To the editor:

I love visiting relatives in New Ulm each summer. Having grown up in eastern North Dakota and attended Macalester College, I have deep roots in this state.

I was glad to see you covering what is, without exaggeration, the biggest challenge in the history of humanity (“Sanders’ Crazy Green New Deal,” August 29, 2019).

In early August, I attended three days of Climate Reality Project training in Minneapolis. Three impressive leaders — Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter — shared how they are preparing for climate change that will hit Minnesota harder and sooner than most other states.

Fossil fuel companies and other sources discharge carbon equal to 500,000 Hiroshima-sized bombs into the atmosphere every day. Ponder that: half a million Hiroshima bombs daily!

While at the three-day training, more than 21 billion tons of Arctic ice melted. That ice is not coming back and an unprecedented rise in sea level is guaranteed. One million Syrian refugees have disrupted Europe. The people assembled at our southern border are primarily climate refugees-drought in Central America makes it impossible for them to earn a living. Estimates range from 100 million to 1 billion climate refugees in the near future, with the potential to make the world ungovernable.

My mother, a Rosie the Riveter during World War II, built bombers that my uncle flew. The level of mobilization required to win WWII is required now. Politicians who propose half-measures are the ones who are unrealistic, not those like Senator Sanders, who propose a response equal to the threat.

And make no mistake. Climate change is a threat multiplier. It makes other problems worse. Our world is changing much more rapidly than predicted and future results range from horrible to catastrophic to extinctive.

I do not agree with your conclusions, but I congratulate you on addressing an issue of such importance.

Jim Thompson

San Jose, CA