Are you feeling despair over the deteriorating conditions in the Gulf of Maine, resulting from overheating and acidification of the waters, as reported Dec. 6 (“Gulf of Maine has third-warmest year on record,” Page A1)?

Are you feeling powerless because you believe that there is nothing you can do to change the threats of global warming?

Are you feeling angry that government bodies are doing nothing to prevent the worst disasters that mankind has ever faced resulting from climate change?

Are you feeling hopeless about the future for your children and grandchildren, who will face the worst of climate change?

Do you have feelings of frustration and anxiety over the entire situation?

There is a solution to this immense worldwide problem, but it will be costly. Extremely costly. Yet it will be better than doing nothing and facing the dire consequences for most life on the planet.

Mainers and other consumers will have to make sacrifices. We simply must reduce our production of air- and water-warming gases immediately, if not sooner.

To accomplish this goal, we all must limit our travel to necessities. No more cross-country or international vacation trips. We will have to suspend our purchasing powers and buy only necessities. And, finally, we must stop eating animal foods. There are many other actions that we can take, but these are the most important.

We have been living as though our life activities have no impact on our environment. We need to change this attitude. All these actions will upset world economies. But we will have to adapt to this new situation by creating other industries that are less fossil-fuel consuming. From what climate scientists tell us, we only have 10 to 20 years to make the changes that will prevent the planet’s worst catastrophes.

Len Frenkel

South Portland

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