Does Our Planet Need a Tune Up?

Climate Change has been a hot topic for decades. Climate Scientists and their supporters warn of the dangers of global warming-fueled anthropogenic (or man-made) Climate Change in order to help educate. They have examined mounds of data that has accumulated over the past one hundred plus years and compared it to what is happening now. They have studied ice cores and soil core samples to look at longterm climate patterns back hundreds of thousands of years. That data strongly suggests that the burning of fossil fuels is warming the planet and causing a domino type cascade of dangerous climate impacts. These people are the world's mechanics, trying to determine how the engine is running and how to keep the engine running smoothly. 

Others believe Climate Change is not real. These deniers say humans do not affect the climate at all. Many say it is simply nature moving at its own pace, as it has for billions of years. They say that Global Warming is a man-made global conspiracy to frighten people. There are those that stand to lose quite a bit (money, power, control) if the world were to accept Climate Change as real and enact measures to prevent further damage. Companies that currently supply the majority of the World's energy needs. Isn't it also possible that those entities would try and prevent such measures from ruining their businesses by any means necessary? Even if those measures would provide clean energy with long reaching environmental and economic benefits?

Ninety-seven percent of Climate Scientists who have studied the Earth's climate for decades and are considered the premiere experts on the subject can show that the Earth’s atmosphere is getting warmer and that humans are the cause. They say that the burning of fossil fuels and the subsequent releases of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere has caused the world's average global temperature to rise 1 degree, on average, since the end of World War II. This coincides with the massive increase in the use of the fossil fuels oil and coal that the world relies on to run our cars and airplanes as well as power our homes and cities.

The deniers say that these same scientists are not in fact experts but rather they and everyone else involved in the “Global Conspiracy” are doing so to fool the entire world. By getting the world to put a tax on carbon and invest in Renewable Energy, these so-called "environmental fundamentalists" ultimate goal is to fool everyone in order to pad their bank accounts. The Climate Change Deniers want all of us to believe that some Environmental Illuminati-type organization was created by politicians, activists and ninety-seven percent of the world’s climate scientists to brainwash a whole planet into believing “fake science”.

The science behind Global Warming and Climate Change is sound. From year to year and from decade to decade there are temperature variations and fluctuations, but over the long term, the current trend is clear and measureable: atmospheric CO2 levels have climbed steadily since WWII, and so has the average global temperature. The average global temperature has risen 1degree Celsius this century. That may not sound like a lot, until you realize that 1 degree is the difference between Ice and Water. The degree changes at the poles have been much higher, around 3-4 degrees higher. That is where the majority of the world's ice happens to be, so the effects are much more apparent and more dangerous.  

I have learned from many people and organizations here in Maryland and across the country about the science behind climate change. I have answered questions and explained the science involved to those who want to understand. Some are concerned, while others vehemently do not. Those types tend to use bullying tactics straight off the playground from 4th grade. Ridicule and insults. I have been called "Chicken Little", screaming to anyone that will listen that the sky is falling. I have been called a fascist and un-American. Very original stuff. All because I want to help others understand the real science. Climate Change Deniers do not back up their opinions with any facts, just conjecture and erroneous conclusions from inaccurate information.

That kind of interaction comes with the territory. I have thick skin and try to do my best to handle the argument without seeming condescending or evasive. I point to the science, and try to show how so many things in this world are connected. Some are reasonable and can see some of my point, but still disagree. Some dismiss it outright. I cannot convince everyone. But I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me from time to time. When you see the science and how it all fits together and not looked at separately, its hard for me to dispute what the facts are. I just hope to show other people those same connections so they can see the big picture. 

So, with that said, what do you think about Climate Change? Do you think some solar entrepreneurs and politicians are paying off the majority of the planets scientific community so they might pad their wallets? What do you think is more likely? That a group of liberal politicians, climate scientists and renewable energy companies decided to invent a made-up climate catastrophe in order to get the global community to buy renewable energy and push for legislation to curb carbon emissions just for their own benefit?

There is no denying that renewable energy technology and infrastructure would bloom and prosper. But innovation would explode as well. New technologies would be invented, pollution would decrease and the health of the environment would benefit. Jobs would be created, energy would become more affordable. There is most certainly huge benefits monetarily in such a worldwide shift in the energy markets. That has been and will continue to be the American Way. New replaces old. Better  ideas push aside old ones. Would that not be good for the world to live more sustainably, with cleaner energy and less waste? That is how species and civilizations flourish and prosper; by changing and evolving. Does that sound like progress or conspiracy?

Or is it more likely that the Oil and Coal companies have tried to confuse and mislead the general public by spending millions of dollars on tactics to refute Climate Change and Global Warming data? Is it more likely that Big Oil and Big Coal are trying to protect their massive profits and control by shifting focus from the pollution of not just CO2, but all the other by-products of burning fossil fuels (particulates, sulfuric acid, mercury, nitric oxides, ground level ozone, etc.) in order to make it appear that the science isn’t settled? Could Big Oil and Big Coal have adopted the same strategy that the Tobacco companies used to combat the sound scientific findings on the dangers of smoking and its link to cancer in the 1950's and 60’s? Who has the most to lose: an established and powerful industry or one that is just being to show promise?

We are being negatively affected here in Maryland now, and will continue to be in the future. The Chesapeake Bay watershed is extremely sensitive to changes in the environment. Changes are happening faster here with the Mid-Atlantic part of the country slowly sinking into the ocean as the continent rebounds from the last Ice Age. Coupled with a rise in global sea levels, we could see a more significant impact. More coastal lands inundated over the next 86 years could drastically change the Bay's shorelines. More islands and homes will disappear under the waters of the world's largest estuary. 

The scientific community overwhelmingly supports the findings of climate scientists. Climate Change is real, it’s happening and we are the cause. To say we are not is ignoring scientific research and intellectual reason that ninety-seven percent of the climate scientists agree with. With growing scientific evidence and increasing temperatures, do we really want to sentence our grandchildren to such a bleak future? If your car started having problems and you took it to one hundred mechanics, whom would you listen too? The ninety-seven who said you needed a new engine or the three who said your car was running fine?