For years, proponents of fossil fuels have dismissed global warming as just another fuzzy "theory." That fuzzy theory is coming into sharp focus.
Global temperatures have risen 2 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. A multinational, independent report released in London this week concluded that with a rise beyond 2 C, "...the risks to human societies and ecosystems grow significantly." The report added that there would be a risk of "abrupt, accelerated, or runaway climate change."
The report cited the melting of Greenland and West Antarctica ice sheets.
Indeed, The New York Times reported Tuesday that glaciers and ice shelves "as large as Texas" are melting or retreating in West Antarctica. A study published in Geophysical Research Letters said that the discharge rate into the ocean of three large Antarctic Peninsula glaciers increased eight-fold from 2000 to 2003.
Meanwhile, the Arctic permafrost is thawing and glaciers and sea ice there are retreating.
Can it be shown inconclusively that global warming is responsible? No. Does it, therefore, make sense to continue or to increase global warming through our practices? Certainly not.
Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, the primary global warming pollutant. And the United States produces 25 percent of the world's global warming pollution. We can change that.
It's time we invested heavily in renewable resources, moved agricultural subsidies to biofuels and took a leadership role on the Kyoto Protocol and future emissions agreements.
