Climate Change is real and undeniable
Climate Change is undeniably real and the worlds major institutions are committed to doing something about it.
Logo of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The majority of the world knows that their climate has changed from a decade ago, certainly two decades ago and most definitely changed from 3 decades ago.
Unfortunately, every part of the United States has experienced significant differences in the intensity of weather where they live.
Droughts lasting longer, starting earlier in the year and ending later.
Mudslides that now swallow an entire town as it did in Washington state.
Floods that now break records year after year. During the month of April twenty plus inches of rain fell in parts of the southeast.
Blizzards are now a regularity in the Northeast, instead of a rarity.
Modular and Mobile home residents know that climate change is impacting them across the United States. There are sections of the country that have different wind scales, such as level 2 or 3 indicating the wind intensity and impacting zone requirements on mobile homes. Mobile homes are a danger in high wind situations, as well as in flood zones.
Sunscreen is a requirement for any activity outside in the sun. It used to be that you could send your child out with no sun block for the first week of spring and summer without major burns. No such luck, within 1 hour a burn will occur without sun block any where in the United States.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is leading the exposure of Climate Change as a real and global problem requiring a diverse response from industry, governments, private sector and investment in green technology.
The Secretary General was in Abu Dhabi and visited renewable energy projects in the middle of the desert that were successes.
The Secretary General toured around the Shams1 parabolic solar power project. By most estimates it is a success and can supply power for 20,000 households.
The Middle East overall, and especially the United Arab Emirates is serious about addressing Climate Change, Poverty and water issues. Israel is included in those countries recognizing the changing climate.
Masdar Institute is in the forefront of green sustainable technology and works with multinational companies to incubate and cross pollinate ideas with like companies of renewable and green technology.
The two reports of significance are the IPCC and now the National Climate Assessment.
The United Nations Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change covers broad areas of the world environmentally. The Panels conclusions include the fact that humans are the root cause of the exacerbation of climate disruptions and that humans must be responsible for mitigating future acceleration. CO2 emissions will soon enter a phase of parabolic growth with very little ability to stop the upward trajectory. Need such as, “Upscaling of Low-Carbon energy supply” must occur. Delays in implementation of mitigating policies will have disturbing effects in the future. We know this is the case because of the long delays in the 1960s and 1970s are having effects in the 2010s and 2020s (Page 16 of the report). Energy sector changes, Transport changes, Building changes, Agriculture changes, Human behavior changes, and Urban planning changes are required to reverse Climate Change.
The IPCC, said “that environmental effects are ‘pervasive’, however opportunities exist for effective responses.”
If we change our perspective, the way the media covers Global Warming and entertainment treats the Global Threat as real, we will have a chance to mitigate Climate Change.
GlobalChange.gov’s National Assessment has greater granularity on North American Climate Change. Evidence of instances of heavy downpours has increased by 71% in the Northeast and 37% in the Midwest and more strikingly negative 12% in Hawaii. These are islands surrounded by salt water oceans and incredible need for fresh water. The sample period was from 1958 to 2012.
On all coastal waters, testing shows an increase in acidity of the water due to the increase in Carbon dioxide and the oceans absorption of this carbon. The acidity is affecting shell formation, which impacts crustaceans and cloudiness of the oceans.
Adaptation, the report says is the key to solving the many climate problems we have. Each region of the United States have different weather and climate related issues and therefore, require different sets of solutions.
The World Bank Group, the United Nations and International Monetary Fund are institutions who have leaders who see the crisis in Climatology and are working to address it Geopolitically and Geo-economically.
– By Julien David – Reporting from the United Nations
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