CO2 was the ‘Molecule of the Year’

The announcement of Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” initiates the looking-back season, providing the first of several high-profile opportunities to reflect on the year’s events. No doubt this year’s choice of the #MeToo movement is newsworthy and deserving. It dethroned politicians, newscasters and Hollywood stars, hopefully indicating a societal change in the way men treat women. 

But in the context of 2017 newsmakers, it was the lowly carbon dioxide molecule that towered above others. Just as Time chose the computer in 1980 and Earth in 1988, this was the opportunity to recognize the Molecule of the Year.  Odorless, invisible, even a benign by-product of our own breathing, it was implicated in the year’s most violent natural disasters. It regularly arose in discussions of law, policy, war, and famine. And as people lost everything, or fled their homes in record numbers, attention inevitably turned to it.

{mosads}So without diminishing #MeToo, let’s look at what CO2 was up to in 2017.

Wildfire

Wildfires in 2017 were deadly, devastating and expensive. They were also extreme. They fit a pattern of worsening fire conditions linked to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. In the West, it is converting forests, altering water flows, threatening fish and wildlife habitat, raising irrigation concerns, and bankrupting the US Forest Service.

On Dec. 5, as Time announced its “Person of the Year,” wildfires incinerated hundreds of structures and thousands of acres in and around Los Angeles. We saw flames roiling across Interstate 405, the nation’s busiest highway. Nearly 200,000 Americans fled their homes. The fires were extraordinary in their number, intensity and late-season timing, putting a string of exclamation points at the end of California’s worst-ever fire season, which also devastated the wine country north of San Francisco. 

Earlier, thousands of firefighters spent at least $2 billion battling fires in Idaho, Washington, Montana and other states. Along Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge, extreme fire behavior forced more evacuations, while smoke swallowed Portland and embers jumped the Columbia River.

British Columbia wildfires set records for most acres burned, largest evacuations, and biggest single fire. In Europe, a blistering heat wave dubbed Lucifer sparked more fires. On the horrific night of June 18, a record 64 people were killed in Portugal, most burned to death while fleeing in cars. Abnormal fires also affected Greenland.

Hurricanes and Floods

The 2017 hurricane season brought a string of record-breaking storms. Attributing individual hurricanes to climate change is notoriously difficult, and many factors contributed to the storms, including the West African monsoon, lack of wind shear, natural climate cycles, and chance. Yet above-average air and water temperatures, the hallmarks of climate change, were also at play.

Harvey, Irma, Maria, Jose, Ophelia. Harvey unleashed a positively biblical deluge of more than 50 inches of rain near Houston, drowning rainfall records. Irma became the longest Category 5 storm on record and sparked the record evacuation of 6.5 million Floridians. Irma and Maria annihilated sections of Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands. Jose nearly reached Category 5 status, but remained at sea. Ophelia, the strongest storm ever observed in the northeastern Atlantic, lashed Ireland and fanned European wildfires.

Concurrently, record flooding struck Southeast Asia. Over 30 million people were affected, with 1,200 killed and a million homes damaged or destroyed.

Shrinking Sea Ice

Thankfully, no records here. The year brought only the eighth lowest sea ice level since 1979. However, the 10 lowest levels have all occurred since 2000. Declining ice at the top of the world disrupts global weather patterns and nutritional resources for both humans and wildlife, while associated erosion forces the permanent evacuation of Alaskan villages.

Global Temperatures

It will likely go down as the third-hottest year on record. The 17 hottest years have all occurred since 1998. Scientists overwhelmingly attribute the heating to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Consequent heat waves, droughts and other events are increasingly tied to human migration and warfare by the Department of Defense and others. 

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

After leveling-off for three years, global CO2 emissions rose again in 2017 from increased burning of coal and oil and rising deforestation. 

Politics

Preceding it all, on an unseasonably warm January day, a man who called climate change a “hoax” became president. He appointed an unabashed climate change denier EPA chief, charged with regulating air pollution. In the ensuing year, the administration initiated the reversal of the Clean Power Plan, designed to reduce coal burning, and made the U.S. the only nation on Earth to reject the Paris Climate Accord, a non-binding agreement to reduce carbon emissions.

They also steadily opened sensitive lands to fossil fuel extraction, approved controversial pipelines and weakened environmental regulations, including on methane, another potent greenhouse gas. 

So, yes, #MeToo matters. But overall, humanity felt a far greater impact from carbon dioxide. Unfortunately, science indicates 2017 only previews the years ahead. We will have plenty more opportunities to acknowledge its influence.

Tim Lydon works in federal lands management and is the author of “Passage to Alaska, Two Months Sea Kayaking the Inside Passage.”