Climate change

The new National Climate Assessment that the White House released confirms previous studies from the United Nations (UN), which said that the harmful effects of global warming are already being felt.

The study, the third mandated by Congress and conducted by 300 scientists for four years, was also immediately rejected—like the UN’s study—by conservatives. As a result, they are accusing the Obama administration of attempting to use the greenhouse effect as an excuse to expand the reach of the federal government with new regulations, of being against the carbon industry, of attacking the current lifestyle and basically of inventing dangers.

Climate change deniers were able to find a handful of scientists who are going against the tide and have rejected the scientific consensus about the negative impact of carbon dioxide gas emissions on the weather. Likewise, there used to be people who believed that the earth was flat, while some still think that the sun revolves around our planet (as revealed during a recent poll) and others think that the theory of evolution is pure fantasy.

In this case, the report is very concrete, detailing how increased pollution is already affecting the lungs of minority populations. It also mentions how farming is affected by the lack of rain and the links between factors like temperature increases, the rising use of air conditioners and pollution.

The phenomenon of climate change should be seen for what it is, instead of seeing it through ideological blinders in order to reject it, making up and denouncing the supposed reasons for the report. Maybe blaming the messengers for their intentions could diminish the scientific value of the report. However, that won’t stop climate change any more than you can cover the sun with a finger, no matter how hard someone tries.