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If only science on climate was simple
Yes, life would be easy if global warming was as simple and easily understood as Donald Davis proposes in his June 30 letter, (“Climate change due to a warming cycle.”) We could just continue doing what we are now doing. No nasty regulations telling us what to do.
Unfortunately, climate change, its drivers, the positive and negative feedback, the complexity of atmospheric chemical interactions, the complicated worldwide history of warming, doesn’t allow this easy answer.
Consequently, widely varied views are held by our fellow citizens, leading to strong disagreements on how we on a worldwide basis address this issue.
Science is, and has been since the 1600s, the arbiter of disagreements like this.
A source to understand the science is a free course offered by Coursera through the University of Chicago, “Global Warming I: The Science and Modeling of Climate Change.”
This is a 12-week class, taking about 38 hours to complete, and helping you understand the solid science of climate change and the amazing worldwide record of monitoring (some 11,000 stations) of atmospheric temperatures for over 200 years in many locations.
Don Cooper
Amsterdam
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”