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A very good question, and one that many people in the North East have been asking recently. We have been slammed by huge amounts of snowfall recently accompanied by freezing temperatures with no end in sight. As I look out of my window I see four feet long icicles hanging from my roofline and nothing but glistening snow piled three feet high in my garden. I wonder if instead of being concerned about global warming I should be concerned about a global ice age!
This is where an unfortunate choice of terminology can lull us into a false sense of security. I think that instead of using the term “global warming” we should be using “global climate change” to describe what is happening. As more and more pollution and greenhouse gasses are forced into the atmosphere, the weather is becoming more unpredictable. Most people have the idea that global warming will mean a gradual increase of our usual temperatures by a couple of degrees, and what’s so bad about that? Slightly warmer summers and winters is something that a lot of us would appreciate (especially now!). But what we are seeing is more and more extremes of weather. From mudslide-causing excessive rainfall, to snow in Alabama, to intense category five hurricanes, most people realize that this type of weather is not “normal.” These “swings” in weather patterns will become more “usual” as climate change progresses. I know that there are many people who are skeptical of climate change and think that it’s something that’s been made up by overzealous scientists with a political agenda. Unfortunately, as we are already seeing there is a huge potential for people to jump on the bandwagon for their own personal gain. Billions of dollars will be wasted on dead end technologies and money hungry charlatans, all in the name of fighting global warming. I personally think that it is unrealistic to expect that with over six billion people living on the planet, the climate will not be affected in some way.
Whether or not you believe that climate change or global warming is real, the fact is that we only have one Earth. Every day we have options and choices we can make on how to live. If one option is more gentle on this Earth than another, don’t we have an obligation to choose it?
This is where an unfortunate choice of terminology can lull us into a false sense of security. I think that instead of using the term “global warming” we should be using “global climate change” to describe what is happening. As more and more pollution and greenhouse gasses are forced into the atmosphere, the weather is becoming more unpredictable. Most people have the idea that global warming will mean a gradual increase of our usual temperatures by a couple of degrees, and what’s so bad about that? Slightly warmer summers and winters is something that a lot of us would appreciate (especially now!). But what we are seeing is more and more extremes of weather. From mudslide-causing excessive rainfall, to snow in Alabama, to intense category five hurricanes, most people realize that this type of weather is not “normal.” These “swings” in weather patterns will become more “usual” as climate change progresses. I know that there are many people who are skeptical of climate change and think that it’s something that’s been made up by overzealous scientists with a political agenda. Unfortunately, as we are already seeing there is a huge potential for people to jump on the bandwagon for their own personal gain. Billions of dollars will be wasted on dead end technologies and money hungry charlatans, all in the name of fighting global warming. I personally think that it is unrealistic to expect that with over six billion people living on the planet, the climate will not be affected in some way.
Whether or not you believe that climate change or global warming is real, the fact is that we only have one Earth. Every day we have options and choices we can make on how to live. If one option is more gentle on this Earth than another, don’t we have an obligation to choose it?
Tags: environment, green
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