How can we fight

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The working class faces challenges on many fronts today. But one crisis is overarching. On both land and sea, Northern and Southern Hemispheres alike, our planet is getting hotter. The scale and pace of this global warming is unprecedented in human history. The last three years have been the hottest since pre­ cise measurements began in the 1880s.

This heat is expanding the volume of oceans. Along with melting sea and glacial ice in the Arctic, Ant­ arctic, and Greenland, this is raising sea levels. If not stopped soon it will eventually inundate coastal ar­ eas that are home to hundreds of millions. The New York City penthouse at Trump Tower would remain dry—but by 2050 the tip of Manhattan, including Southport, Battery Park, and much of the World Trade Center would be submerged.

Familiar weather patterns are being disrupted, leading to severe droughts in some areas and giant floods in others. In February, 11,743 local record warm daily temperatures were recorded just in the United States. The world has been hit by ferocious storms, like Cyclone Debbie in Australia, and massive wildfires such as the recent one in Kansas that killed thousands of livestock, consumed all of the hay sup­ ply, and destroyed hundreds of farm structures.

In some regions of the world, such as eastern Africa, this early-stage climate change has resulted in fam­ ine—and thousands of climate refugees.

Pernicious liars like the president of the United States assert that climate change resulting from glob­ al warming is a hoax, variously attributed to either greedy climate scientists bilking tax-payers or the Chinese government trying to wreck our economy.

Other deniers don’t challenge the validity of ther­ mometer and sea level readings but insist this is a natural cycle of our planet that will eventually get back to what we consider normal. They see no cause for alarm or need for drastic changes. In any case, they say there’s nothing we can do to stop Mother Nature.

But the overwhelming majority of scientists accept irrefutable evidence that the principal cause of global warming is the release of greenhouse gases by the ravenous energy demands of industry, agriculture, transportation—and war.

These emissions are still growing. The damage this causes to the fragile biosphere that has nourished human civilization is irreversible. While its worst effects will be felt by future generations, climate change has been advancing faster than expected and (Photo) The Peoples Climate March brought 400,000 protesters to New York City in 2014.

requires urgent and far-reaching countermeasures. How capitalism fouls things up After steam engines fueled by wood and coal gave a big boost to the 18th-century Industrial Revolu­ tion, the capitalist economy became increasingly ad­ dicted to fossil fuels. Since the first modern oil wells began pumping in Oil Creek, Pennsylvania, in 1859, the United States, Britain, and other major powers have been exploring and conquering on land and in the sea to satisfy the thirst of diesel, internal combus­ tion, and jet engines, as well as for raw material for production of petrochemical products like plastic.

For some time now, the U.S. has had more registered cars and trucks than licensed drivers. Big new mar­ kets have been carved out for products like snow­ mobiles, all terrain vehicles, and motor homes. Once serene lakes are now battered by racket and wakes of ubiquitous motorboats and jet skis. And we shouldn’t forget those dirty, noisy two-stroke engines com­ monly used to mow lawns.

While plug-in electric cars are now starting to ap­ (continued on page 5, in “Chicago Teachers Union hosts International Women’s Day rally”)

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ICE photo of Feb. 7 Los Angeles round-up, via AP

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INSIDE Immigration — 2 SOCIALIST Israel / Health care — 3 Eco-socialism — 4

Chicago teachers — 5 Science tragedy — 6-7 Capitalist politics — 8

North Korea — 10 Canada news — 11 Women’s strike — 12