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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
It's become a cliché to say that out of crisis comes opportunity. But there's no denying that when faced with crises, we have choices. The opportunity depends on what we decide to do.What choices will we make when confronted with the fact that 2014 will likely be the hottest year on record? Will politicians close their eyes while fossil fuel industry executives shovel money at them and enlist propagandists to spread misinformation and lies?
Reducing the threat of global warming and finding ways to adapt to unavoidable change will also help people around the world "deal with the impact of heat, extreme weather, infectious disease and food insecurity."Climate change affects human health in multiple ways.
Perceived economic benefits (mostly short-term) trump the needs of all Canadians and their children and grandchildren for clean air and water, healthy food and a stable climate. Droughts, floods, water shortages, insect-plagued forests, extreme weather events, rising sea levels and melting glaciers don't matter as much as getting the oil, gas and coal out of the ground and sold as quickly as possible.
The America that set me on my path would never deny the reality of a scientifically proven problem, or claim nothing can be done about it or that meeting the challenge will destroy the economy. By committing to seek solutions, we will reap benefits -- expected and unexpected. It's time to revive the American know-how and gung-ho enthusiasm that has long characterized this great nation.
We were told how other towns that accepted this industrial turn now look. It's not pretty. "Drive through some of those towns," we were told. See for yourselves what industry has delivered. Smell the air. Look around. See what these oil and gas facilities have done to communities.
The IPCC just released the first of four chapters of its Fifth Assessment Report. It shows scientists are more certain now that humans are largely responsible for global warming. When they say 95 per cent certain -- as the latest report does regarding human contributions to climate change -- that's as close to certainty as science usually gets. Evidence for climate change itself is "unequivocal."
In response to the IPCC's massive and comprehensive report which cites incontrovertible evidence that climate change is real, man-made, and it will have a significant impact on Canada, the Government puts out a press release blaming the Liberal Party for its alleged past environmental failures. Apparently it must be Sir Wilfrid Laurier's fault because, after all, he was the Liberal Prime Minister when the Industrial Age began.
