious species. We came to the edge of lands we could safely chart and built ships that would carry us to the unknown. When travel by water and land no longer suited us, we took to the skies. After journeying among the clouds could not sate our spirit, we turned our hearts to the stars.

But whatever it is about us that makes it so easy for us to dream, to build, to act, makes it hard for us to comprehend the consequences of those acts. We edit and shift our perception to put things in the best light.

It was not simply a desire to discover that took us to the sea and the air. It was also greed, an unsatiable thirst to own and conquer. That thirst, the conquest of the continents we found, the comforts we built for ourselves there, left their mark on the people and on nature itself. Just as the oppressed are finding their voice, the effects of climate change have grown louder over the last few decades. But 2023 felt like a shout.

The impact was everywhere. The eastern part of the country experienced unprecedented flooding. In Hawaii and the Northwest, fires did untold damage. In the Midwest, smoke hung over towns and cities. In the Southwest, places like Phoenix and Texas endured record-breaking stretches of heat. In Florida, the water temperature rose so high that it was unsafe to swim. Storms became increasingly dangerous. How great was the temptation to........

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