In Alaska, Obama depicts stark future without climate action

ANCHORAGE, Alaska –  Submerged countries, abandoned cities and floods of refugees await the world barring urgent action on climate change, President Obama warned Monday, painting a doomsday scenario as he opened a historic visit to Alaska.

 

In a bid to further his environmental legacy, Obama brought the power of the presidential pulpit to Anchorage and called on other nations to take swift action as negotiations for a global climate treaty near a close. In a speech to an Arctic climate summit, Obama sought to set the tone for a three-day tour of Alaska that will put the state’s liquefying glaciers and sinking villages on graphic display.

 

“On this issue — of all issues —there is such a thing as being too late,” Obama said. “And that moment is almost upon us.”

 

During his tour of Alaska, Obama planned to hike a glacier, converse with fishermen and tape a reality TV show with survivalist Bear Grylls — all part of a highly orchestrated White House campaign to illustrate how climate change has damaged Alaska’s stunning landscape. The goal at each stop is to create powerful visuals that show real-world effects of climate change and drive home Obama’s message that the crisis is already occurring.

 

Evoking ominous consequences, Obama said that climate change left unchecked would soon trigger global conflict and “condemn our children to a planet beyond their capacity to repair.” In the Arctic, which is warming faster than any other corner of the globe, Obama said melting permafrost and disintegrating sea ice risk floods, fires and unimaginable economic damage.

 

Read More: In Alaska, Obama depicts stark future without climate action | Fox News