To the editor:

The astounding destruction of Hurricane Harvey, and the impending threat of Irma, are not natural disasters in isolation.

Human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, are loading our atmosphere with heat-trapping gases. The result is a warming climate that increases sea levels, raises ocean temperatures and increases air moisture content, conditions driving worsening extreme weather events including hurricanes. We do not cause these events, but there is no doubt that we contribute to their intensification.

It is necessary and important to respond to the desperate needs of hurricane victims in Texas, as well as the millions suffering in India and Bangladesh due to recent catastrophic flooding, but not sufficient. In addition to responding to the immediate impacts of these events, we must also take a larger view and recognize that our policies contribute to this harm. Our federal government’s decisions to roll back clean air regulations, push fossil fuels, and detach from the Paris Climate Accord are sending us in the opposite direction of where we should be heading to meet the challenges of climate change, and do us no favors in the race to renewables that other countries are set to win to our economic disadvantage. All of us must insist that our government turn toward, not away from, real and lasting solutions to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the impacts of climate change — these are among the greatest acts of charity we can give to each other and our children.

DEBORAH RUDNICK

Bainbridge Island