Progress, but Not Enough

Spectator

It isn’t clear how much longer the current government will be producing data regarding climate, as they are already in the process of removing references to climate change online and in printed informational material.

The operative philosophy seems to be if we don’t talk about climate change, then maybe it doesn’t really exist. And, if it doesn’t exist, then we can increase the activities that “didn’t” cause it in the first place. You know, like lots more drilling for oil offshore or in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

First, the necessary review for the umpteenth time differentiating between weather and climate. Most readers of this column already know, but maybe this will help you explain to your friends who are quite certain the recent cold snap is proof there is no climate change or global warming. “Weather” is the short-term changes in atmospheric conditions; what’s happening in your yard right now and tomorrow. “Climate” is the average weather patterns in a much broader area over a longer period of time, usually measured in 30-year increments. Today’s snowfall is weather; the average temperature increases over the last three decades is climate.

Let’s start with the unfortunate bad news; we are making progress but not enough and not nearly fast enough.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, which keeps tabs on such things, the world’s carbon dioxide emissions are projected to have reached record levels of 41.6 billion tons in 2024, more than 37 billion tons of which are the direct result of burning fossil fuels. And according to WorldOceanReview.org, sea levels continue to rise at an accelerated rate, increasing coastal erosion and flooding, tidal flooding, and the intrusion of saltwater into freshwater aquifers among other issues.

NASA’s Earth Observatory, the primary source of NASA satellite analysis and information, reports glaciers are now melting at record levels in the Arctic, Antarctica, and Greenland. An ocean current that circles Antarctica in an endless loop is warming and shifting, resulting in more ice loss beneath the continent’s overwater ice shelves and the release of even more carbon. Ice core samples are now indicating Antarctica is warming more and faster than at any time in the last 50,000 years.

NASA’s bad climate news keeps coming, so they might have to be shut down by the hear-no-evil see-no-evil administration but, overall, it appears 2024 will have been the warmest globally since records have been kept.

It takes only some modest paying attention to know something is causing more frequent severe storms, more frequent and much more severe wildfires, more drought followed by more floods, worse algae blooms including in Lake Erie, and displacement of animals from their historic natural habitats (some are already adapting; those that can’t are increasingly at risk). Some impacts were never anticipated, like rapidly depleting oxygen levels in the Baltic Sea creating weird underwater “dead zones.”

(Those still doubting the very existence of climate change should be advised the consensus among the scientific community has not changed. Climate.gov has reviewed hundreds of research papers and more than 95 percent acknowledge climate change is both real and human caused.)

The good news is not that we are stopping the activities and behaviors causing the problem but that we’re getting a bit better at dealing with it.

Solar panels are getting smaller and much, much more efficient, and we have now discovered many of the rare earth minerals used in their manufacture exist in the U.S., though mining them is an issue. We’ve also gotten significantly smarter about where to place these other than on rooftops or consuming thousands of acres in large installations. They work installed over many crops and atop canals providing multiple benefits.

While China is building ever larger wind turbines—they now have erected one with blades 459 feet long capable of producing enormous amounts of energy—the Chinese government is little concerned about anybody opposing their location.

A better option than getting bigger and bigger is known as a tulip wind turbine because they look a bit like an unopened tulip. They are much smaller, as small as just 6 feet tall up to 35 feet, and they are especially effective for individual home or business use. They operate quietly in very little wind, and the blade is mostly enclosed to pose minimal danger.

It’s hard to conclude we’re making progress when we keep falling farther behind. Having government leadership working against science and reality is not helpful. According to the Center for Climate Change Communication, fully 70 percent of American adults now believe climate change is real. Included in the 13 percent who do not are the very people who should be leading us away from the primary source of the problem—human use of fossil fuels.

Instead, we’re being led into a climate catastrophe our grandchildren will be forced to confront.

View On Our Website