Stop Ignoring the Scientific Facts and Take Action
by Lynda Sudlow, Sierra Club Maine Executive Committee
A recent commentary printed in the Portland Press Herald (January 30, 2015) by M.D. Harmon proclaims that there is “No sound basis for concluding 2014 was ‘warmest year on record.’” In that commentary he not only misinterprets scientific findings, more importantly, he totally misses the real story. Our climate is changing.
Because global surface temperatures in 2014 were “not quite” the warmest, Harmon calls the findings “a heap of statistical mush.”He ignores the fact that, combined with higher ocean temperatures, the global mean average was the warmest on record. Other years were statistically very close, but whether 2014, 2010, or 2005 was the warmest year is far less important than the long-term trend. He’d rather quibble about “margin of error” and methods of interpretation. Like so many others, he doesn’t want to face the consequences of what we have done to our environment.
As I sit here writing during yet another snowstorm and with single digit temperatures outside my door, global warming may seem a little counter-intuitive, but the scientific facts and findings are irrefutable.
NASA and NOAA and other agencies, all with their separate analyses, confirm that 2014 was Earth’s warmest since 1880. “This trend continues a long-term warming of the planet,” the agencies agree. This is a trend they attribute largely to increased carbon dioxide and other emissions resulting from human activities.
Temperatures have continued to warm over the past few decades, with seven of the hottest years on record occurring in the last 10 years.
(Reprinted with permission from the Yale Climate Institute.)
Unless we can seriously curb our use of fossil fuels and reduce the CO2 entering our atmosphere, we will continue to see the extremes in our weather.
Data collected from 12,000 years ago through ice core sampling confirms that higher temperatures correlate with greater concentrations of CO2 (the exact opposite of what Harmon asserts in his column).
Harmon is sticking his head in the sand on the issue of climate change and, even worse, encouraging others to do the same. The small changes in temperature he denigrates for making little difference actually do add up to meaningful results. Warmer over-all temperatures allow the atmosphere to hold more moisture. The greater the moisture, the greater the extremes in our weather and the greater the disruption in our lives. It is already happening. It is no longer a question of whether the climate is changing, but how we are going to adapt.
The current issue of National Geographic (February 2015) includes a telling infographic: “Planet Earth: By the Numbers.” It is a global look at how climate change has caused world-wide havoc. Overall, it shows that 21 million people were forced out of their homes by climate-related disasters in 2013.
The longer we procrastinate in taking action against climate change, the more drastic the adaptation that will be required to survive the coming climate disruption.
Sierra Club Maine is taking action at the local level. We urge you to join one of the local Climate Action Teams. To see what teams are in your area and what they are doing to reduce our use of fossil fuels check out our Climate Action Team Page on this web site.