Global Warming remains daily on my mind as I wished it did in everyone’s mind because I believe it to be the single most important issue facing the United States and the world. It has to do with the survival of future generations. In spite of all the dire consequence scientist predict may happen if we do not urgently and adequately address this issue, little has yet been done.
There are still Congressional leaders who deny Global Warming and others who do not believe that it is anthropogenic (man caused) (see Na-sayers and the Apathetic on Global Warming). So like just about everything else happening in Congress nothing is being done. Politics is no longer the art of compromise and decision making based on social benefits and economic cost but the uncompromising resolve to impose ones personal convictions upon everyone at all cost. This is a sad commentary to make about our nations and shows other nations that democracy doesn’t work.
That being said I remain steadfast in my belief of the urgency to address this issue more than we are anywhere in the U.S. including California which is one of the most progressive states on this issue and where I happen to live. California is finally in the process of implementing Cap and Trade but money from this carbon tax will likely not all go towards reducing carbon emissions by investing in alternative energy research and development but insted go into the State’s general fund for other purposes. Even Cap and Trade is inadequate an effort to significantly curb the devastating effects of Global Warming (see What is Global Warming (Part 3/3) – Conclusions & Options). All it does is imperceptibly slow down its acceleration, but it is better than doing nothing. A national Cap and Trade program would be much better but even that will not be enough. Europe is taking Global Warming much more seriously and is far ahead of the U.S. on reducing greenhouse emissions. They seem to be much more science literate then we. They do not have close to as many Na-sayers in their governments as we. With such low science literacy among our congressional leaders we are quickly descend into a nation of mediocrity. So I guess I will continue to occasionally write about this subject hoping that I can enlighten some minds.
Even President Obama takes a less than urgent stand on Global Warming. He mentions it here and there in speeches but does little to address its urgency. It is a lower priority than the nation’s economy, health care, foreign policy, and education. What else will matter if and when Global Warming unleashes all its fury? He supports the EPA’s efforts to make emission standard tighter and says that we need to invest more in renewable energy sources. He has added a little more money for transportation and renewable energy research. But he mostly gives it much lip service with little bite. Now that a more abundant source of fossil fuel has been made available through fracking (see New Technology May Overshadow Global Warming) he has agreed to more offshore drilling. He has yet to rule on the Keystone XL Pipeline. These issues make Global Warming even worst. The environment and Global Warming is simply not a high priority. If he truly does not understand the consequences of Global Warming then he should be spending more time with his science advisers instead of so much time with his foreign policy, economic, and military advisers. Neither foreign policy, the economy, nor military actions will destroy most life on earth but Global Warming could and it is headed directly towards us.
Climate change na-sayers are claiming that Global Warming simply isn’t true. Look at the record freezing temperatures we have been experiencing in the Mid-West and Eastern United States. What they fail to realize or say is that the Western United States has had record warm and dry weather this winter and that the Arctic regions of Northern Canada and Alaska are enjoying record warm temperature as a result of the polar vortex shifting arctic cold air down south due to warmer air moving north to the Arctic regions. This instability in weather patterns is highly likely as a result of Global Warming since it hasn’t been seen before.
I plead in desperation because I have children and will likely have grandchildren. I don’t want any of them to have to go through the hardships and suffering from the effects of Global Warming. I’ve actually recommended my children adopt rather than bring any more children into this world. I’m not a climatologist but I do have enough science background to convince myself that 97% of scientific peer reviewed papers supporting Global Warming last year represents as close to absolute truth as science is capable (Science vs. Intelligent Design [Comments]) regarding the truth of anthropogenic Global Warming.
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Related Articles:
- List of my Global Warming articles
- Effective emission height
- United States still foreign oil dependent
- Video from the National Academy of Sciences
- Keystone XL: State Department tells the environment to drop dead
- How the Earth’s atmosphere shows its face
- Surprise! Putting Price On Carbon Is A Job-Creating Bonanza
- global warming is a hoax?
- Four Strange Effects of Climate Change
ouR Social Conscience 
My article – “United States still foreign oil dependent” – indeed points out that we remain a lot more dependent on foreign sources of petroleum than most folks think. That is a big concern.
It’s true that global warming is real. Its also true the earth is warmer than in 1880 and that atmospheric CO2 is higher now and getting higher at an accelerating pace. It’s true CO2 and other human emissions are greenhouse gases that can cause global warming. Concern about the melting Arctic ice cap is quite real. Humans need to be concerned about all those things.
That being said, a piece of good news is that you need not fear global warming nearly as much as alarmist news sources suggest.
I combined the two primary data sets the IPCC uses to make its predictions into a single graph. Analyzing that graph shows AGW theory to be much weaker now than previously thought:
http://informthepundits.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/human-caused-global-warming-theory-shakey/
Bottom line, climate is less sensitive to human CO2 emissions than once believed. We don’t need to resort to drastic, short-term solutions that unnecessarily cost trillions of dollars. It can and should be solved by less expensive means over a longer period of time.
I am sorry but I believe your last 2 paragraphs are a bit misleading. You are looking at too short a snapshot in time. Go to Updating the CRU and HadCRUT temperature data to see the graph extended. As quoted in this article “Since the “no warming since 1998/1995/2002″ mantra is so seductive to people who like to focus on noise rather than signal, the minor adjustments in the last decade will attract the most criticism.” There will always be decades of up and down trends but the overall trend is steadily increasing. Its like looking at a bad year or two on the stock market. The trend has been steadily upwards even considering the crash of 2008. When the market crashed we thought it would never recover. It not only recovered but is now at record highs 6 years later.
Look more at the forest instead of the trees and you will get a better sense of the true trend. It is essential to put the breaks on greenhouse gas emissions now. Greenhouse gases are no longer just caused by man. CO2 and methane gas are being progressively liberated by global warming waters and melting icecaps. Man is simply the blasting cap that initiates the warming. Nature is the real danger that liberate even more stored greenhouse gases in the enormous oceans, ice-fields, and tundras of the world. We are just starting to see the effects of weather changes in progressively worsening super storms and record breaking temperatures and droughts.
Don’t be fooled by short term flat or downward trends. They are simply part of the noise.