While the calendar now says it’s August, hasn’t it felt like the hottest month of summer arrived back in June? We’ve experienced unrelenting days of scorching temperatures and only a hint of rain since spring. Smoke from wildfires across the West has been an unwelcome guest far too long. My yard is dry and crispy, the grasses already tawny and yellowed. It’s seasonal confusion here, that’s for sure. Like climate scientists have been telling us for decades now, this surge in heat and drought was predicted. Not surprising but no less heartbreaking, daunting, and dangerous. We can no longer deny the effects of climate change, and just as our country successfully produced the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine in record time saving millions of lives and counting across the world, I believe American ingenuity, talent, and grit will save us from 12 months of August-like weather in the future.
While heat and the coronavirus’s spread might feel like it’s spiraling out of control, we can make a positive change. This summer’s combination of heat and drought coupled with the Flathead Valley’s dramatic surge in positive COVID-19 cases is disheartening, but it’s not too late for our community to alter course. First and foremost, those 12 years and older are eligible for the free vaccine and should not delay in getting the shot. The immunization protects you and your loved ones from death and serious health complications if you contract the virus. Too many of our friends and neighbors are sick at this very moment from a virus that can be halted thanks to American medical innovation and the government’s response to the pandemic, which President Donald Trump’s administration began.
What the government accomplished in the vaccine’s successful distribution and effectiveness can also be applied to combating climate change. We need forward-thinking leaders and officials who look not at this summer as an outlier but recognize the severity this climate crisis presents to all facets of our lives from the economy that is driven by the outdoor industry and our wilderness heritage to the negative impacts on public health due to prolonged exposure to unhealthy air quality. The conversation needs to shift to how we as a community, a state, and a nation will nimbly and smartly address the effects of the impending climate catastrophe. If anyone is up for the challenge, it’s us.
Hope and relief may seem a bit out of reach these days, but I still find it glimmering in each of us, from the exhausted medical professionals to the wildland firefighters enduring challenging terrain and weather, all united with one very simple yet precious value: to save what we cherish most. So, for those of us who aren’t working in the ICU unit or driving the ambulance or wearing Nomex and hiking steep mountainous terrain, let’s do two things: get the COVID-19 vaccine, and tell our elected leaders to address climate change.
Maggie Doherty is the owner of Kalispell Brewing Company on Main Street.