Global warming has quickly become one of the most heated issues in America (pun intended). Rising temperatures and melting icebergs are indisputable evidence that the Earth is warming, but is this global heat wave a man-made crisis or just overblown hype?
We are well past the time to debate the science of climate change. It is now time to take advantage of the opportunity we have to build a cleaner, safer, more efficient world.
In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that there is at least a 90 percent chance that heat trapping carbon pollution is the main factor in increased average global temperatures since 1950. For its authoritative scientific work, the IPCC won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The IPCC’s prize reflects an overwhelming consensus regarding the science of climate change. In 2005, the national academies of the world’s largest countries, including the United States, joined together to state that the scientific understanding of climate change is sufficiently clear to justify nation’s taking prompt action.
For those who don’t know the science very well, the measure of the CO2 in the world’s atmosphere currently stands at 385 parts per million (ppm). Pre-industrial levels were around 280 ppm. The last time atmospheric concentrations were this high was at least 650,000 years ago.
Over the last 100 years, average global temperatures have risen by almost one degree. All 10 of the hottest years on record have occurred since 1990. Meanwhile, the earth’s glaciers are melting faster, animal species are collapsing, and weather patterns are becoming more severe. These facts compel action.
And so the question is not whether climate change is real, but how quickly we can respond. We have the opportunity to transform the world from a dependence on dirty, inefficient fuel, to clean, sustainable energy.
We also have the opportunity to leave this world cleaner, and safer for generations to come. Working to save our children, and our grandchildren, from the worst effects of climate change is something that many would agree is worth our effort.
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