By Christina “PK” DiGiulio, Green Party candidate for Governor of PA

I was reading some of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which was released by the United Nations on February 28, and I was alarmed to learn some new estimates of the effects of our refusal to stop using fossil fuels. I felt like I was standing next to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres when he said, “Delay means death.”

Christina “PK” DiGiulio For Governor of PA
www.facebook.com/PKforPA

For Release,
April 4, 2022

For information or interviews, please contact
Chris Robinson, [email protected]

The IPCC report says that climate change will have a horrendously compounded effect on today’s children. It says, “Today’s children and future generations are more likely to be exposed and vulnerable to climate change and related risks such as flooding, heat stress, water scarcity, poverty, and hunger. Children are amongst those suffering the most, as we see today. What is our children’s future going to look like, if we do not limit global warming to well below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial temperature? Based on the . . . assessment, we know that global warming is already changing much of the world as we know it. Its impacts will intensify in the coming decades with profound implications for all aspects of human life around the world. Our food and water supplies, our cities, infrastructure and economies as well as our health and well-being will be affected.”

While people who are now 55 years old or older will continue to feel increasing shocks of climate change during the rest of their lives, children who are now ten years or younger will experience a four-fold increase in extreme events during their lives. These extreme events will include deadly heat stress, loss of coastal settlements, and water scarcity. As the report says, “Today’s young people and future generations will also witness stronger negative effects of climate change on food production and availability. The warmer it gets, the more difficult it will become to grow or produce, transport, distribute, buy, and store food – a trend that is projected to hit poor populations the hardest.” This chaotic environment which children will inherit will be the only world they ever know, if we do not treat climate change as the emergency which it is.

Finally, the IPCC report explained to me that these results of climate change will work together. “In addition, we now know that multiple climate hazards will occur simultaneously more often in the future. They may reinforce each other and result in increased impacts and risks to nature and people that are more complex and more difficult to manage. For example, reductions in crop yields due to heat and drought, made worse by reduced productivity because of heat stress among farm workers, will increase food prices, reduce household incomes and lead to health risks from malnutrition, as well as climate-related deaths . . . .”

I also learned that fortunately there is some good news in the report. “All these risks can be reduced substantially by taking urgent action to limit global warming and by strengthening our adaptation efforts -- for example by protecting and conserving nature, and by improving planning and management of our cities . . . . The youth movement, together with many non-governmental organizations, has led to a rising wave of public global awareness of climate change and its life-threatening impacts. To successfully secure our own future and the future of the coming generations, climate risks must be factored into each decision and planning. We have the knowledge and the tools. Now it is our choice to make.”

When I am elected governor of Pennsylvania, I will declare a state of emergency to address climate change and introduce state-level elements of the Green New Deal policy. With a Green Party governor, PA will be able to stop our decline to the point of no return. Please join my campaign for governor of PA if you are as worried as I am about our children.

Christina “PK” Digiulio needs your help to get on the ballot for the 2022 General Election, please email [email protected]. You may follow her campaign for Governor of PA on Twitter, and Facebook.

For More Information:

“How will climate change affect the lives of today’s children tomorrow, if no immediate action is taken?” IPCC Sixth Assessment Report,
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/about/frequently-asked-questions/keyfaq3/

“'Delay means death' - UN climate report urges immediate, drastic action,”
https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/delay-means-death-un-climate-report-urges-immediate-drastic-action-2022-02-28/

“It’s Time for the Green New Deal,” Green Party of the U.S.,
https://www.gp.org/green_new_deal