The world is totally immersed now in the wars in the Ukraine and Gaza while other problems simmer on the back burner. The sojourn of humans on Earth is transient and it is our responsibility to protect the environment and ecosystems we inherited for the generations to follow and the other species with which we share the planet. Global warming is real, dangerous and mostly of our doing, with all of the environmental changes it has wrought. And the trajectory of climate change can be halted and reversed if we take the appropriate actions. At least for now! The question is whether climate change or one of its harmful effects will reach a tipping point where all of humanity’s efforts will not be able to nullify the transformation that has occurred. Unless there is a concerted effort by the major nations on the planet to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Earth is due to attain temperatures of about 3 degrees C (5.4 degrees F) above preindustrial levels by the end of the century, and possibly much higher. One would have to go back millions of years to find the planet’s temperature in that range.
Many people and nations still refuse to accept the reality of global warming and refuse to take actions that might inconvenience them, or cause them minor financial harm; to do their part in reducing the menace of climate change. Some individuals believe themselves invulnerable to whatever transformation global warming will bring. At the same time, other individuals wonder about the morality of bringing children into a world of heightened warming, where discomfort and possible disaster are on the horizon and the endpoint is unknown.
The research that has been done on climate change is voluminous and there is no question that global warming is occurring and likely accelerating. Attribution studies have also left no doubt that global warming is mainly of human origin caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Other attribution research has catalogued the effects global warming has had on the weather, the atmosphere, the land and the oceans and its impact on various ecosystems. Though extreme weather was seen prior to humans burning fossil fuels, never in human history has damaging weather been so frequent and devastating.
A Pew Poll released in August 2023 revealed that many Americans refuse to accept the reality of global warming or say it is part of a natural cycle rather than man made. They refuse to acknowledge any urgency in the changes occurring on our planet and the necessary ways we must alter our behavior. Ignoring scientists who call for immediate action on our part and evidence that supports this need, they deny the role that the burning of fossil fuels has played in this crisis. In rejecting the scientists who offer evidence for global warming, the deniers claim that proponents of climate change are misguided or have ulterior motives. And the national media are not considered as credible sources for information on climate, felt to be pushing their own agendas. The deniers emphasize the need for respecting individual freedoms and choice in the use of energy. Fully 40 percent of Americans say there is no solid evidence that climate change is occurring, or that it is mostly the result of natural patterns. Only 37 percent see climate change as an urgent priority that government must address.
The main culprit, carbon dioxide, is an odorless, tasteless gas, produced by the burning of fossil fuels for energy in automobiles, trucks, ships, planes, power plants and so forth. Fossil fuels include coal, wood, oil and gas, with coal appearing to be the greatest contributor to this problem. Other greenhouse gases also play a role, like methane and water vapor. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and radiate it back to the surface of the planet instead of allowing it to dissipate into space. Though humans have been burning wood and coal for millennia, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere started rising rapidly in the mid-to late 19th century after the industrial revolution. In the 20th and 21st centuries, CO2 escalated even more rapidly, as the human population exploded and demand for various goods and products increased, causing global warming to threaten the Earth’s ecosystems.
What once seemed like a planetary crisis off in the future is now more of an immediate threat. Action cannot be delayed when the atmospheric heat is soaring globally, floods are overwhelming some regions while drought is a problem in other areas. Rainfall and storms are more destructive now and ocean levels are rising. There seems to be a confluence of extreme weather devastating to humankind and the environment. It is as if there were a feedback loop among these events, heightening their severity and impact. Instituting measures to adapt to climate change is necessary to protect population and property at risk, but is not an answer for the long term. Funding and effort must be directed to reducing global warming as rapidly as possible by ending fossil fuel use, and people and governments must accept that the Earth is imperiled.
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Posted at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: climate change, droughts, fossil fuels, global warming, heat waves, storms, wildfires
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020