A Note on Climate Change & Deforestation

My favorite college professor once told me about the shame he would
feel when he attended international climate change talks. He would
listen to representatives from developing countries plea for help,
listing the devastating effects climate change was causing in their
countries -- now. Then, delegations from the developed world, the US
most prominently, would discuss the political complications,
scientific uncertainties, and do--nothing.

After walking all day in Chacraseca, I saw climate change. Today. Now.
We have mentioned the dust and the dry season, as well as some of the
political and economic reasons for the degradation of the land.

Here is a global map of deforestation, with Nicaragua ranking seventh
in the world in the most extreme risk of deforestation :

But the map, much like most of what we hear about climate change in
the US is large, abstract, and overwhelming.

In Chacraseca, it's tangible and understandable. But no less overwhelming.
Land practices that prioritized profits over sustainable livelihoods
have left the community with only dust. A changing climate has made
the dry and wet seasons a yearly gamble, with rain coming later and
harder, shortening the growing season of the few working fields even
further.

School playground; few trees remain in the area, most small and thin. Due to a 90% unemployment rate (particularly during the dy season), most parents have little-if any- way of providing for their family.

Typical road. The large pile of fire wood is another cause of deforestation; most households continue to cook with firewood, decreasing the vegetation stock further, and causing health issues due to the smoke inside the home. 

I now get this shame. There is always that huge divide between when
you "get it" or "understand" and truly understanding. I have know and
believed and been wanting and willing to fight the global beast of
climate change for many years. But now... I am ashamed. For what we continue to do--and not do.