Cold enough for you?
We sure can use some of that global warming now, couldn’t we? Har har har!
We’ve all heard versions of such questions this week as temperatures plunge into the low digits. And there’s only one appropriate response: Don’t be an idiot.
Yes, it’s cold enough for me, but I also know that climate change is real. President Donald Trump’s sarcastic tweet about “good old Global Warming” only makes us appear foolish to the rest of the world.
A millionaire who trips on a sheet of ice and rips his coat is still a millionaire, even if he “looks” poor for a few hours. If LeBron James catches the flu, he is still a super-athlete, even if he looks sickly for a few days. And a cold spell does not change the reality that the climate is heating up and endangering us all.
The planet has been steadily warming since the late 19th century, driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere, according to NASA. Sixteen of the 17 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001. The rising oceans have absorbed most of this increased heat, resulting in more and more killer storms.
This is not opinion, but measurable fact. The Earth is warming at dangerous levels. Weather and climate are not the same. Weather is short term, climate long term. A bully who doesn’t beat someone up all week is not suddenly a nice guy — he will soon revert to form and resume stealing your lunch money. Yes, this cold spell is awful, and I’m sorry if you have a cold or the flu. They both will pass. But only a fool loses sight of the big picture. Those who still minimize or don’t “believe” in climate change are either ignorant, or willfully ignorant.
Which is it with the president?
A Trump golf resort off the Irish coast last month won approval from a county council to build two sea walls. Why are they necessary? The first application mentioned climate change and the threat to the property from global warming. Only when people brought up that Trump had previously called it all a “Chinese hoax” did a new application make no mention of climate change and its devastating effects.
Hmm . . .
Playwright Mike Vogel blogs at newyorkgritty.net.
