Arne O. Holm says Amid War and Tariffs, the Biggest Crises Are Forgotten

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As humans, we aren't made to handle several crises at once. We have that in common with our politicians.

We had more than enough with Russia's war against Ukraine and the Gaza war. Now, we must also handle Donald Trump's trade war.

Varying answers

If we ask experts what the real threats of the future are, the answer is something entirely else. At the top of the list reigns the climate crisis. It impacts the Arctic quite brutally. A war ends, the climate does not.

The fear of pandemics is often in second place. Five years have passed since COVID hit us with full strength. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the virus spread to an entire, unprepared world. In the US, there is now fear that the bird flu will spread to humans, while anti-vaccine movements have led to an increasing number of measles cases.

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are in the middle of what many would call a perfect storm, an accumulation of unfortunate circumstances that make a difficult situation worse overall.

Had climate change impacted those who have the money to flee where the consequences are least, it would have been taken seriously, also in the US.

Had pandemics been a threat to the wealthiest, with their own private health care, money would have flowed into vaccine development.

However, since climate change and pandemics chiefly impact the weakest among us, those who live on the outskirts of where decisions are made, cuts and ignorance by those with the most money and power are met with applause.

When Russia conducted its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western countries responded with a set of sanctions. Some of these impacted the scientific cooperation between Russian and Western researchers. This is nearly catastrophic for climate research.

Enclosed in Russia

Data from Russia is crucial to conduct global climate research. Today, the observations from all Russian satellites and climate stations are now enclosed behind Russia's borders. This particularly applies to observations of the Arctic. The results are unbridgeable gaps in research and the ability to calculate future changes to the climate.

In addition, the climate change denier Donald Trump has withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement, an agreement that aims to limit climate emissions. The new president has also fired hundreds of climate researchers. Now, several European countries are frantically trying to save US climate data. If they can't, we lose data from both the US and Russia.

Yet, Donald Trump has done more than just impact his own and other countries' inhabitants by denying the climate crisis.

One of his first presidential orders was to withdraw the US from the World Health Organisation (WHO). It was a purely political act, not based on professional arguments. The US accounts for a whopping fifteen percent of the WHO's budget.

Shocking

The withdrawal was met with shocked despair among the world's health experts, such as Catharina Bu, the Secretary General at United Nations Association of Norway. She described this as a threat to global health security with an increased risk of future epidemics.

Furthermore, Trump has appointed a health minister, Robert Kennedy Jr., who, at least until he was elected, was an admitted anti-vaccine. Trump has also cut billions of dollars in health research.

War, trade wars, and armed conflict are more than enough. 

Just not for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

So there is a kind of hope, at least in Norway, according to historian Hans Olav Lahlum. In an interview with VG the other day, he said, "we are better prepared for chaos than ever before."

I suppose it was intended as encouragement.