Pete Haug: Our planet is our commons. As world citizens, we must act.

Last June, Spokane had the worst air quality in the country, courtesy of wind-borne smoke from the first major wildfire of 2019. Two years earlier, wildfires caused Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency.

This year, down under in Australia, out-of-control bushfires have been “generating their own weather.” As heat and smoke rise, “the cloud plume can cool off, generating a large puffy cloud full of potential rain,” but it can also “scatter embers and hot ash over a wider area.”

These formations, known technically as pyro-cumulonimbus clouds, “spread fires through lightning, lofting of embers, and generation of severe wind outflows.” In other words, clouds generated by some fires increase the likelihood of other fires. As MIT Technology Review observed, “climate change is driving climate change.”

Up north, Canadian wildfires may be permanently changing “one of the largest intact ecosystems left on Earth,” the northern boreal forest. It’s a “huge belt” of green covering northern reaches of most Canadian provinces. It’s been called “North America’s bird nursery.”

In the language of Canada’s indigenous Anishinaabe people, who’ve lived there for 6,000 years, it’s known as “the land that gives life.” A patch nearly the size of Vancouver Island has been proposed for a UNESCO cultural and natural World Heritage site.

Increasing frequency of boreal wildfires is severely damaging that ecosystem, according to Ellen Whitman, forest ecologist at Natural Resources Canada and the University of Alberta. “We feel pretty confident these effects will persist,” Whitman said.

Wildfires from Australia’s outback to Canada’s boreal forest have wreaked havoc, not only with ecosystems immediately affected, but with widespread ramifications far beyond those ecosystems. Australia’s smoke blanketed New Zealand’s southern island.

Estimates of Australia’s wildlife losses vary widely, with some exceeding more than 1 billion animals in New South Wales alone. These are from populations of unique species that evolved over eons into the creatures we all know and love: koalas, wallabies, kangaroos and many similar species.

Scientists increasingly acknowledge links between wildfires and climate change, calling the Australian fires “a red alert on climate change.”

Dramatic effects are obvious. Uncertain are the cascading ramifications affecting animals and humans far beyond fire boundaries. Human health problems are one example. The Australian Medical Association warned that “the length and density of smoke exposure” posed “a new, and possibly fatal health risk” most people have never faced before.

Smoke far from fires triggers eye, nose and throat irritation; wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and headaches; and aggravation of existing lung, heart and circulatory conditions, including asthma and angina.

Let’s be honest about global warming: It’s happening. Scientists since the mid-1800s have been aware of how greenhouse gases affect Earth’s temperature, yet denialists continue either to ignore or to obfuscate reality.

Fossil fuel interests have mounted considerable efforts to cast doubts on climate science (much as the tobacco industry postponed its own reckoning). Recent books have documented those efforts: “Dark Money,” “This Changes Everything,” “The War on Science,” “Merchants of Doubt” and others.

Yet we live on a common planet. In 1968, Garrett Hardin described “The Tragedy of the Commons,” where herdsmen ruin the resource, the “commons” they share, through overgrazing.

In 1972, simulation models projected destructive interactions among world population, industrialization, agriculture, natural resources and environment. These were based on scientific knowledge of existing trends. The warnings were largely unheeded, even when followup studies in 1992 and 2004 corroborated findings.

Awareness is increasing. Our planet is our commons. Global warming and other natural disasters don’t recognize national boundaries. Greta Thunberg said it best at Davos: “Our house is still on fire.”

More than a century ago Baha’u’llah encapsulated the issue succinctly: “The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” As world citizens, we need to act accordingly.

Pete Haug retired to Colfax after teaching English in China for 11 years. Earlier, he worked in environmental impact assessment for the Bureau of Land Management and Washington Department of Wildlife. You can reach him at petes.pen9@gmail.com.