Polar bears—malnourished and limping—stranded on liquefying glaciers. Crops dried and dead. Soil cracking and fields barren. Rising ocean levels and tidal-wave sized flooding.

We have seen the posters, heard the stories, listened to the scientific projections, and frankly many might feel tired of the intense conversations and the harsh political polarization associated with this “controversy.” But, there is too much at stake to not discuss the life-threatening, world-altering, irreversibly damaging process of manmade global warming.

Climate change has been discussed and debated (and denied by some who blatantly reject scientific evidence and facts) almost ad nauseam. In the words of Republican congresswoman Michele Bachmann, it’s “all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.” According to Republican congressman Steve King, “It’s more of a religion than a science.”

If only that were true…

Penn State researchers in late January 2018 released new information about the effects of the warming climate and rising ocean levels. (Penn State has an incredible meteorology program and is a national leader in climate change research under distinguished professor Michael Mann). Specifically, the research study conducted by PSU doctoral student Andrew Ross involved a computer model compiling 100 years of observations about high and low tides in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. Through careful variable manipulation, ultimately, Ross and his PSU colleagues found that raising sea levels are shifting the tidal wave ranges—by both increasing, decreasing tidal wave magnitudes—in these local waterways.

You might be thinking, why should I care about shifting tides or rising water levels? Changes like these not only alter aquatic ecosystems and affect regional wildlife, but are also become emblematic of larger manmade destruction.

Last week, the National Academy of Science of the United States of America published a new study that found that the acceleration in the sea level rise is caused mainly by glacier melting in Greenland and Antarctica and that by 2100, sea levels will rise by 52 to 98 centimeters if we do nothing to limit current greenhouse emissions. 65 centimeters is a rise of roughly 2 feet, which will undeniably have huge consequences for ecosystems around the world. According to National Geographic, a sea level increase of this magnitude would cause seawater to move further inland, resulting in destructive erosion, wetland flooding, aquifer and agricultural soil contamination, and lost habitats for fish, birds, and plants.

In addition, the National Climate Assessment, which is part of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, has predicted that global warming will also cause coral reef collapse, a diminishing efficiency of agricultural, water, energy, transportation sectors, reduced air quality, which will lead to increased respiratory and cardiovascular disorders, increase in allergies and asthma, increase in food and waterborne diseases, heightened rates of disease carried by insects (ex. Lyme’s disease, West Nile Virus ) and so much more.

Understanding the widespread impacts of manmade climate change is crucial, particularly when climate change denial seems so prevalent among current US government leaders.

In early summer 2017, President Trump officially withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate agreement. The agreement formulated in 2016 was a joint global effort towards greenhouse gas emissions mitigation.

In August 2017, the Trump Administration disbanded a federal advisory committee on climate change. The committee published the National Climate Assessment every four years, which outlines the effects of climate change and necessary future steps to combat the crisis. The US government no longer supports these assessments.

In late December 2017, Trump dropped climate change from the US national security strategy. In addition, according to the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative—an international coalition of researchers and activists—the words “climate change” have been removed from US government websites and information on climate change programs have been deleted or buried (don’t believe me, see here). Inevitably, the changing access to resources about climate change on federal sites will only continue to breed a misinformed and skeptical public. We need action and widespread support for scientific fact—not ignorance and shortsighted thinking.

These shifts in environmental policy are extremely disheartening, especially when considering the long lasting consequences that climate change denial will have on the future of our world. As a citizen of the United States, you can help combat climate change by being energy efficient, supporting renewable power, limiting the waste you produce, being informed about the environment, and ultimately supporting politicians and organizations (check out the Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club Foundation, Earthjustice, Sioux Tribe, Natural Resources Defense Council) that will help nurture and maintain a healthy environment for future generations.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this “debate.” How do you think climate change research should be presented so that it is more widely accepted by the US public?

 

References

“Human Health.” National Climate Assessment, US Global Change Research Program, nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights/report-findings/human-health.

Jackson, Liam. “Century of Data Shows Sea-Level Rise Shifting Tides in Delaware, Chesapeake Bays.” Penn State News, The Pennsylvania State University, 24 Jan. 2018, news.psu.edu/story/502250/2018/01/24/research/century-data-shows-sea-level-rise-shifting-tides-delaware.

Miller, Brandon. “Satellite Observations Show Sea Levels Rising.” CNN, Cable News Network, 13 Feb. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/02/12/world/sea-level-rise-accelerating/index.html.

Warne, Kennedy. “Sea Level Rise.” National Geographic Society, National Geographic Partners, 7 Apr. 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/sea-level-rise/.