On January 5, 2012, 98% of the United States had temperatures above freezing – in January! On this same day in January 2011, 46% of the United Sates was covered in snow but this year only 19% was covered. That’s good for lizards and sunbathers, not so good for polar bears and skiers.
What’s happening? Somebody tell Rick Perry that he doesn’t have to believe that climate change is a science, he only needs to step outside and stick his finger in the wind to know that the climate is a changin’. Rick, remember those Texas wildfires? Well, they, and this current weather, are two of the reasons climate change is a reality. The third reason – the science – you probably can’t remember but two out of three should work for you.
Couple of other facts: 115 cities across the country set record highs on this same day and the national, average temperature was 40 degrees – forty! – higher than last year. We also had blizzards as recently as last week and as early as Halloween with an inordinate amount of green in between. So Rick, if it helps, you can pretend that what you see is not science, it’s simply the real world, including Texas, changing before your eyes. Or you can read more about why people who are a tad brighter than you believe that the planet’s climate is warming and that there is a 90% certainty that we humans, Texans included, are the primary cause. Because of what we do to increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, particularly through deforestation (economic greed) and the burning of fossil fuels (unabated pollution). It’s sad – pathetic – that people running to be president of the United States can say, with a straight face, that there is not enough evidence that humans are a primary cause of global warming. The same is true of leaders in Canada, China and dozens of countries. We are the only species ignorant enough to destroy the very resources we need for survival by putting our need for gratification ahead of our descendants’ need for long-term survival. Of course, that’s only human.
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