Climate Change Is Complicated. Let’s Talk About It.
Climate change is all too real. There can be no doubt about that. It has been real for billions of years. Oh, we talk about man-made climate change. That’s real too. We have influenced our climate by now and no doubt will influence it even more.
Who lives in a city? Have you noticed that inner cities are noticeably warmer than their surrounding lands? Both get the same weather but cities tend to be darker and hence the built-up surface area retains sunlight much better than in the wild.
OK, here is another one. We are so focused on airborne carbon that we don’t even see the monster lurking in the shadows. Black sot and nano-particles are extremely potent heat retainers. Way more potent than CO2 but we don’t really care as half of the planet chokes in a blanket of smog. How are we not up in arms about that?
Temperature measurements made before 1970 are bogus. Do you really think you can accurately measure a tenth of a degree with a mercury column? Too many factors influencing this so much that anything better than a degree is hogwash. Everything measured before WW2 is mush. It’s a bit like those who say that a watch has been in operation without a hitch for 300 years. How would we test that statement?
But I repeat — Climate Change is real. We are just reacting the wrong way to it.
The world is complicated. Rarely is there a straight line between cause and effect. This is true for climate change, both in terms of extreme weather and in terms of the politics of climate change. Why some opt for simple explanations for both phenomena, we are best served by acknowledging complexity.
