Recent natural disasters show changing climate
Earlier this week, Hurricane Sandy devastated the coasts of many Northeastern states, dropped several feet of snow in West Virginia and affected almost the entire East Coast. This is the second time in many years that a storm of significant magnitude has struck the region, which is not at all known for tropical activity. But that may be changing.
Global climate change activists have been predicting that catastrophes like hurricanes would become more frequent. As climate change becomes less of a theory and more of a reality, elected officials cannot continue to dismiss it.
Hurricanes typically form in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico because they use the warm waters found there to gain strength. The water along the coasts of Northern states like New Jersey and New York is not supposed to be warm enough to support a hurricane. But studies have shown that the water temperatures are rising worldwide. This doesn’t mean there will always be more hurricanes, but it does mean there will be significantly more opportunities for stronger hurricanes and for hurricanes in places we normally don’t see them, like the Jersey Shore.
During this year’s Republican National Convention, Mitt Romney mocked President Barack Obama’s assertion that he would try to heal our planet and slow the rise of our oceans. When looking at the flooded subways of New York and the entire cities in New Jersey overtaken by tremendous storm surge, that promise no longer seems ridiculous. Even though Obama has talked a good game on the issue, if reelected, he must be willing to go further on climate change than he did in his first term. Increasing mileage requirements for cars was a good step in the right direction, but the president has faced much criticism for investment in failed green energy company Solyndra. This has dampened some enthusiasm for the entire movement, but it is still incredibly important to heavily invest in profitable clean energy to protect the environment.
Climate change is based on a series of indisputable facts. First, though they have fluctuated throughout the measurable history, carbon dioxide levels are much higher than they have been at any point in the past 650,000 years, due to human activity. Second, carbon dioxide traps heat, so the earth must be getting warmer. Scientists agree that this is happening. Finally, when large-scale climate changes occurred in the past, they tended to occur quickly, so action must be taken immediately. If climate change is a man-made problem, then we can at the very least slow it down, if not completely stop or reverse it. Regardless, elected officials must see the risks and take serious action because they will find quickly that disasters like Sandy are the new normal.