There was a time when climate change deniers refused to accept that there was anything wrong with the earth’s climate. There was a time when Koch brother funded sophists would meander from media outlet to media outlet, brush imaginary lint off their Italian silk suits and smile a crocodile smile.
‘The scientific community is split,’ they would lie.
But that was back then. Back before someone turned the heat up. Scientists were quick to point out that 2014 was the hottest year on record. It remained so for exactly 12 months since 2015 proved to be even hotter. And then 2016 decided to steal some of 2015’s thunder by being even hotter still.
Climate change deniers had for so long relied on anecdotal evidence to support their deceptions. People with little understanding of the science blinked at the cold winter’s day outside and scoffed at the idea that things were out of control. They’d wrap themselves in layers of protection on rainy days and make half-jokes about wishing climate change would get its act together.
Of course, climate change is about a shift in median temperature; the specific weather outside one’s window on any given day is mostly irrelevant.
Mostly.
Some areas received more rainfall as things heated up. Some got less. In some places, mild winters confused fauna and flora alike; in others, the season was far too severe. Such counter-intuitive reasoning played into the hands of those paid to ensure one side of the argument reigned supreme over the other.
But the anecdotal evidence began to wear thin. People started to realize that something was happening to the weather. For the first time, brows furrowed as sweaters were abandoned in early March.
As Daffodils bloomed in January.
Manmade Matériel
Gears creaked, lobbyists shifted uncomfortably and another round of fossil-fuel checks did the rounds.
‘Oh, sure things are getting warmer,’ the pundits told us as they rapped on news desks with perfectly manicured nails.
‘These things happen. Weather changes. It changes all the time.’
Their new normal; deny humans had anything to do with the problem.
The technical term for what is happening to the planet’s climate is anthropogenic climate change, changes to the climate of the planet that are both directly and indirectly caused by human beings. The active ingredient in this man-made disaster is, of course, the release of excessive quantities of CO2, the granddaddy of all the greenhouse gasses.
We’ve seen such spikes before. Rising CO2 levels in the past resulted in highly disruptive and somewhat inconvenient mass extinction events such as we saw at the end of the Permian, Triassic, or even mid-Cambrian periods.
So yes we absolutely have seen rapid changes like this before. But the deniers seem intent on ignoring two key points.
First, that humans today are producing massive quantities of CO2 at a rate faster than even the most destructive climate changes in earth’s past. Second, that we are the first species in the planet’s history that is capable of observing and countering something that by all accounts is going to bequeath the entirety of human society to the insects.
Unless the dolphins take over I guess.
The Sun Has Got Its (Party) Hat On
You wouldn’t expect to see a political angle to any of this really. That the fossil fuel companies refuse to acknowledge the damage they are doing is one thing but why should the GOP faithful be so obdurate?
Whilst over a third of Americans admit to caring a great deal about climate change, 72 percent are Democrats and just 24 percent are Republicans. Such stark party divisions are confusing if not especially surprising. One of President Donald Trump’s first acts as president was to remove the term climate change from the EPA’s website in a bold move that further cemented the GOP’s commitment to ignore the looming crisis whilst they focus almost entirely on wallowing buck naked in a jacuzzi filled with hookers and oil company cash.
And it’s not like the problems associated with climate change are limited to dire prophesies of the future. There is little need for such ominous soothsaying when the cost of denial is already hitting consumers right where it hurts.
Take Florida for example.
The Sunshine Update
Florida, perhaps more than most places in America should be alert to the dangers of climate change.
It receives, on average, around 239 days of sun a year. Almost 20 percent of its population is over 65, and perhaps because of this preponderance of retirees on fixed incomes, it is also one of the poorest states in America.
There are few places as vulnerable to climate change.
Around 2.4 million people and 1.3 million homes – which is half the total number of houses at risk across the country – are situated within 4 feet of the local high-tide line. Current projections suggest that storm surges combined with sea level rise will reach at least 4 feet above high tide by 2030, and 5 feet by 2050.
In other words, the entirety of southern Florida will be one enormous flood plain within the next 20 years or so.
You’d think that Floridians would be awake to these dangers. You’d think wrong.
Florida has, after all, voted Republican in seven of the last ten presidential elections.
Solar Nexus
Floridians might look up at the clear blue skies with smiles of contentment but few see an opportunity to do their bit for the environment as they do so. The Solar Energy Industries Association ranks them third in terms of solar potential but just 12th in terms of installed capacity.
For Alissa Schafer, communications and policy manager at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, it’s all so very frustrating. Speaking to the Guardian she said:
“You see states with snow and far more cloud than Florida and they have more solar than us,”
“These other states are kicking our butt, to put it bluntly.”
Such is the power of the GOP’s concerted attack on science. Forget for a moment that many of these Floridians are going to find their houses underwater within the next few years. the lack of concern can be explained easily.
They just don’t believe it’s going to happen.
Let’s focus instead on a more immediate and compelling reason to switch to solar.
Studies have shown that Floridians who install Solar panels save an average of $139 per month on their electricity bills. It’s also a reason why the fact that less than 1 percent of Florida’s energy needs are met via solar is so surprising.
Still, Schafer seems to know why:
“Political beliefs have held solar back in Florida, and the utilities like the way things currently are,”
Indeed. And if savings of around $33,000 over 20 years coupled with the peace of mind that comes with not having a house underwater isn’t enough to make them think twice then the question is.
What exactly will it take for them to see past GOP lies?
Watch this short documentary on the fate of south Florida.
Featured image from YouTube video.
