A few hours ago, the New York Times published an article summarizing the findings of a just completed congressionally mandated Climate Change Assessment Study. The report is currently awaiting final approval of the current Administration before release. Scientists from 13 Federal Agencies participated in the study.
There was concern that the report would be suppressed by the administration, so the final draft was leaked by unnamed government scientists to the New York Times, which has a summary here (“Government Report Finds Drastic Impact of Climate Change on U.S.”), and the complete draft of the report here (“U.S. Global Change Research Program Climate Science Special Report”).
I’ve perused the first few dozen pages of the report. Very little of what I read was a surprise, but the magnitude of the environmental changes to come that are foreseen because of this research is larger than seen in past forecasts. The report is carefully written, thoroughly researched, and very sobering reading. Even if we stopped burning fossil fuels today, the cumulative effects of the carbon dioxide already released into the atmosphere will continue to increase for centuries to come. Large areas of coastal land will likely be flooded by the end of this century, including most of Florida.
We can no longer ignore what is coming. Those who continue to do so, particularly those in leadership or who are in a position to influence public opinion, are putting the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people at risk – doing us, our nation, and our children, serous harm.
Climate Change is not a partisan issue. Climate Change is not a political football. It is not a left wing conspiracy.
It is a certainty. And, responding to it is a matter of survival.
God help us all.
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The Here and the Hereafter 