I Want to Be a Refugee

Summary

The author has decided to become a climate change refugee due to drastic changes in the local climate over the past eight years, including more severe winters, hotter summers, and the loss of spring and fall seasons, culminating in a recent unprecedented hurricane and significant agricultural and infrastructure damage.

Abstract

The author reflects on the stark contrast between the climate conditions upon their arrival eight years ago and the present day, noting that the once vibrant spring season has been replaced by late snowstorms and a delayed start to the growing season. This change has been accompanied by increasingly severe weather events, such as the town's first hurricane, which has prompted the author to make the significant decision to leave and become a climate change refugee. The author acknowledges the challenges ahead, including the unknowns of where to go and how to navigate life as a refugee, but remains resolute in the decision to not remain in the area for another year, citing the undeniable evidence of climate change observed firsthand and the expected increase in climate refugees globally.

Opinions

The author believes that climate change is undeniably real and is a significant factor in the drastic alteration of the local climate.
The author expresses a clear opinion that the current administration's stance on climate change is that of a "buffoon," implying a lack of acknowledgment or action on the issue.
The author is critical of the potential economic impact of climate change, pointing out that agricultural losses due to extreme weather will likely lead to higher food prices.
There is a sense of urgency and personal responsibility in the author's decision to become a climate change refugee, as they do not wish to wait for the situation to worsen before taking action.
The author is concerned about the future, given the forecast of another snowstorm and the broader implications of climate change on the community, including the destruction of homes and infrastructure.

A major decision on my anniversary

I first arrived here on the Great Plains of Turtle Island on April 11th, 2011, exactly eight years ago today. (Notice the propitious double eleven in that date.)

Whenever one moves to a new place one tends to vividly remember that day. I certainly remember my first day here in this little town. I looked all around and took everything in. It was Spring. The trees were all about halfway leafed out. Fruit trees and forsythia bushes were blooming. Daffodils were almost done blooming. The grass was green. The birds were chirping. It was delightful.

Yesterday, on the eve of my eight-year anniversary things were very different than they were eight years ago. The trees are barely starting to bud and still have a ways to go before beginning to leaf out. There are no trees or bushes blooming yet and the daffodils are no more than two or three inches up out of the ground and are still a long way from beginning to bloom. Spring is still weeks away — if it ever comes.

This morning I was awakened at 5:30 a.m. by…

…SNOWPLOWS!

The Weather Service put my town under a blizzard watch beginning at 9 p.m. last night. After waking up I looked out my window. It was snowing quite heavily and there were about five or six inches of snow on the ground. Now, just a few hours later we have about seven or eight or nine inches of snow on the ground (it’s hard to tell because the wind has picked up and is blowing the snow around) and it is not supposed to stop snowing until later this afternoon. We could end up with about a foot of snow. In the middle of April!

And the Weather Service has forecast yet another snow storm to hit us this weekend!

In just eight years I have witnessed the climate here on the Great Plains DRASTICALLY change. Summers have grown progressively hotter, Winter has grown longer and twenty times more severe and Spring and Fall have all but disappeared. Climate change is real! I’m looking at it out my office window this very minute. It is undeniable (except, of course, to the buffoon in the White House).

Our town experienced its very first hurricane last month. That simply is not normal. Luckily, I survived but I do not want to go through that again. Farmers should be starting to plant their crops right now but how do you plants crops when there is a foot of snow on the ground and when the temperatures at night continue to be below freezing night after night. The local paper reported that agricultural losses in the region this year will probably be in the billions of dollars. (Get ready to pay more for your food, folks.) With over 600 homes destroyed in last month’s hurricane and bridges washed out and collapsed roads the infrastructure losses are also expected to be in the billions.

So this morning on my anniversary I made a life-changing decision. I have decided to become a climate change refugee. It has been estimated that over the next few decades there will be hundreds of millions of climate change refugees. Well, I’m not waiting. I’m going to be one of the first ones.

Of course, I don’t know where I’m going or how I will get there. Heck, I don’t even know how to be a refugee. I’ve never been one before. I have a lot to figure out.

But so help me God I will not still be living here next April!

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