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We may have seen this coming and at the very least, we surely felt this coming: 2023 was officially the hottest year on record.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found global average temperatures, the average temperature of the entire earth’s surface including ocean and land surface temperatures, increased 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit above the average for 2022.

This not only makes 2023 the warmest year on record but also the year with the most dramatic change in temperature. Prior to this increase, the largest temperature anomaly between two consecutive years occurred between 2016 and 2017, with a 0.27-degree increase.

These numbers can seem negligible, but they are powerful in the climate conversation.

Heat within the Earth’s atmosphere is the fuel that causes extreme weather events to occur. With more heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, there is a greater frequency of these events.

A common misconception of climate change is that your geographic location determines whether or not you feel its physical impacts. In the Western world especially, we tend to shrug off the warnings of climate change because we believe we won’t be affected. And while it is true that some regions of the world are more susceptible to the impacts of natural disasters, the U.S. has had its fair share.

Last year, the U.S. experienced tens of natural disasters, causing vast humanitarian crises and costing nearly $100 billion in damages.

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For one, extreme cold in the Northeast last winter impacted us all in the Syracuse area directly. While we expect cold up here, the cold front that hit between Feb. 2 and Feb. 5 was a record-breaking event that caused the coldest wind chill in U.S. history: -108 degrees Fahrenheit in Mount Washington, New Hampshire.

On the West Coast, California, a state once notorious for its multi-year-long droughts, was finally drought-free for the first part of 2023. Rain that occurred throughout these months led to flooding, landslides and tens of fatalities.

On April 12 and April 13, Fort Lauderdale, Florida experienced similar extreme flood levels, receiving 25 inches of rain. This is an event that is only expected to occur once every 1000 years and exceeded the previous record of rainfall in one day by over 10 inches.

On Aug. 8, the Hawaiian island of Maui experienced the deadliest wildfire in over a century, resulting in roughly 100 deaths. Damages for this wildfire cost upwards of $6 billion and rehabilitation is anticipated to take years.

The ideal location for hurricane growth, unfortunately for us on the East Coast, lies within the Atlantic basin. In 2023, the basin saw 20 named tropical storms, and, unfortunately, the Bermuda Triangle is not to blame. Instead, the extra heat in the atmosphere is causing increased evaporation and heat uplift, making a named hurricane a more frequent occurrence.

So the world is getting warmer and extreme weather events are becoming more intense — and more frequent — we are all aware of the bad news. Fortunately, climate action is in the works, and good news is out there. Not only was 2023 a historic year for heat and climate disasters, but it was also a historic year for progress.

For starters, with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), $372 billion has been invested into new, clean energy. On a global scale, investment in renewable and clean energy hit $1.8 trillion, a $500 billion increase from 2022. Investment from the IRA has led to the creation of more than 211,000 new clean energy jobs and over 50,000 new manufacturing jobs.

2023 also broke records for electric vehicles, with 18% of vehicle sales being electric. New York also became the first state to legislatively require all new buildings to be electric too. Similar implementation of green building codes is spreading to over 20 states.

A major highlight of the year happened in November when a Virgin Atlantic jet took a groundbreaking flight from London to New York on 100% sustainable aviation fuel made from plants and waste.

Slow progress is being made by those at authoritative levels, but we also keep hearing about the necessary urgency of changes we have to make to our own lives. As college students, we are taught about global struggles and failures, like climate change, and are even sometimes taught how to potentially fix them but are rarely given the opportunity to actually do so. So, as late-teens and 20-something-year-olds living off dining hall food, it can be hard to know how to best take action.

How you can help

Mindful Consumption
Mindfulness is a buzzword I’m tired of hearing too, trust me. But the principles of mindfulness can be helpful in considering how you consume in your day-to-day life to help limit unnecessary overconsumption.

Carpool
Fortunately, Syracuse University provides students with a means of transportation to get around campus and to go downtown. But for those driving their own cars, please give your friends a ride — we are cold.

Compost
Don’t put plastic in the bins labeled “food waste” in the dining hall — just don’t.

Get Involved
As university students, we are fortunate to have the means to make meaningful change on a national, or even global, scale. There are several organizations on campus that work toward making our university greener such as Student Association’s Sustainability, Sustainability Management, and the Food Recovery Network.

Vote!
Most importantly, exercise your democratic rights — we have them for a reason. The 2024 presidential election will be a key determinant of how the climate changes moving forward. So make sure to request your absentee ballots soon.

2023 serves as a stark reminder of the worsening impacts of climate change. But, 2023’s progress has also set us on a path I am optimistic will lead to change. There are opportunities for sustainable change to be found in all facets of our own lives. Progress is still progress even if it starts small.

Izzy Kaufman is a sophomore International Relations and Environment, Sustainability and Policy major as well as the Co-Director of the Student Association’s Sustainability Forum. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at [email protected].

Published on January 16, 2024 at 1:44 am