As Earth Day nears, commit to studying climate change
Most conservatives and liberals are reasonable and thoughtful, but some aren’t. Unfortunately the least reasonable and thoughtful on both sides seem the most vocal. There are some ultra-conservatives that believe that the world is flat and a few thousand years old, and that we didn’t go to the moon. And there are some on the far left that exaggerate claims of destruction at the hands of man and claim any species’ demise will have catastrophic consequences. It’s natural for species to go extinct; many more species have gone extinct than exist today.
IMO, both these fringes do a disservice to the debate, a debate we’re reminded of as we approach April 22, Earth Day.
I don’t know how or when climate science left the field of science and entered politics, or when scientists, in general, became subjects of ridicule, but it’s unfortunate. When I was a kid everyone wanted to be a scientist (or a fireman). Yes, even the girls; my three sisters contributed a few human hearts and circulatory systems to science fairs.
Recently we’ve seen massive hurricanes and unprecedented forest fires with tens of billions in price tags on top of misery for about a third of our population. Could be just a “coincidence,” hurricanes and fires happen every year. But even moderate science-doubters should recognize that the warmer oceans exude more moisture to produce higher category storms and record rainfall and that a small change in temperature causes desertification of fertile cropland and record forest fires.
Whether the warming is due to human use of fossil fuels or merely a natural cycle, or both, it’s happening. In the short term (And for the longer term (>50 years), we should determine the effects of these warmer temps, man-made or not, on cropland, food supplies, pests, diseases, water levels, freshwater supplies, Arctic and Antarctic development, shipping lanes, etc.
I won’t list many numbers because they vary widely, and they won’t be believed anyway. The most recent U.S. National Climate Assessment concluded that 93% is human-caused, but I perused the report and it does seem biased. But it’s undisputed that there IS a problem. We need a comprehensive, fair, honest, government-established continuing study of climate change, willing to include all sides, that will respectfully listen to the evidence and consider ideas that will not ridicule, exaggerate or politicize positions, that will coordinate internationally, and that will actually begin national continuing action that won’t change with every administration. Soon.