This week local temperatures are nearing normal for late April. While we have been relatively lucky: Spring snow storms here, in the Midwest, in the South, and along the Atlantic Coast; other parts of the nation have not been so fortunate. The Desert Southwest, Greet Basin, Central/Southern High Plains and Southwest have seen increasing risk of forest fires due to strong winds, low humidity, and dry conditions. And six months after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico’s 1.4 million residents lost power last week. So much for Trump’s claim of “10 out of 10” on US aid to our citizens. Such unusual, severe weather phenomena are part of global climate change.
Trump and his bevy of climate deniers are a shrinking pool of scoffers. In the British Commonwealth more than 170 religious leaders from all over the world urged governments from the Commonwealth to “turn words into action” and stop dangerous climate change. Archbishops, rabbis, and church moderators and other leaders wrote an open letter, ahead of a major Commonwealth meeting. The letter included, “not even the remotest corner of the Commonwealth remains unaffected or unthreatened by the impacts of climate change. Commonwealth citizens, especially the poorest, struggle to thrive amidst our changing climate” and urged the meeting to “pursue every effort to keep the increase in average global temperature below 1.5 degrees (Centigrade).”
Global warming has changed Australia’s Great Barrier Reef permanently by causing bleaching that killed half of corals in just two years, following marine heatwaves lasting weeks at a time. These corals rejected their symbiotic algae and starved. The reefs are a refuge for many forms of marine life.
Scientists have identified a new source of melting ice in Antarctica. It is occurring at a faster rate than previously thought because melting glaciers create a positive feedback loop in which the more they melt, the more they drive further melting. The scientists say this process could be playing a role in accelerating both sea level rise and climate change. As glaciers melt, they produce fresh water making the surface layer less salty and therefore more buoyant. This prevents the natural mixing of the ocean. During Winter this prevents warm water at greater depths from mixing with cooler water above. This hastens melting of glacial bottoms. Indeed, multispectral images from satellites confirm that ice sheets underwater are melting at a faster pace.
More communities are suing fossil fuel companies over costs of climate change. Coastal cities and counties in California and New York City were first. Recently they’ve been joined by Boulder city, and the counties of Boulder and San Miguel in Colorado. They are suing Exxon Mobile and Suncor Energy, arguing that fossil fuels contribute to climate change. Suzanne Jones, mayor of Boulder said, “Our communities and our taxpayers should not shoulder the cost of climate change adaptation alone. These oil companies need to pay their fair share.”
On a positive note, Republican Representatives Carlos Curbelo (Florida) and Mia Love (Utah) joined Democratic Representatives Diana DeGette (Colorado) and Suzan DelBene (Washington) on the Climate Solutions Caucus to introduce a bipartisan resolution in the House of Representatives to acknowledge the impact that climate change is having on outdoor recreation and support policies to address the problem. The resolution was referred to the Energy and Commerce Committee. The resolution indicated “the impacts of climate change will increasingly threaten communities, economies, land, and water, unless addressed through mitigation and adaptation efforts.”
As more citizens accept climate change as a real threat, they must admit anthropogenic climate change adds massive pollution of air, soil, and water caused by human use of fuels, poisons, and waste. Political change will accept climate change, and work toward a solution.
Ed Fisher is a Morning Sun columnist.