MIAMI – Scientists continue to loudly issue dire warnings that fossil fuel pollution is fueling climate disasters that will only get worse unless we take action.
Once again, a raging wildfire is currently ravaging California and CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti has spent years witnessing and documenting how these extreme events are intensifying, leaving millions of people looking for safer places to live, but where?
Right now Vigliotti is at the center of the firestorm, covering yet another apocalyptic blaze threatening thousands of southern California residents.
Just a few weeks ago, Vigliotti was with Local 10 News’ Louis Aguirre and climate scientist Michael Mann at the Miami Book Fair to talk about how climate change is rapidly changing our world as we know it.
“More and more, we’re starting to experience a world where all the tools we have in our toolbox are being outmaneuvered and overpowered by Mother Nature,” said Vigliotti.
Vigliotti is the author of a new book, “Before It’s Gone: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small-Town America.” It’s timely because in the past five years alone, Vigliotti has documented how extreme weather events fueled by climate change have nearly wiped five towns in four states off the map.
“We can in bigger cities, take that warning, those red flags, and figure out a way to invest in developing, shoring up the vulnerabilities that are unique to each city, but really require people coming together,” he said. “Recognizing the threats, realizing that what’s happening in small towns is quickly going to impact what’s happening in big cities as well.”
It’s that sense of urgency that Vigliotti said compelled him to write the book. Over the years, he’s seen and reported on how all four elements – fire, water, air and Earth – are all serving up the radicalized impacts of an ever-warming planet exacerbated by our continuous burning of fossil fuels.
“Every time I’ve spoken to somebody, including those in this book, they all say the same exact thing,” he said. “I never imagined something like this happening to me.”
But it’s happening more and more. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, just last year extreme weather forced 2.5 million Americans from their homes, and new research finds nearly half of all American homes are threatened by climate change.
“I look at South Florida as ground zero for climate change, ground zero for laying out a blueprint for the rest of the country to follow for how to build resiliency,” said Vigliotti.
And it’s not just about strengthening building codes and raising streets.
In his book, Vigliotti underscores how habitat change is weakening nature’s defenses to help protect us from these extreme events. We humans must repair what we’ve altered, restoring the natural flow of our waterways, shutting down pollution sources, increasing our tree canopy to cool us down during days of extreme heat, planting more mangroves and deploying artificial reefs to reinforce our resiliency and protect us from storm surge and sea level rise.
“I hope that some of the things that are laid out in this book inspire local leaders here, homeowners to think responsibly, to make those changes, so that a place like South Beach stays around for hundreds of years to come,” he said.
By the way, if Vigliotti looks familiar, he should. Viewers may remember he was once a reporter for Local 10 News.
In 2010, his story on freezing iguanas falling from trees during a bitter cold snap broke the internet and became one of Local 10′s most viral stories.
Looking back, Vigliotti sees hope in those kamikaze invasive lizards who over the years have learned to adapt to those rare days of frigid South Florida temperatures.
Many can now thrive in cold weather.
“And to me, I use this as kind of a closing thought, because if a lizard brain can figure out a way to adapt to a changing climate, I’d like to think that we as humans can do the same,” Vigliotti said.
Dramatically reducing our use of fossil fuels is imperative if we hope to stave off the worst effects of an ever-warming planet, but it will take years before we feel that relief.
Vigliotti stresses that we can and must take agency right now, individually and collectively, to scale resiliency efforts and embrace nature-based solutions to help us get through the challenges that lie ahead.