The average citizen has no idea what is causing the climate to change, how fast it is changing or
how this is impacting them. Most people believe that CO2 emissions from power plants are the
primary contributor causing the atmosphere to act like the glass on a greenhouse. The reality is
that the CO2 emissions from cars are about equal to that of power plants in the U. S. This makes
every driver of an internal combustion engine vehicle a contributor to the problem. Car CO2
emissions do not just dissipate on the ground, they migrate up to the lower atmosphere where
they can persist for up to 1000 years.
The average citizen does not understand the difference between weather and climate either.
Weather happens real-time where climate is primarily a measure of land and ocean temperatures
over a long period of time. Some people believe that if the planet is really warming then it should
be warm everywhere. This is nonsense because the poles will always be cooler and it will always
be colder in winter. The Jet-Stream is moving more erratically now, bringing cold-fronts down to
Florida and sometimes extreme heat in North Dakota. Because the oceans are warmer now,
hurricanes are more frequent, extreme and earlier each year. More moisture is in the
atmosphere, so severe floods, hail storms and deep-snow are more common. Flooding events
are occurring somewhere in the U. S. almost every week. Maryland just had 1000-year floods for
2 years in a row. Texas just had record hailstorm damage, costing over $1B. High temperature
records are broken every year across the U. S. Wildfires are hotter and more common now.
These are not freak events of mother-nature. They are caused by long-term human activity. The
debate whether Climate Change/Global Warming is caused by humans is OVER. It is proven
science verified by experts worldwide.
Climatologists now have the analytical tools to attribute individual weather events to Climate
Change. For instance the severe flooding that was caused by hurricane Harvey in Houston has
been 100% attributed to Climate Change. The economic damage that Climate Change is causing
in the U. S. is rising every year. The estimated cost to the U. S. economy in 2017 is $300B, half
the budget for the U. S. military.
Even those that live in areas unaffected by hurricanes and tornadoes are being impacted. Besides the recurring wildfires here, the cost of food has been
increasing due to crop failures in Florida and lack of water in California. FEMA payouts for
weather disasters continue to increase each year, increasing our tax burden and/or adding to the
National Debt. Ocean warming is causing many wild fish and shellfish stocks to be endangered,
including the wild salmon fishery off the west coast. Many west-coast rivers don’t have runs
anymore. The incidents of insect-borne diseases including West Nile Virus, Zika, Dengue and
Spotted Fever have TRIPLED in the U. S. from 2004 to 2016. Air pollution is responsible for over
10 million deaths world-wide and 200,000 deaths in US each year, more than cigarettes, war or
famine.
Global Warming is now accelerating because we have reached a “tipping-point” caused by effects
that reinforce warming. Shrinkage of the ice-caps reduces the heat reflected back into space.
In addition to oil exploration, thawing permafrost releases Methane gas, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than CO2.
Forests, which along with the oceans are the ONLY absorbers of CO2, are shrinking at an
alarming rate due to wildfires and deforestation for farming. Global Warming is one of the top
threats to mankind. It’s time for everyone to take this seriously at the ballot box and in your
personal choices.