Stories in Life. On the Radio with Mark and Joe.
Mark and Joe interview people with stories that affirm your belief in the goodwill, courage, determination, commitment and vision of everyday people.
Our primary goal is that, through another person's story, you will find meaningful connection no matter your place in life. We intend that the stories we select will be inspiring and maybe help you laugh, cry, think or change your mind about something important in your life.
Stories in Life. On the Radio with Mark and Joe.
Confronting Global Climate Change: Adaptive Strategies for Families with Dr. Lorin Robinson
Explore the future of with Dr. Lorin Robinson, a distinguished journalist and author, as he unveils the real-world strategies needed to combat the relentless march of global warming. Dr. Robinson, who has spent years dissecting the complexities of climate change, provides a sobering look at the current state of our environment in his latest work, "Surviving the Warming: Strategies for Americans." This episode promises to arm listeners with valuable insights into the alarming rise of greenhouse gas emissions and the pressing need for renewable energy solutions, all while equipping families with actionable steps to respond to the inevitable challenges we face.
We envision a wave of climate migration reminiscent of the Dust Bowl era. And as we turn our focus to collective action, we challenge the role of consumer culture in hindering environmental sustainability. This episode is more than just a discussion; it's a rallying cry for personal and collective responsibility, inviting listeners to engage with their communities, governments, and corporations to forge a sustainable future for generations to come.
Welcome to Stories in Life. You're on the radio with Mark and Joe. We share stories that affirm your belief in the goodwill, courage, determination, commitment and vision of everyday people through another person's story, you may find connection.
Mark Wolak:no matter your place in life, the stories we select will be inspiring and maybe help you laugh, cry, think or change your mind about something important in your life.
Joe Boyle:Join us for this episode of Stories in Life.
Dr Lorin Robinson:no silver bullet. Actually, we've had silver bullets. We've had six silver bullets for decades in fact, over 100 years in one case and those silver bullets are solar, wind, nuclear, hydro, thermal and tidal energy sources Wonderful sources of energy that are not polluting. We've had them for decades in fact, for a case of hydroelectric power, over 100 years and we've chosen not to use them. Instead, we've gone to using cheap and affordable fossil fuels, and we're paying the price for that right now.
Mark Wolak:Welcome to Stories in Life. Today, we're going to go in the direction of a new theme for Stories in Life. Our guest is Dr Lorin Robinson, a journalist and an author who has a different take on the subject, and he's explaining, in his recently published book, surviving, the Warming Strategies for Americans. Welcome to the show, Lorin. Well, thank you, I'm glad to be here. It's great to have you here.
Dr Lorin Robinson:Glad to be here and talk with your listeners.
Joe Boyle:Glad to have you here, Lorin. Why don't you provide us and our listeners with some of your background and what led you to your interest in the climate crisis? I know, for example, this isn't your first book on the subject, right?
Dr Lorin Robinson:I've been a practicing journalist and journalism educator for over 50 years. About a decade ago, I began to immerse myself in the issues of global warming, or the warming as I choose to call it. Let's face it, we all know it's global, so why bother being redundant? And it was clear then, when I began looking at it, we were heading into very serious problems as a species and I got interested in looking at it to more depth, with doing a book that might pertain to the subject matter.
Dr Lorin Robinson:My first book was an effort, through climate fiction, to put a human face on the coming crisis. My second book, Tales from the Warming, is a series of ten short stories that take readers around the world over time again to tell stories about people facing the climate catastrophe. The new book, Surviving the Warming, takes a different approach. It's a sort of survival manual encouraging people primarily families and extended families to begin to prepare now for what I believe will be a civilization-changing event in our lives the warming. So that's how I got into it, kind of as a journalist. I kept following it for a number of years and my first book in 2015 was called the Warming, and the second one was, of course, the follow-up with the short stories and now kind of a survival manual in terms of what you need to think about to survive the warming you and your family and families into the future.
Mark Wolak:Interesting. Yeah. What I liked about it was this focus on what could families do, and what might we be thinking about in terms of a larger family or a community, to address the concerns that we're all going to face, right you?
Joe Boyle:it wasn't about all is lost, it's about well. This is the reality.
Mark Wolak:Now we got to do something about right you know, one of the things I think the challenge for people is to try to understand the science behind the warming of the planet. Are there some things that you want to share that you learned in this last book about that?
Dr Lorin Robinson:Yeah, the problem with the situation today is that people are still often wearing rose-colored glasses when it comes to the future of the planet and its inhabitants. You keep hearing claims that it's possible for us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to dodge the worst of the warming and worst it has to offer. I wish that were true, but the data doesn't support it, and I have some examples here of data that don't support the notion that we can still save ourselves from the worst that's coming. Support the notion that we can still save ourselves from the worst that's coming Without getting too deeply into the weeds. Let me share some of the bad news. First, despite efforts to the contrary, we're putting record amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. The total in 2023 was 37 billion, that's with a B tons.
Joe Boyle:And that's worldwide.
Dr Lorin Robinson:Worldwide. Yes, right, and 2024 is on track to be another record year a projected 37.5 billion tons. Wow, so we're not really reducing greenhouse gases, although we're trying. If you were to chart it out over 10 years, for example, I believe the chart would show a flattened line, or flattening line, as we try to reduce greenhouse gases, but we're still actually adding, not subtracting, greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Some time ago, scientists established exceeding 400 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere as a tipping point, the point at which the warming would be baked in irreversible.
Dr Lorin Robinson:I checked this morning the current ppm for CO2. It's online, you can check yourself every morning if you want to, and it's currently just under 420 parts per million and rising. So it's already way above the limit that scientists set as the kind of breaking point or tipping point for the problems that will ensue. Incidentally, the last time the PPM exceeded 400 parts per million, three million years ago, camels and horses lived in the lush Arctic and Siberia, the ocean water was 30 feet higher than today and globally the temperature was 5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than it is today. So it certainly is an issue.
Dr Lorin Robinson:I should mention that 2022, for example, the PPM was 365 at the end of the year, and here we are coming up on the end of 2024, and it's already 420. So the increase is rather rapid and it's very scary because this is an indicator that we're heading for big, big, big trouble, and very soon. Also, the carbon dioxide molecule itself is a problem. A chemist will tell you that it's very robust and what that means is it can take up to 90 years 90 years to dissolve in the atmosphere. That means that a molecule released today out of some tailpipe or some smokestack could be causing trouble, if I get the math right, in 2021-14. So 90 years out, it could still be up there causing trouble.
Joe Boyle:And that's happening everywhere, all the time, all day, everywhere, all the time all day.
Dr Lorin Robinson:If you go backwards to 1934, a molecule released in 1934 could still be up there and just starting to dissolve now, 90 years later. So it's a very robust and, as a result, a very dangerous molecule for this problem. And here's some more really bad news that's of rather recent vintage. It was recently discovered that huge quantities of CO2 and methane gases are being released by the rapidly melting Arctic and Siberian tundra. It's estimated that four times as much CO2, four times as much is locked in the tundra than has ever been released by humans. Four times as much.
Dr Lorin Robinson:And again going back to the situation 3,000 years ago, before the last ice age, when it was warm up there really warm and lush, all of the vegetation that was there as it died as it got colder was locked into the ice, and so we're facing now the release of all that CO2 and methane. If that had not been considered in earlier modeling, it wasn't known. That's the trouble with what's going on, why it's so hard to get a handle on what's happening, because we're always finding new things. As we go along, New variables pop up, and this is a major, major variable that wasn't known until quite recently. So, as humans try to reduce the amount of CO2 going up into the atmosphere. Ironically, the planet will, over time, more than replace it. I call this Mother Nature's revenge.
Joe Boyle:So is what you're saying, that replacing fossil fuels with non-fossil fuels isn't going to save us?
Dr Lorin Robinson:It won't save us. It'll certainly help a little bit, but the fact is, the situation is so grim right now that we're not going to dodge much of the worst that the warming has to offer. It's going to hit us head on pretty hard. What we need to do is look instead, I think now, at trying to figure out adaptive strategies to help families and others survive and make the best of what's coming, and that's what the book is trying to get at and help people to face and think about. Again, in the sake of transparency, I'm not claiming to be a futurist or a seer, but the thoughts I present in the book are more like possibilities and they're based on the science that we have currently available to us.
Mark Wolak:They're kind of like thought exercises, point out how resilient and adaptable and creative human beings have been, and that the source of your efforts in this book is to help people take a look at what that resilience might look like.
Dr Lorin Robinson:Right, we can do things. Certainly that will help to make it easier for us to survive what's coming in terms of all of the negatives the horrific weather, the rising oceans, the hot temperatures, the wildfires, the droughts and all the rest. There are things we can do, but we have to prepare now because this will not be solved in a short term. It will need to be thought out thoroughly. We need to work on it, starting right now to make any kind of arrangements to help us survive as families and extended families and even multi-generationally, our families in the future. Expectations to be more realistic in terms of what the warming is going to do to the way we live, and part of that is to revise our lifestyles, and I suggest in the book a motto or a mantra that is very appropriate and that does, I think, summarize what new attitudes need to be taken to do that.
Dr Lorin Robinson:The trend in this country has been to migrate toward trouble, not away from it. As I mentioned, the oceans, our ocean shorelines, are not safe places to be in the next couple of decades and on beyond that, and I think there'll be mass migration over time from the shores. As an example, 127 million Americans currently live in counties bordering more than 13,000 miles of coastline. In counties bordering our more than 13,000 miles of coastline, that's almost 40% of the population living in on only about 10% of our landmass. And it's these folks who will be most severely affected in the short term along the Atlantic and Gulf, particularly because those areas are slowly sinking. Florida is a prime example. The state averages only six feet above sea level, with many areas at zero to three feet. It's now a peninsula, but predictions are that by 2050, it may become an archipelago as the water fills in these low areas, creating islands. So the whole geography of Florida will change within the next 25 years, according to predictions and modeling.
Joe Boyle:So plan that trip to Key West soon, yeah, before it's gone.
Dr Lorin Robinson:Or take your diving gear one or the other Right. Also, increasing temperatures will encourage migration. In the southwest, for example, we're already seeing heat rising to dangerous levels. Extreme heat is the leading cause of climate-related deaths in the US. Heat-related deaths in Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, for example, are up 70% in just five years from 2019. Millions of Arizonans are getting used to record-breaking heat. Just this decade, phoenix set new daily heat records on 33 different days. As a result, phoenix has appointed the first ever heat czar. This is an office of the county officially county office, and this lucky individual is being charged with finding ways to make Phoenix more livable in the summer.
Joe Boyle:Good luck with that that's quite a challenge.
Dr Lorin Robinson:Yeah, I'm afraid so. But the bottom line is that, as conditions continue to worsen, millions from the deep south, the southeast and southwest, will, over time, seek relief by migrating to more hospitable locations.
Joe Boyle:Which are.
Dr Lorin Robinson:Well coming up? I'm glad you asked that question. Yeah, climate modelers have been working very hard to figure out where these migrants should go to be safer from travails that the warming presents. The best bets, according to current modeling, are the northwest, the northern Rocky Mountain states, the upper tier of midwestern states.
Joe Boyle:Which would be us here in Minnesota.
Dr Lorin Robinson:Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas and so on, and also the northeast of the Ohio Valley, and those are the areas being selected as probably the safest in terms of severe weather, in terms of storms, in terms of other factors heat and so on that make for better living than most areas in the south below the Mason-Dixon line.
Mark Wolak:And I noticed that you were also looking into what are the wealthy people doing while this is all going on.
Dr Lorin Robinson:The surprising thing is the richest 100 families in the country have recently bought 42 million acres. That's a 65 square mile expanse the size of Wisconsin. The 20 richest. Each owns at least 500,000 acres and, in terms of avoiding negative effects of the warming, they've chosen prime real estate. So these are all in the areas where migration would be a good idea. There's no doubt that there are plans afoot within these families to build remote, self-sustaining and well-protected compounds on this land, so they're preparing right now for what's coming.
Joe Boyle:So they're in place, some of them right now. Yeah, Wow.
Dr Lorin Robinson:They're already construction companies that are specializing in building these kinds of special housing arrangements for the rich. Another tip too if relocating, consider getting off the grid, whether you build or buy a home, install solar. It will not only save you money in the medium term, but excess energy you generate can be sold back to the local utility. In general, our energy grid is old and less dependable than those of peer countries. Americans suffer more and longer power outages, and it has been seen it's quite susceptible to hacking by our enemies, both foreign and domestic. One last observation the nation's energy system earned a C-minus, barely passing grade in 2021 from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Proper upgrading of the power grid is estimated to cost in the trillions of dollars.
Joe Boyle:Do you know if they're in the process of doing that now?
Dr Lorin Robinson:Some of the money that Biden-. Infrastructure, the money that Biden infrastructure plan bill is devoted to that, but only a very small amount, not nearly enough to take care of that problem totally. I believe it's mainly dedicated to some rework of major power lines and that kind of thing. But they're starting to think about it, but the costs are outrageous. Obviously by now.
Mark Wolak:As your journalistic skills were in play here, Lorin, how do you see this migration happening over time?
Dr Lorin Robinson:Well, it's going to be a stretched-out process. I mean, people are going to hang on as long as they can where they are. Obviously, those who are looking ahead and concerned about what's coming may be sooner and not later in moving. And the thing is, the longer you wait, the worse it becomes for you because the destination locations you're facing housing shortages. Eventually, you're facing unemployment, eventually, as more and more folks migrate into those areas.
Joe Boyle:And now it's time for Stories in Life. Art from the heart, deep thoughts from the shallow end. Each episode, we bring you a poem, a song or a reading, just for you guitar solo.
Mark Wolak:A Space in Time, remastered in 2004. It expresses our frustration. Lauren, you mentioned in the book that migration would happen. How do you see the migration of people moving across Lorin United States?
Dr Lorin Robinson:Well, it'll be slow. It won't be like the Dust Bowl, where most of the migrants from Oklahoma and Texas, colorado and Arkansas headed for California over a period of three or four years during the height of the Dust Bowl and the Depression. This is a longer process and people naturally want to stay where they are. They don't want to have to pick up and move unless it's really important that they realize that they need to do so. So it'll be a slow and longer process, taking decades, I think, before you see tremendous amounts of movement, but it's starting already. Folks in Florida, many folks are already looking elsewhere because they realize they are prime for the initial wave of negative outcomes from the warming. So I think better sooner than later should be a major consideration. Yeah, you know, back in the 1880s there was the famous Oklahoma land rush in which people were invited to rush into Indian territory.
Joe Boyle:Lay their claims.
Dr Lorin Robinson:Yeah, lay their claims and a number of folks cheated and they went and went out in the night before the deadline and picked the prime land. They became known as the Sooners and that became kind of a motto for the state of Oklahoma and the football team.
Joe Boyle:That's where that came from, that's right.
Dr Lorin Robinson:But you know what, In terms of the warming, Sooner is better than later, because later you face again unemployment In the target location where you want to go, you face limited housing, high cost for housing, and so on. Location where you want to go, you face limited housing, high cost for housing and so on. So it's better to think about this right now and target an area where you want to go and think about the need to get there as soon as it's feasible for you to do so.
Joe Boyle:So the people in better locations currently are going to have a lot more neighbors eventually.
Dr Lorin Robinson:Yeah, and that'll cause problems too, because naturally take Minnesota for example I mean we have a reasonable population right now and our tax revenue is enough to take care of the needs of our people in the state. But if suddenly, over a period of several years, you end up increasing your population by several millions and they come in without jobs or financial support, they become burdens on the state and so we end up with an ability to meet our basic needs for our current population. So there'll be some resistance, I think, over time to the incoming migrants, as there was in California in the Dust Bowl.
Joe Boyle:Well, you also mentioned employment, and there must be disruptions on the horizon in terms of job prospects and placement. There's only going to be so many jobs and there's going to be more people in a given place.
Dr Lorin Robinson:Yeah, jobs are going to be a problem because the whole basis for the world of work will be changing. We'll get turned around. There are fields in which there'll be some benefit from the warming in terms of employment. One of those, of course, are the wind and solar energy technology fields. There'll be high demand for those technology fields. There'll be high demand for those. Construction trades will also do very, very well because of the incessant need to rebuild and repair damaged infrastructure, commercial buildings and housing. There will also be a real need for healthcare and law enforcement professionals as well. So some of the areas of employment will benefit but many will not. For example, among the categories to suffer the most, I think, will be retail and a huge hospitality and leisure segment. These jobs depend on discretionary income, but high employment and inflation will require families to focus on meeting basic needs. Will it be hamburger or Nikes, for example?
Mark Wolak:focus on meeting basic needs. Will it be hamburger or Nikes, for example? Yeah, we're already seeing, I think, some of the economic disruption of the warming, if you think about insurance rates for homes, inflation, yeah, the cost of materials, building materials and so forth. So what are your thoughts about that factor, the inflation factor, as you look at warming?
Dr Lorin Robinson:Inflation will be a really serious problem over time and get worse and worse, I think, as time goes on. As the warming worsens, we need to briefly first review the law of supply and demand. We're just now coming out of a period of high inflation that resulted from the COVID-related unemployment and supply chain disruptions, and both factors will also come with the warming, as will drought-related food shortages. Only, unlike COVID, the warming will be a permanent and ever-deteriorating feature of our existence. It's not going to go away. Basically, when supplies of a commodity are low, its prices go up. That's the simplest explanation of inflation. Inflation, of course, reduces the value of currency as well. One answer to high inflation I discuss at length in the book is a return to bartering transactions in which both parties get what they need without using currency. My advice to those planning for the warming is to ensure that families your family have or develop commodities and or services that can be bartered in place of currency.
Mark Wolak:Like my homemade pickles Absolutely.
Dr Lorin Robinson:I can't wait to get into that bottle you gave me.
Joe Boyle:I wish we had some more time to explore the recommendations in your book. Okay, so there's so many, but instead we'll have to stop here and suggest that listeners buy a copy. So where can we get your book?
Dr Lorin Robinson:Well, first, thanks for the chance to talk with your listeners. I really appreciate the opportunity. I'd also like to mention that the book contains a detailed discussion guide to encourage and organize conversations about the need to prepare for the warming right now. The book is also set up to be very useful for book clubs and in academic settings as well. The book again Surviving the Warming can be found at all online booksellers in paper or e-books. It may be ordered also from your local booksellers. Again, the author is Lauren Robinson, by the way, that's Lauren with an I. One last personal note, if I might my fear is that the frightening enormity of the monster we've created will lead to a paralyzing fatalism, the belief that nothing can be done to save us from the civilization changing impact. But, as two million years of history have shown, humankind can be very flexible and adaptable and creative, and I believe those are the traits that can help save us, save our species, from the coming climate disaster. But we need to start working on it now Thank you.
Joe Boyle:The music for this episode was as follows the Heat Is On, a single by Glenn Fry from 1984, and Stormy Weather, Smooth Jazz. Instrumental by Jazz Massage Music, Volume 2. You know, Mark, there's a lot of little things we can do about fighting climate change as individuals and families. You know, save energy at home. Most of our electricity comes from fossil fuels coal, oil, gas. Change your home's source of energy, you know. Try to go solar. You know there's different things you can do there Walk, bike, take public transportation, buy an e-bike, switch to an electric vehicle and or bike, Consider how you travel. Try to fly less. What else? Eat more vegetables, less meat, right, Right?
Joe Boyle:I don't know and vote accordingly and spend accordingly. You know, vote with your dollars.
Mark Wolak:Yes.
Joe Boyle:And your vote.
Mark Wolak:Yeah, the information out there when you really start digging in, really it made my heart sink, because you don't want to believe that being a consumer-oriented society, a culture where we buy goods whenever we want them, is also contributing to this in our world. Yes, I think taking small steps that help each you and I feel better, but then there's also a responsibility to put some pressure on our government.
Joe Boyle:You got to bang the drum.
Mark Wolak:Yes, and our corporations, our businesses, to do more that would reduce the demand for fossil fuel. My big takeaway from this is yes, I want to do more of that, but also I want to be having conversations with my family about the future and what we can do as a family long-term to prepare for what's ahead for this what we're going to leave our kids and grandkids and their kids. Yes, certainly a provoking episode and something that meets our vision of telling stories that help people change their mind about something important in their life.
Joe Boyle:We've got to open our eyes. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Please join us again next time on Stories in Life on the radio with Mark and Joe, and visit our website at storiesinlifebuzzsproutcom or email us at stories in life podcast.
