Climate has changed

Climate-change facts: NASA scientists have recorded the last decade as the warmest on record, with rapid warming the past few decades. Our climate has changed throughout history with glacial advance and retreat, but the current trend is important due to human activity and heat-trapping carbon dioxide so the greenhouse gases have caused the earth to warm. Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica and mountain glaciers, along with tree rings, ocean sediment, and coral reefs reveals current warming occurring 10 times faster than the average Ice Age recovery.

Sea levels are rising due to ice melt, putting some islands and coastal areas in jeopardy. Some streets of Miami are being raised or rebuilt, and new storm sewers installed in a $100 million flood prevention project. The Solomon Islands are disappearing.

The oceans’ absorption of carbon dioxide has increased by 2 billion tons per year due to the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. The more carbon dioxide we put into the atmosphere, the more moisture it can hold, which translates to more rain, hurricanes, snow, hail, floods, and extreme weather events. The property/casualty insurance industry is preparing for these events. Some insurance companies have filed suits against municipalities for losses as cities were not preparing.

The Pentagon is preparing. Gen. James Mattis, secretary of defense has said climate change is real and is a threat to American interests abroad and the Pentagon’s assets everywhere. It all comes down to fossil fuels, which we are doing something about with the increase of solar and wind. Cleanenergy jobs now outnumber fossil-fuel jobs by 2.5 times.

Please educate yourself instead of listening to opinion TV and radio. Learn the facts. The only financial scam is that taxpayers are still subsidizing big oil companies.

EDITH SEAMAN

Lakeview