For the first time in its 14-year history, the Iowa Climate Statement is focused on what individuals can do about climate change.
“We want to be clear that the solution is bigger than individual action, and we need leaders at all levels to enact policies if we want to avert even greater disasters than those we’ve seen all around us this year,” Prof. David Courard-Hauri of Drake University, one of the organizers of Iowa Environmental Educators Group, said during the online news conference for the publication of the 2024 Iowa Climate Statement.
“That said, there are numerous benefits to engaging in what action is available to you.”
This year’s statement was signed by 184 scientists from 32 universities and colleges in the state. The annual statement aims to bring a state-level focus to the global problem of climate change.
“We’re coming off the warmest decade on record for global average temperature, the 2010,” Bill Gutowski, professor emeritus of Meteorology at Iowa State University, explained in the news conference. “And global temperatures are continuing that upward trend.”
“We’ve recently had 15 consecutive months of record-setting global temperatures, and as a result, 2024 is on track to be the warmest year yet for global average temperature.”
As the news conference was going on, there was a stark example of the impact of that warming in the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Milton continued to move towards Florida. The heat of the water in the gulf fueled Milton’s growth from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane in less than 24 hours. Milton is expected to cause catastrophic damage when it comes ashore, just two weeks after the state was hit by Hurricane Helene, another exceptionally powerful storm.
“Here in Iowa temperatures for the year so far have been above average. Our past winter was the second-warmest in 152 years of records, with February the second-warmest and -driest February on record,” Gutowski continued.
As the atmosphere warms, it takes more moisture to reach a point of saturation that produces rain. And when it does rain, because there is more moisture, the rainfall is more intense. In Iowa, this has led to a pattern of drought conditions followed by torrential rain that contributes to flooding.
In recent years, climate scientists have grown increasingly concerned about “climate despair,” the feeling of hopelessness as the catastrophic consequences of climate change become increasingly clear, and the failure of governments, and the industries driving the change, to take effective action continues. Climate despair not only leads to anxiety and depression at personal-level, but also undermines effort to change the status quo at the societal-level.
“Students we work with feel anxious about the climate crisis; a survey of 10,000 young people found 84% report being moderately to extremely worried about climate change, with over 60% responding that it makes them feel sad, afraid, and anxious,” this year’s Iowa Climate Statement says. “This anxiety manifests in multiple ways: some students report that they will forgo having children, others worry about their physical and financial health. Given these overwhelming concerns, students often ask what they can do about climate change.”
The climate statement encourages people to take a variety of actions, from making efficiency updates in their homes and offices to changing personal habits, such as biking to work instead of driving.
“In general, right now it’s easier than it’s ever been to actually get things done that address climate change,” Courard-Hauri, chair of Environmental Science and Sustainability program at Drake, said. He was referring to both the readily available technology and other resources to help people make green-friendly changes in their lives.
Of course, focusing on individuals making small changes has often been used by politicians and corporations attempting to avoid responsibility for addressing the climate crisis. The idea of the personal “carbon footprint” was created by an ad agency working for the fossil fuel giant BP as a way of diverting attention from the actions of BP and other fossil fuel companies.
Courard-Hauri said some of the signatories of this year’s Iowa Climate Statement had been concerned “because they were afraid that the message would come across as individuals should be responsible for addressing climate change.”
“There are a whole lot of benefits that come from individual action, but it’s not going to solve the climate crisis by itself. It needs to be part of a larger strategy,” he said.
The conclusion of the climate statement does mention the importance of “individuals using their voices and votes … to effect necessary changes to promptly address climate change,” but that is the only mention of politics in the statement. That is perhaps understandable, given the need to make the statement acceptable to a wide variety of climate scientists, and also because of how in recent years the Republicans who control the Iowa Legislature have sought to restrict or eliminate programs and activities at state universities that they find politically objectionable. Still, given the fact that one of two major candidates have made climate change denial part of his stump speech, it does seem to be a significant omission.
During this year’s campaign, Donald Trump has routinely dismissed climate change with the ridiculous claim that “global warming” just means “that the ocean will rise, in the next 300 years, by one-eighth of an inch.” It should go without saying this is false.
Leading Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have made a refusal to engage with the facts of human-driven climate change as part of their political identity. Earlier this year, DeSantis signed a bill prohibiting Florida state documents from referring to climate change and removing almost existing references to the problem from state laws and regulations.
In Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds has largely avoided making any sort of reference to climate change. Perhaps her most direct statement on the climate crisis came during her run for governor in 2018, in a televised debate with Democratic challenger Fred Hubbell.
Reynolds was asked if she accepted that climate change is occurring, that it is driven by human activity and is having a major impact on the world.
“I think it’s a factor. I think it’s overstated,” Reynolds replied. “But I believe that we are working hard every day to do our part, especially when it comes to renewables.”
Earlier this year, Reynolds refused to endorse applications from several counties seeking federal funds to support clean energy programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gases and other air pollution. The counties were seeking to access money available through the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program created by the Biden administration as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. In 2023, Reynolds rejected participating in the grant program. Only three other states — including Florida — refused to participate in the $4.6 billion clean energy grant program.
As this year’s Iowa Climate States notes, “global surface temperature in 2023 was the highest since measurement began 174 years ago.”
“This contributed to 28 separate billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. In Iowa, the past 25 years have brought heat waves and more climate change-induced economic disasters caused by rainfall increases, flooding, humidity, and extreme winds. These impacts are projected to become even more severe in Iowa’s near future.”
