Climate change: ‘This is just the beginning’
By Amy Goodman
8 July 2012 Evidence supporting the existence of climate change is pummeling the United States this summer, from the mountain wildfires of Colorado to the recent “derecho” storm that left at least 23 dead and 1.4 million people without power from Illinois to Virginia. The phrase “extreme weather” flashes across television screens from coast to coast, but its connection to climate change is consistently ignored, if not outright mocked. If our news media, including—or especially—the meteorologists, continue to ignore the essential link between extreme weather and climate change, then we as a nation, the greatest per capita polluters on the planet, may not act in time to avert even greater catastrophe. More than 2,000 heat records were broken last week around the U.S. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the government agency that tracks the data, reported that the spring of 2012 “marked the largest temperature departure from average of any season on record for the contiguous United States.” These record temperatures in May, NOAA says, “have been so dramatically different that they establish a new ‘neighborhood’ apart from the historical year-to-date temperatures.” In Colorado, at least seven major wildfires are burning at the time of this writing. The Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs destroyed 347 homes and killed at least two people. The High Park fire farther north burned 259 homes and killed one. While officially “contained” now, that fire won’t go out, according to Colorado’s Office of Emergency Management, until an “act of nature such as prolonged rain or snowfall.” The “derecho” storm system is another example. “Derecho” is Spanish for “straight ahead,” and that is what the storm did, forming near Chicago and blasting east, leaving a trail of death, destruction and downed power lines. Add drought to fire and violent thunderstorms. According to Dr. Jeff Masters, one of the few meteorologists who frequently makes the connection between extreme weather and climate change, “across the entire Continental U.S., 72 percent of the land area was classified as being in dry or drought conditions” last week. “We’re going to be seeing a lot more weather like this, a lot more impacts like we’re seeing from this series of heat waves, fires and storms. … This is just the beginning.” […]
Climate Change: ‘This Is Just the Beginning’
"may not act in time to avert even greater catastrophe."
Ahem… Isn't it already evident that we have not acted in time?
Considering the lag time between C02 release and climate feedback (decades), it's pretty clear that we have completely failed to "act in time".
We are presently dealing with climate feedback / carbon contributions from decades ago.
Since the increased carbon contribution to the atmosphere in the last few decades was even higher, the coming climate change we can expect to experience will be even worse — laying to rest the idea that we can or will "avert greater catastrophe".
In truth, this is now impossible and the world needs to understand this to prepare for what is to come.
This fact is actually well known among climate scientists (lag time), yet is still missing from almost all articles asking for "action". They're asking for much too little far too late, effectively ensuring "catastrophe". ~Survival Acres~