Patch Blog: What to Expect From Climate Change (Part II)

The other day, we visited the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Because it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the place was alive with visitors—kids and camera-toting parents pushing strollers. All around us were beautiful—and ugly but fascinating—sea creatures, many of them close enough to touch. Everything seemed clearly designed by a staff with a deep love and knowledge of the oceans. If you haven't been to the Long Beach Aquarium—or haven't been there in a while—you have got to go!

And yet, it was a bittersweet experience, to put it mildly. Some of the exhibits on display carried awful, sobering warnings for visitors. The exhibits included a movie on the increase in sea levels because of global warming and maps of places  (Florida, New York, Bangladesh, Los Angeles, to name a few) that are in peril.

Dire Warnings

Seeing is believing. A statement posted on one of the exhibit walls informed the public that, since the dawn of the Industrial Age, acidity in oceans has increased by 30 percent, threatening all sea life. That is because carbon dioxide makes water acidic. As an LAUSD science teacher in Lincoln Heights, I used to demonstrate that phenomenon to my students in the lab before I retired.

There was another cautionary graphic: A map of current and future snowpack in California. It showed at least a 50-percent projected drop in the layers of snow accumulation on California’s mountain tops over the next few decades, based on Earth’s climate and our energy habits. Did you know that the snowpack is where we get most of our water?

At the end of my previous blog, titled “What to Expect From Climate Change: Part I,” I linked to similar scientific predictions (by the Union of Concerned Scientists) about the effects of changing climate on California weather and water. One of those predictions pointed to a 30-percent to 90-percent loss in Sierra snowpack—if we change our habits, the loss would be closer to 30 percent; if we don’t, it would be closer to 90 percent.

So, how can we deal with that loss? How can we save our water resources? I can't get more serious than that.

We could simply wait and see. But that would be like a man staying in the surf after lifeguards warn of a shark sighting 30 yards away. If you were that surfer, would you wait until the shark sighting is confirmed? 

We can mitigate the changes ahead—by acting now. “But all that is in the unpredictable future,” some may say. “The alarmists may be wrong.”

But wait, friends—the dangers of climate change aren’t just in the future. Do not indulge in the narcotic luxury of looking the other way, changing the subject, or hoping that the great majority of scientists are wrong. The dangers are real—and they’re happening now!

New Findings

Consider the very recent U.S. map (attached) of climate hotspots. It shows that more than half of our nation suffered from either serious drought or overly wet conditions from January to November 2011. Records show that this year was worse than at any time since such measurements began 100 year ago. Al this is happening now.

Extremes in weather are becoming more frequent. The accounts of extreme weather track pretty closely the “educated predictions” of 97 percent of the world’s earth science experts. We can expect worse—if we fail to act as strongly as possible.

Evidence From the Business World

Further, in a recent article, the (non-political) business community weighed in about climate risks. It turns out that a major insurance company (Munich Reinsurance) follows extreme weather events around the world pretty closely (their bottom line is at stake, too). 

The company analysts conclude that weather and climate-related events have been rising steadily since 1980 in number, severity (such as average wind intensity) and often in lives lost. That trend, according to Munich Reinsurance, “provides strong evidence that climate change is already impacting human suffering and the world’s economies.” 

To cite just one of the insurance company’s many tragic and record-breaking examples: “Texans have suffered through the worst wildfire year on record, fueled by a persistent drought. Throughout the spring of 2011, more than 3 million acres of west Texas ignited, destroying more than 200 homes and businesses (insured collectively for $50 million). In September, fires near San Antonio destroyed more than 1,600 additional homes (insured for $530 million)." Drought also proved disastrous to Texas agriculture.

Yet, Texas elects John Cornyn—a climate denier if ever there was one—to the U.S. Senate time after time.

Other extremes of the past year include major floods and the worst tornadoes in the U.S. since 1925. Tornadoes claimed as many 525 lives. The $6-billion damage in Joplin, MO, alone, was among the costliest in U.S. history.

By the way, Oklahoma, too, had more than its usual share of tornadoes. Yet the state’s senator, Mr. “Hey! It’s All a Hoax!” James Inhofe, is returned to power time after time. Are such deniers—and distorters of facts—not guilty of criminal negligence? Or are their denials and distortions "just their opinion?"

It’s not just the world’s climate experts, biologists and chemists who are noticing unusual changes in weather. Everyday people are, too, including many in the business community who seem to agree with the experts. 

A Stitch in Time

When we see how much easier it would have been for the world to mitigate the problem of climate change than to adapt, repair and just take the hit, should we laugh or cry?  Me, I do both.

But—sigh—some people just don't give a damn, do they? Through history, there have always been people like that. They are unfortunate, to be sure, but they shouldn't stop the rest of us from thinking—and acting.

Four Kinds of Horses

There is a Buddhist tale about four horses. The first horse runs upon seeing the mere shadow of a whip. The second does not, but runs when the whip cuts into its skin. The third horse runs when the whip cuts through its muscle. And the fourth horse runs only when the whip cuts into the bone.

So, are voters in places such as Texas, Oklahoma and other fossilized electorates similar to the first horse, or the fourth? The answer is neither—they’re like the fifth.