Dear Friends,

In January the biggest front-page, top-of-the-hour news of the natural world was the undersea volcano eruption near the Tongan islands and the subsequent tsunamis, falling ash, and devastation. Unlike some past eruptions, this one does not appear to have sent enough reflective material into the upper atmosphere to cool the planet and give us even a short reprieve from rising temperatures.

As for man-made news, tensions between Russia, Ukraine, and their allies are erupting as well. Not that he’s asking us, but perhaps President Vladimir Putin might do well to focus on the threats coming from the northeastern part of his country, not neighbors to the west. We aren’t foreign policy experts, but what is happening to his country’s permafrost could be far more unsettling – over the long term – to the country’s economy and stability than the sovereignty of Ukraine.

While not as visually arresting as an explosion in the South Pacific or the amassing of armed forces, the thawing permafrost is very bad news. Two-thirds of Russia’s landmass is considered permafrost – land that never thaws even in the summer – but climate change is causing it to thaw rapidly. This makes the ground soften and buckle, threatening critical infrastructure like roads, cities, and oil and gas pipelines across Siberia. And to top it off, vast stores of greenhouse gases like CO₂ and methane – that used to be frozen in the ground – are being released, joining man-made emissions in the atmosphere.

Eruptions, conflict, and a 24/7 news cycle make it easy to get distracted, and depressed. But we need to keep our focus on the long term trends as well: not only the slow-rolling threat of our warming planet but also the growing supply of creative and sustained solutions.

Like crocuses poking through the snow, climate and energy innovations are coming. We remain determined and hopeful, and know that you will too.

Warmly,

The C-Change Conversations Team