Let’s understand something. Sometimes we have to trust the experts. That’s how we know quarks are for real, though most of us couldn’t begin to explain what a quark is. We accept the overwhelming consensus of people who work on the cutting edge of physics that quarks are very much a real thing. So, too, for climate change. The experts for decades have been telling us in virtual unison that we really, really better get serious about global warming, and the last two weeks have seen more proof pile up. We simply can’t afford to give the time of day anymore to science deniers with bald political agendas, such as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who on Sunday said, “I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it.” On Monday, two new studies were published that show an enormous West Antarctic ice sheet is collapsing past the point of no return, likely to raise ocean levels by 10 feet or more later in the century. And last week, a massive National Climate Assessment released by the U.S. Global Change Research Program concluded that climate change already is being felt across America, increasing the severity of heat waves and storms. At the University of Chicago on Monday, former Vice President Al Gore put it well when he said that ignoring the scientific consensus on climate change is about as bright as ignoring an army of doctors who say you’ve got a heart problem. “If, God forbid, you had chest pains and somehow were magically able to consult with the 10,000 leading heart specialists in the world and 9,999 of them said, ‘Oh my God, you’ve got to take this medicine, change your diet, get some exercise . . . but out of the 10,000, you find one that said ‘Well, I don’t know yet. The jury is still out.’ What would you do?” Gore asked. Marco Rubio, for one, apparently would heed the advice of that one doc in 10,000. In June, the White House is expected to unveil an Environmental Protection Agency rule that will limit carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants and boost carbon-friendly power sources such as wind and solar energy. It is precisely the sort of rule that climate-change-denying legislators and so-called “think tanks” — dependent on campaign contributions and funding from carbon-fueled industries — detest. But if Congress — let alone pollution-clogged nations such as China or India — won’t act, the White House must. Sea levels are rising. Cataclysmic weather events are becoming more common. Water shortages and shrinking acres of arable land will threaten food supplies around the world. If we care about the world we leave to future generations, we will heed the scientists — the great majority, that is — and not the political panderers. Good science is predictive. It tells us what’s coming. And so it is with the best climate science. In 1995, researchers in Australia and New Zealand predicted “a warmer world is likely to experience an increase in the frequency of heavy precipitation events” — more severe rain and snow storms. Last week’s National Climate Assessment reported that’s exactly what’s happened. And the uncontrollable melting of that massive Antarctic ice sheet? A glaciologist predicted that one way back in 1978. suntimes/opinions/27420341-474/heed-the-overwhelming-scientific-advice-on-climate-change.html#.U3Rwaz99Lbh
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 07:57:11 +0000
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