Time to Call Washington

Return of The Dinosaur Comes At The Worst Time For The Planet

This opinion piece was originally published in The Greater Park Hill News, where the author is a monthly columnist. Previous columns can be found here: http://greaterparkhill.org/?s=tracey+macdermott

Through the mind-dizzying executive orders coming out of the Oval Office — from the wholesale canceling of federal grants to Elon Musk seizing access to sensitive financial systems — you may have missed the new report from leading climate scientist James Hansen and his team.

Hansen, a leading climate scientist, has been warning us for decades about the threat of global warming and the future of humanity.

In 1988 — nearly 40 years ago — Hansen testified to Congress that the greenhouse gas effect was changing the climate. In 2006, Hanson sounded the alarm that we had a 10-year window to take critical action on global warming to avert disaster. Ten years after that the Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics published a report, in which Hansen collaborated, warning of what would happen if the planet warmed to 2 degrees Celsius above pre- industrial times. Namely, cities along coastlines would be at risk of submerging.

That last report coincides with the 2016 vote that elevated the Chief Climate Denier, Donald Trump, into his first term as president.

As it did after 2016, the first Trump Administration scrubbed  mentions  of  climate  change  from government websites. It attacked renewable energy, and now in the second go-around, it has resumed its drumbeat for drilling for gas and oil. And in 2025, Hansen’s alarm bells are no longer warnings. The siren is blaring.

Last month, Hansen and a team of researchers reported that the rate of global warming since 2010 has increased by more than 50 percent over the rate of warming in the preceding four decades. The 2°C target is dead, because greenhouse-gas-producing energy use continues to rise.

The levels of heating in recent years has helped to fuel catastrophes like Hurricane Helene and the January wildfires in Los Angeles. Continuing production of CO2, as well as an El Nino effect, contributes to the rise in temperatures — yet the increase is happening even more quickly than originally predicted. Ironically, one explanation may be that efforts to reduce polluting aerosol particles may have resulted in the sun’s rays being able to better pierce through the atmosphere.

The acceleration in global heating is worrisome, and not just to Hansen and his team of scientists.

The warming is leading to increasing ice melt in the Arctic, which means more water is then pushed into the North Atlantic than is expected. That has a domino effect on the system of ocean currents in the Atlantic called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which helps moves water, heat and nutrients around Earth — which in turn influences Earth’s climate.

Hansen and his team have determined that unless actions are taken to reduce global warming, the impact of the increased ice melts has the potential to shut down the AMOC system within the next 20 to 30 years If this were to occur, sea levels would rise several meters. Hansen describes this as “a point of no return.” Among their recommendations: putting a price on carbon, as well as broadening global cooperation on emissions reductions and renewable energy.

Unfortunately, Hansen’s findings — indeed his latest warnings — happen to coincide with a return of a president and an administration that rejects climate science and has resumed its chant to drill-baby-drill.

What can you do? Step up and demand that we continue to work on the climate crisis. Call upon Congress to not lose sight — and to demand oversight.

A month into the Trump/Musk White House, our representatives in Washington are being inundated by calls prompted by a multitude of five-alarm fires. Add the climate to your list and call them every day, if possible.

Closer to home, you can also engage in other ways: Continue to get educated, support science and get involved. Write letters to the editor. Connect with the community through this newspaper — your community newspaper. If you can, step up to help support the newspaper’s operations at greaterparkhill.org/newspaper/support/.

We can do this.

Tracey MacDermott

NFBPWC Environment and Sustainable Development Committee Chair

(2024-2026)

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Remarkable Woman – Marin Alsop

Marin Alsop is the first woman to lead a Major American Orchestra.

She is a wonderful friend of mine. Her bio does not fully tell the story of what a champion she has been for women in the maledominated conductingworld (https://takialsop.org/). She started a conducting fellowship for women. Over the

years, thirty-six women conductors have participated in the program. It provides mentorship, training and access to the podium. In addition, she started the Orchkids program in Baltimore which helps support music education for Baltimore's youth (https://orchkids.org/).

Marin has faced much adversity in her path to becoming a conductor. From being told that girls don't conduct and taking that as a challenge, she has risen to the top. She finds innovative ways to give back to her community and is a shining light in this world. A true humanitarian.

The first and only conductor to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, Marin Alsop is internationally recognized for her innovative approach to programming and audience development.

The 2024-25 season marks Alsop’s sixth as Chief Conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; her second as Artistic Director & Chief Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony; her second as Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia; and her first as Principal Guest Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra. She is also Music Director Laureate and OrchKids Founder of the Baltimore Symphony and Chief Conductor of the Ravinia Festival, where she leads the Chicago Symphony’s annual summer residencies.

Alsop becomes the first U.S.-born woman to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic when she makes her long- awaited debut with the orchestra in February 2025, leading the world premiere of a new commission from Outi Tarkiainen. Other 2024-25 highlights include a Nico Muhly world premiere with the New York Philharmonic, a New Year’s Eve concert with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and multiple performances with the Philharmonia.

Alsop has longstanding relationships with the London Philharmonic and London Symphony, and regularly guest conducts the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, La Scala Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, and others. A full decade after making history as the first female conductor of London’s Last Night of the Proms, in 2023 she became

the first woman and first American to guest conduct three Last Nights in the festival’s long history. She made her triumphant debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 2024.

Alsop’s discography comprises more than 200 titles for Decca, Harmonia Mundi, and Sony Classical, as well as her acclaimed Naxos cycles of Brahms with the London Philharmonic, Dvořák with the Baltimore Symphony, and Prokofiev with the São Paulo Symphony. Recent releases include a live account of Candide with the LSO & Chorus and multiple titles with the Vienna RSO for Naxos, among them a John Adams collection that has just received a 2025 Grammy nomination for “Best Orchestral Performance.”

Her is website: www.marinalsop.com