Climate change is our responsibility, here and now

In the Nov. 25 edition of the Sunday New York Times, there was a startling image on the front page of the Sunday Review section: the Statue of Liberty submerged under water. The feature article, “Is This the End? Whether in 50 or 100 or 200 years, there is a good chance New York City will sink beneath the sea,” presents us with a scenario that was once reserved for science fiction. However, it has become abundantly clear that truth can be stranger than fiction—and right in our own times. Many of us on the East Coast are still reeling in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. What we watched on television in the safety of our living rooms during Katrina’s ravaging of New Orleans has become part of our story, too. And, really, it is now part of our collective story. In the words of a very wise person, “Climate change was predicted to arrive tomorrow, but it is happening today.”