In the classic 1939 film version of the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, played by Judy Garland, inadvertently throws a bucket of water on the Wicked Witch of the West causing her to melt. As she’s shrinking, she cackles, “I’m melting, I’m melting.”
As I stood at the terminus of the Athabasca Glacier recently, which is retreating, aka melting, at a little over 16 feet a year, that refrain was all I could hear in the silence of this spectacular buildup of ice, part of the massive Columbia Ice Field in Canada’s Rocky Mountains. It’s easily accessible, although the hike is sobering. There are markers along the trail identifying how much the glacier has retreated since 1890, about 1500 meters (just short of a mile for us non-metric system people).
I crossed paths with many glaciers on my two-month journey through Alaska and Canada, predominately alpine glaciers I explored through my binoculars from a distance. All were impressive; long white arms of ice seemingly emanating right out of a mountain peak. These frozen rivers, formed over millenniums, creep downward, scraping away at the terrain, sculpting the landscape. I didn’t expect to be so captivated by these breathtaking natural wonders, but I was. And saddened by the fact that they’re disappearing.
It’s impossible to be in the presence of a retreating glacier and not be sobered by the effects of climate change. Not making a political statement, just acknowledging that the weather on this planet we all live on is changing … it’s getting hotter. Why? Well, so many theories compounded by so much disagreement on the cause makes it difficult to answer that. Not going to even try.
I’m not a scientist, just a believer in the merits of doing everything we can to take good care of our communal home. I’m not going to sermonize, experts much more knowledgeable than I am on the climate have done that — so often and so stridently that I think it falls on deaf ears more often than not now. There are just too many variables to a workable solution, one that could be embraced by the world populace.
But there are steps we can all take. One I’ve taken is to participate in the United Nations’ Act Now program. It identifies 17 Sustainable Development Goals designed to transform our world. It is a call for action to all countries in an effort to “promote prosperity while protecting the planet.” Goals include, of course, affordable and clean energy, clean water and sanitation, climate action, as well as addressing broader social issues like poverty, hunger, quality education, reduced inequalities and decent work and economic growth. There’s a call to each of us to choose an issue and make an impact. I chose “Healthy Planet.” And there’s an app — aWorld — where I can track the impact of my actions and those of a a global community committed to making a difference. It’s a simple way to be part of the climate change conversation.
In a moment of undue stress, Dorothy acted! She just wanted to get home. We can’t click red ruby slippers like Dorothy did, but we can, in this moment of undue stress to the planet, act. Because there’s just no place like our home.
