Climate Change: Let’s Teach the Facts

Climate Change cannot be confused with day-to-day ups and downs in the weather. Being hot one day, and cold the next, or rainy one day, and clear the next, has nothing to do with it. A below-zero day in January, during a Green Bay Packer football game, proves nothing. Climate Change instead refers to differences measured over a minimum of 30 years.

Scientists started seeing temperature changes in the 20th Century, and particularly since 1975. They determined the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal for industries, and fuel oil for motor vehicles, created greenhouse gases, which warmed the atmosphere. They found the oceans warmer now than at any time since record-keeping started 130 years ago. They noted a sea level rise of more than a half a foot in the 20th Century. They now predict unless changes are made, warming will accelerate in the 21st Century, as average temperatures will likely climb another 5 degrees F.

Glaciers that cover 80% of Greenland, which descend below the surface up to two miles, and have existed since the Ice Age, are now melting, due to global warming. If all the ice on Greenland melts, it would be a serious problem, as the oceans would rise 23 feet. Even if only some evaporates, scientists say if nothing changes, the sea will rise about a half of a foot to two feet, by the end of 21st Century.

Other glaciers throughout the world on mountains are also melting and shrinking. Glacier National Park in the U.S., where there has been ice for 7,000 years, will be dry by 2070, if no change occurs. The Alps in Europe have lost more snow and ice in the past decade, than in the previous 150 years. The same was observed in the Andes of South America and the Himalayas of Asia.

Global warming will eventually flood coastal areas, sink islands, and trigger droughts. These changes will in turn adversely affect agricultural food supplies and drinking water. They will lead to starvation, great migrations, and refugee issues. The warming of the oceans will further increase storms and hurricanes.

To address global warming, scientists and instructors must teach the subject to Americans who have no particular interest in it, which means dumbing-down presentations to fifth grade levels. Americans must in turn ignore the ignorant people on Fox News and right-wing radio, who deny science, and make fun of the issue.

Politicians and voters must confront special interests in the coal and oil industries who have vested interests in keeping things just as they are. The federal government must work with other nations towards a global solution. Washington has to strictly regulate carbon dioxide, impose carbon taxes, and eliminate subsidies and tax breaks for fossil fuels. Alternatives to gas combustible engines must be promoted, such as mass transit. Wind and solar has to be developed. Americans must become more efficient with energy and start respecting the earth. It’s the only one we have.


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