This article appears way back on page A16 of today’s New York Times. I couldn’t even find it in the Globe. So much for that lib’rul bias.
The nation’s scientific establishment issued a stark warning to the American public on Thursday: Not only is global warming real, but the effects are already becoming serious and the need has become “pressing” for a strong national policy to limit emissions of heat-trapping gases.
The report comes from the National Research Council. The authors, “an unusual combination of climate scientists, businessmen and politicians”, started their work in 2009 when the political climate was a bit more favorable for action.
“The risks associated with doing business as usual are a much greater concern than the risks associated with engaging in ambitious but measured response efforts,” the report concludes. “This is because many aspects of an ‘overly ambitious’ policy response could be reversed or otherwise addressed, if needed, through subsequent policy change, whereas adverse changes in the climate system are much more difficult (indeed, on the time scale of our lifetimes, may be impossible) to ‘undo.’ ”
One more quote:
Not only is the science behind the climate-change forecast solid, the report found, but the risks to future generations from further inaction are profound. Already, the report noted, sea level is rising in many American towns and the average United States air temperature has increased by two degrees in the last 50 years.
Do I expect any action? Will most people even hear about this? I’m doubtful. The counter-argument, which is roughly the equivalent of the schoolyard taunt, “is NOT!”, has been very effective, coupled with the boogieman of possible higher energy prices. Well, Mother Nature neither understands nor cares about our economic system. She just does what she does based on the science.
