The time to address global warming is yesterday.
Remember all that talk about how global warming was going to change our lives? It already has.
A new federal report on the impact of climate change condenses the latest science from a variety of disciplines. Among the findings:
• Heavy downpours are now twice as frequent in the Midwest as they were a century ago. Summer and winter precipitation have increased.
• Large heat waves have become more frequent in the Midwest over the past 30 years than at any time since the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s.
• Average temperatures have increased noticeably, despite year-to-year variation. The growing season has increased by more than a week, allowing more non-native plants and animals get a foothold in the state.
The report from the federal U.S. Global Change Research Program unequivocally describes the cause of climate change. It’s “due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases.”
That’s a far cry from public position taken by the administration of former President George W. Bush, who didn’t release a climate status report during his eight years in office.
A federal court forced the administration to release a draft climate report last year. The new report is based on that document, along with subsequent studies that have become available since then.
It spells out regional impacts of climate change — both those that have occurred and those that can be expected in the future.
Those regional impacts make a personal and compelling case for addressing the problem. “This is not some theoretical thing that will happen 50 years from now,” said the report’s co-author, Anthony Janetos. “Things are happening now.”
They say that if you put a frog in a pot and then turn up the heat, he won’t notice until the water boils.
Global warming has the same effect on many people. Its impacts have occurred slowly over time. Coupled with normal seasonal variations, they’ve seemed almost undetectable.
But they’re very real. They can be — and have been — detected and measured. That’s given us the ability to make changes before the worst effects become unavoidable.
But so far, Americans have been unwilling to act on that information. Now that a bill to curb greenhouse gas emissions has been introduced in Congress, many people are objecting because of the estimated cost.
But doing nothing could be even more expensive.
The report predicts that by the end of the century, the Illinois climate could be similar to the current climate of Louisiana or Texas.
By then, national average temperatures could have increased by as much as 11 degrees.
The greatest risk of all is summarized in four words: “Thresholds will be crossed.”
Climate systems and ecosystems contain what you might consider points of no return.
Cross them and things will never be the same. Pack ice disappears, permafrost melts and animals that are superbly adapted for those environments disappear forever.
That can trigger so-called feedback loops — other changes that exacerbate the impact of climate change. Large quantities of carbon dioxide, for example, could be released by the melting permafrost.
The time to address global climate change is now, when the worst environmental and economic impacts still can be avoided.
Congress should enact legislation that caps and reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases. The Obama administration should redouble efforts to negotiate an effective international treaty that cuts emissions around the globe.
As a 527 organization, do you guys believe everything the Obama White House feeds you or can you sometimes pick and choose ?
The greatest risk is Obama’s ACES Act (cap and trade), which will cost many of us our businesses, many others our jobs, and all of us our freedoms and our future.
No patriotic and informed American can support the ACES Act (global warming/cap and trade scam), a huge Ponzy scheme that will kill the U.S. economy.
Cap and Trade “would be the equivalent of an atomic bomb directed at the U.S. economy—all without any scientific justification,” says famed climatologist Dr. S. Fred Singer. It would significantly increase taxes and the cost of energy, forcing many companies to close, thus increasing unemployment, poverty and dependence.
Cap and trade represents huge taxes and cost increases, which will hurt mostly the poor and the middle class. Cap and trade will give dictatorial powers to Obama and will further enrich his billionaire friends (Gore, Soros, Goldman Sachs, Obama’s Chicago Climate Exchange friends, GE, the United Nations, etc.) — all at our expense and at the expense of our children and grandchildren.
Those brainwashed to the point of wanting to destroy the economy to “prevent global warming” are behaving like the most primitive human beings who were duped into believing that human sacrifices would ensure them good weather. Human beings don’t have the power to control climate! And killing the economy will not help the environment. Poor countries can’t protect the environment. Just look at Haiti!
More and more scientists and thinking people all over the world are realizing that man-made global warming is a hoax that threatens our future and the future of our children. More than 700 international scientists dissent over man-made global warming claims. They are now more than 13 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media-hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers. http://www.climatechangefraud.com/content/view/3562/218/
Additionally, more than 30,000 American scientists have signed onto a petition that states, “There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate.” http://www.petitionproject.org
We pray that honest leaders – both Democrat and Republican - are able to save us from Obama’s criminal ACES Act (cap-and-trade) scam.
Regarding the headline, I think Carl Sagan argued that years ago. The bullet’s already been fired, he said. Now, our job is to figure out how to deflect it.
As soon as Korea and Iran get their technology ironed out, global warming will be offset by nuclear winter. As they have for eons, humans will adapt or expire.
Until you guys can cite the “correct” global temperature you should concentrate on your many other means of confiscating from others to feed your egos and fuel your ideology. The productive among us can only carry so much of your dead weight before breaking down completely.
Meanwhile, buy a beach umbrella before sea level reaches St. Louis.
So which is it? Global warming or climate change? Did see report that Boston is experiencing record lows? Gee, and you guys spent 8 years accusing the GOP of the politics of fear-mongering and yet every day you write an editorial on the healthcare crisis or the global warming crisis.
Please!
The global-warming crowd had adopted the latest scare tactics of the Obama Administration: We are at a tipping-point. If we don’t act immediately, without debate, it will be too late.
Once again, the Post ignores the scientists who discout global warming as a man-made phenomenon, and instead promotes the Chicken Little approach to the issue. As opposition to the economy-destroying cap-and-trade bill grows, the dire predictions will increase as well.
Wasn’t this paper screaming about drought a few years back. Now it’s too much rain. I guess there’s only one side to a story now. Obama’s side.
How could this be happening???? I remember all those countries that got together in Kyoto and said they would stop this. I can’t believe they all lied to us. I hope Obama will chase these liars to the end of the earth and make sure they stop global warming like they said they would.
Shouldn’t we always be suspicious of government generated data? Here are some questions that have disputed answers.
1. Is the climate changing? Hasn’t it always been changing?
2. If so can any of the change be attributed to human actions? Or is the climate change attributable to natural cycles?
3. Is there anything humans can control that would have enough of an impact to stem off climate change?
4. Cap and trade would only make economic sense if there would be global adoption. Otherwise wouldn’t all of the polluters just move to countries that did not adopt cap and trade practices?
This blog by the nameless Editorial Board is just a smokescreen guys. After getting their butts handed to them over healthcare the last couple of days they needed time to rethink their strategy. So they post this dribble in hopes that we will forget that they didn’t answer any questions posed to them or correct any of the assumptions they produced based on WHO information devoid of statistical consistency. We haven’t forgot, O Nameless Ones…