How we discuss climate change [letter] | Letters To The Editor | lancasteronline.com - LNP | LancasterOnline
How we discuss climate change [letter] | Letters To The Editor | lancasteronline.com
I recently returned from a weeklong business trip to Wisconsin and was struck by how that state’s local news and weather teams cover climate change. It was literally a regular part of their newscast every single evening in the form of a weather map with areas impacted.
Granted, they’re in the Great Lakes region, so the effects of climate change are more pronounced, but we don’t place the same importance on the topic here. And I hope it’s not for political reasons or the fear of losing advertisers.
I am at a total loss to understand why this topic is so polarizing. The Earth is warming and, instead of debating the source, we should be doing everything possible to combat it and build awareness about the impacts.
Some local TV stations (and the Farmers’ Almanac) predicted “above average” snow and “average” temperatures this winter. The flaw with these predictions is that they’re looking at averages over the past 100-plus years. That’s like looking at today’s world versus when the dinosaurs roamed around here. We’re in such an accelerated period of climate change that the only relevant “averages” should really be closer to increments of five to 10 years ago.
When I was growing up, “winter” was at least three months of intense cold and snow. Now we’re fortunate to have less than a month with those conditions. And people singling out a snowstorm to support normalcy can’t see the forest for the trees.
We are going through a significant generational climate change that will eventually be documented as something historical. And it likely won’t impact many people reading this letter, but it will impact our kids and future generations. And the absence of consistent local coverage and awareness is absolutely maddening.
Phil Lapp
West Lampeter Township
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.