In this photo provided by the Alaska State Troopers, smoke rises from the Munson Creek Fire by Chena Hot Springs Road near Fairbanks, Alaska, Monday, July 5, 2021.
Communities around the world are feeling the impacts of climate change. The record-breaking summer heat is a stark reminder that our planet is in peril, urging us to invest in mitigation to curb climate change’s relentless advance and adaptation to safeguard our communities against its inevitable impacts.
My recent conversations with communities across the globe, from the Pan-African Peacemakers Alliance to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Climate Scholars program have affirmed the haunting reality: climate change is already here and threatening peoples’ very ways of life. The U.S. must do more at home and abroad to tackle it and help people adapt to impacts in ways that protect them and their identities.
The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email