Thankfully, fewer and fewer scientists and members of the the general population in the West are willing to deny that global warming isn’t real, but let there be no mistake there are many that continue their staunch opposition to such a “preposterous idea” often fueled by certain “news” outlets and certain Republican candidates.
These politicians’ global warming views couldn’t be further from each other
“Even while over 97 percent of the scientific community and the vast majority of Americans believe that humans are contributing to climate change, a small but well-heeled cohort continues to deny and even try to discredit what objective science tells us unambiguously,” wrote U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Virginia in late March.
While there is some truth to that, he was likely quoting NASA’s suggestion that 97% of climate scientists agree. Scientific community doesn’t work in this case, but I don’t particularly mind.
“Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities. In addition, most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position,” says NASA’s website.
There are a number of members of the “scientific community” that can prove extra-terrestrial life on Earth and a few that defend faith healing.
But look at the contrast between the remarks from an elected politician and recent comments from a presidential hopeful who hasn’t held elected office.
In a recent rally in Donald Trump spoke to global warming in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
Speaking to supporters he said:
“They said (the media?) Donald Trump wants to arm, with nuclear, Asia. Of course I don’t want to do that…
President Obama said the single greatest problem that the world has and our country has is global warming. Okay. No, think about it. I mean, he actually said that. I went back and I said, please check, because maybe he said it as a joke. Maybe he said it — he said global warming is our biggest problem.
We have problems, okay. We have big problems. We may have a global warming problem, but it will be of the nuclear variety if we don’t have smart people in office and soon. And soon. Global warming is not our biggest problem, folks. Believe me.
Do you ever notice they have global warming, they have extreme weather? They have named it so many different times, now I hear they call it extreme weather a little bit more. But they have changed the name so often, right, so often. They just weren’t working. The names. And forget that. We have a problem, and the problem is nuclear, and we have to be very careful.”
Reason from the federal government
A new report from the federal government has made it quite clear that not only is global warming real, but is making us sick and will only get worse going working forward into the future.
“It’s not just about polar bears and melting ice caps. It’s about our families. It’s about our future,” said Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy at the White House when unveiling the report.
While Trump and others have called for the dissolving of the agency, the report is still based on sound science.
“Not being able to breathe is one of the most frightening experiences” for people, said Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy “We’re talking about scary moments for parents and children.” Asthma is presently the number one reason for children visiting the hospital for the first or fourteenth time. “Now we’re seeing it worsening because of the heat, the allergens,” and air pollution, said Lynn Goldman, dean of the George Washington University’s public health school.
The study was put together from 1,800 published scientific studies and new federal research, and was reviewed by the National Academies of Sciences.
“The report clearly establishes that climate change is a major threat to public health in the United States,” said Howard Frumkin, dean of the University of Washington’s public health school, who wasn’t part of the report. He said the government isn’t doing enough. “There is a vast disconnect between the magnitude of the problem, as outlined by this report, and the response of government health agencies.”
Much of this reporting is based on the Associated Press interviewing those that are experts in their fields but not involved in the study. While that’s the case for the second half of this piece, the first half is largely my opinion that climate change is real and that Donald Trump is hardly fit to be the President of the United States.