Climate change

National Voter, Oct, 2008

What We Must Do:

We can protect our communities and the world from the effects of global climate change. But we must act now--before it's too late. We must reduce global warming right now by capping harmful pollution. At the same time, we must aggressively begin cutting "greenhouse emissions"--achieving reductions of 80 percent or more by 2050, based on 1990 levels--by shifting quickly to cleaner technologies in every sector of our economy.

Cities, states and individuals already are taking bold and innovative steps to reduce global warming pollution. Their work is a reminder that protecting the climate can yield an array of benefits for America--limiting our dependence on oil from other countries, reducing air pollution, spurring new industries and jobs, and protecting pristine places from drilling and mining. To reinforce and expand on those efforts, the United States must step up to the plate with policies to reduce global warming pollution nationally and globally.

Why It's Important:

Global climate change poses a major threat to public health, the environment, and U.S. and world economies. We already face increasingly severe heat waves and droughts, intensifying hurricanes and floods, disappearing glaciers, and more wildfires. If left unchecked, the effects could be catastrophic: millions of people displaced as rising sea levels flood coastal areas; many regions devastated by reduced crop yields and shortages of drinking water; human health threatened by malaria and other diseases; and numerous plant and animal species at risk of extinction.

Climate change is happening now. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the decade from 1998 to 2007 was the warmest on record. In addition, 2007 ranked among the warmest seven years since record-keeping began in the mid-1800s. The other six warmest years all fell within the 1998-2007 period.

Warmer temperatures already are having alarming effects. Summer sea ice is disappearing in the Arctic; mountain glaciers are retreating around the world; many species of plants and animals are responding to earlier spring warming; and climate change is taking some species to the brink of extinction. Recent increases in the strength of tropical hurricanes have been linked to a rise in ocean temperatures caused by global warming.

Climate change is caused by human activity. There is no longer any doubt about it: Human activities are the primary causes of global climate change. Burning fossil fuels--chiefly coal and oil--in our power plants, cars and trucks, and elsewhere produces carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]), which works like a blanket to trap the sun's heat in the Earth's atmosphere, creating an enhanced greenhouse effect. Other human sources of "greenhouse gases" (GHGs) include deforestation, agriculture and industrial processes.

In its latest Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, the World Meteorological Organization states that average global concentrations of the three main GHGs--carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide--reached new highs in 2006. Compared to pre-industrial levels, C[O.sub.2] levels in the atmosphere have surged by 36 percent. Scientists say current levels of atmospheric C[O.sub.2] are unprecedented in human history.

Climate change will get worse. In the absence of substantial reductions in worldwide emissions of C[O.sub.2] and other GHGs, climate change will accelerate in the decades to come. The Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that global temperatures will increase between 2.0[degrees] and 11.5[degrees] F by 2100. Sea levels will rise by 1-1.5 feet or more. In addition, there's a 90 percent or greater chance that the world will see more extreme weather, heat waves and heavy precipitation events, more droughts and more intense hurricanes. (1) Developing countries, which lack the resources needed to protect their residents and their economies, will be among the hardest hit by the effects of catastrophic climate change.

What's in It for Us:

Everyone on Earth is affected by climate change in multiple ways:

Climate change affects our health and safety. Heat waves and extreme temperatures pose obvious health risks to all people, especially the elderly and those living in poverty. Scientists also say climate change will accelerate the spread of infectious disease and pose serious threats to food and water supplies, while increasing the threat to humans from wildfires, hurricanes and other severe-weather events.

Climate change affects our security. A June 2008 report by the National Intelligence Council documented how increased temperatures, changes in rainfall, rising sea levels and other changes could threaten U.S. security in the next 20 years. Among the potential problems: political instability, mass movements of refugees, and conflicts over water and other resources. Addressing climate change in a serious way also will reduce the United States' reliance on oil from unstable regions of the world.

Climate change affects our wallets. Numerous studies have shown that the costs of not addressing climate change (from increased emergency room admissions to food and crop losses, lost infrastructure, and increased storm and flood cleanup) will be considerably higher than the costs of reducing emissions. Plus: addressing climate change will create a wealth of new economic opportunities as businesses develop alternative energy technologies and new ways of reducing emissions.