Climate Change

How significant is global warming? Historically speaking, it means relatively little, as the Earth has experienced extreme fluctuations in temperature – from long periods of warmth to ice ages. However, I’d like to lay out some of the realities by examining some of the persistent myths surrounding global warming.

Myth 1: We don’t really know if the climate is changing or, if it is, why.

Myth Debunked: There is an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community that the earth is warming, that this warming trend will worse, and that post-industrial human activity is to blame. In fact, when President Bush, who was among those who doubted the science, asked the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a special review, their well-balanced staff that contained more than just a few skeptics came back with the same conclusion: the planet is getting warmer and we are at blame. How significant is global warming? Just ask the people of Alaska, where roads are crumbling and homes sagging as the permafrost begins to melt. While the Earth’s temperature has always fluctuated, those changed generally occurred over several centuries or millenia. Today, these changed are happening within decades. In fact, scientists predict that over the next century average global temperature will rise two to ten degrees Fahrenheit.

Myth 2: Even if the Earth is warming, it may be more beneficial than dangerous.

Myth Debunked: Sure, a warming Earth may contribute to more fertile grounds, some previously covered by frost or long winters, but this effect will inevitably be reversed in other areas of the world. In the long term, any benefits are eventually outweighed. We will face increased flooding and increased drought. Extended heat waves, more powerful storms, and other extreme weather events will become more common. Rising sea level and storm surges will threaten communities along any coastline and taint water aquifers and reservoirs.

Myth 3: There is so much uncertainty, about scientific challenges and economic implications, that it would simply be better to wait for better information before we decide how to respond.

Myth Debunked: Now is not the time to wait. Even the current level of greenhouse gases is enough to leave the Earth feeling warming effects for decades to come. Right now, there is about 40 percent more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there was at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The concentration of carbon dioxide is projected to reach twice the pre-industrial levels by the middle of this century.This doubling of carbon dioxide emissions is the scenario most scientists have relied on in projecting the likely impacts of global warming.

I’m not going to sit here and say that humans are in imminent danger of being wiped off the face of the planet, like the dinosaurs, but I think it does come down to a similar factor: the dinosaurs were wiped out because they couldn’t adjust to new realities. Unless humans learn to do a better job of adjusting to these new realities, we will also pay a heavy price.