Damn scientists

[Ka-El]

Five facts about the newly-leaked U.S. climate change report

1) Leak or no leak?

Firstly, regardless of the numerous headlines proclaiming the original document - released on Monday, August 7 - as a leak, it was not actually leaked.

2) The message is clear

This final draft of the report is quite clear: climate change is definitely being felt around the globe, right now as opposed to some time in the future, human activities are the dominant cause of the observed changes, and according to longer-term records, the observed warming is unprecedented (in magnitude and speed) for the last 1,700 years or more.

3) Our ability to see the role of climate change in extreme weather events is improving

When asked about whether climate change was the cause of events like Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, the Calgary floods, etc, the usual response has been that we can't attribute individual events to climate change. These days, however, due to observing weather and the effects of climate change in various regions and with regards to various types of weather, scientists are becoming better at seeing the possible contribution of climate change to these kinds of extreme events.

4) Suppressed or watered down?

With the 5th draft now leaked to the public, it remains to be seen what the White House will do with the report.
If they suppress it, make sweeping changes to the language of the report, or water down the statements of confidence level and likelihood regarding the current and future impacts contained in the report, the public will now know about it.
That fact may not act as a deterrent, of course.

5) Unlikely to sway

Even if the White House leaves the report as is, or makes only minor changes, leaving the overall conclusions intact, given the collective stance of the Trump Administration, it is very unlikely that this report will sway their opinions or official positions on climate change.

The sad fact is that they have committed to their current position despite the overwhelming evidence, already widely available, that climate change is real, it is happening right now, and the primary cause of it is the increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the environment, due to the burning of fossil fuels.

Unless they decide that a political reversal on the subject would be to their advantage, it is far more likely that they will simply brush the conclusions of the report aside, and claim that there are higher priorities - security, the economy, or whatever else suits them at the time.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/ ... ort/84943/

Damn scientists.

[Smurf]

I might be dense but I still am not convinced that we are a main contributor to global warming. Yes we do contribute, but even looking back 1700 hundred years does not convince me as that is only a moment in earth/mother nature time. In most material I see I read too many things like this

scientists are becoming better at seeing the possible contribution of climate change to these kinds of extreme events.

To me "possible" is far from fact. I agree we have to work hard to do what we can, but in the process we cannot destroy our economy/country or the world for that matter. We could do as much or more harm than the global warming or percentage of which we might be causing.

[Ka-El]

I tend to agree with much of what you are saying Smurf. I don’t know how much of a contributor humankind is to climate change relative to other factors, but we cannot at this point make excuses to remain completely oblivious. I also seriously doubt what effect we can have on stopping or even slowing climate change, but we do need to start working on change. I agree we do not want to destroy our economy but completely denying our impact so we have an excuse to continue burning coal seems both ill-conceived and irresponsible. My biggest argument is how we go about preparing for responding and adapting to climate change, including severe weather events, and recognize that while we want and will have to gradually move away from fossil fuel dependence, we will still depend on the use of fossil fuels for some time. The type of infrastructure we need developed (storm breaks, levies, and transport systems to provide an option to automobile use) will not be built today by using someone’s electric Prius. Nor will we be engaging in critical space exploration and research with solar powered rockets anytime soon. We do need to start looking long term, but we also need to start taking the first real steps today.