A storm is coming
How do we know when a storm is on the way?
Today we have radar, satellite and computer models that do the heavy work in guiding weather forecasters and the weather forecast is pretty reliable.
The five-day forecast is as good as the two-day forecast was 10 years ago. A budding hurricane is noticed a week in advance and landfall accuracy is usually within a few miles and hours.
Longrange outlooks correctly identify La Nina and EL Nino events and the current Super El Nino that is disrupting weather patterns throughout the planet was forecast months before it started causing problems.
The scientists that are involved are dedicated people and it behooves us to take their advice on our changing climate rather than trust a politician or a large corporation. We have been there before with chemicals, tobacco and a host of other products that have been harmful to humanity.
Today the climate is warning us faster than we can respond.
Every day the weather is a killer with fires, droughts, storms, rising seas and melting ice, yet we have world leaders that call it a hoax. The deniers are running scared as the destruction continues and folks are beginning to demand that we pay attention.
Study after study concludes that this is real yet leaders continue to kick the can down the road since they feel they can get by with that approach until they are gone and it is someone else’s problem.
The State of the Climate Report mentioned in the current issue of Time Magazine states that the earth’s “vital signs” including sea levels and greenhouse gases are at record extremes. Our earth’s life-support systems are being pushed beyond stable limits.
In May, Mother Earth has now reached an atmosphere carbon dioxide level of 428 ppm, roughly 50% above pre-industrial levels and higher than at any time in the past 2 million years.
Fossil fuel, the dominate driver of this, is still rising, but a bit of good news in that 18% of new energy is coming from new solar and wind production. Unfortunately our administration has done everything they could to cancel these programs.
The war in Iran laid bare the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and triggered a global energy boom.
Perhaps the future may be a little brighter as the world realizes the problems with the current consumption of oil and its problems, including cost.
All of this while oil companies are experiencing record profits while most of the world’s people grapple with record costs for fuel, groceries and many other items necessary to a decent lifestyle.