The following editorial appeared in The Kokomo (Indiana) Tribune, a CNHI newspaper. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tribune-Democrat.
“We’re all going to die!”
“Well, some of us are going to die.”
“Actually, we may all be OK.”
Despite years of dire warnings, researchers recently announced that scientists’ best- and worst-case scenarios on global warming both missed the mark. The extremes on either end have now been debunked.
It’s doubtful anyone is too surprised by this new research finding. In fact, it’s what most people assumed all along.
There have been modest gains in the effort to curb climate change. Use of green energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal is credited with lessening carbon pollution projections.
But because people aren’t embracing them as quickly as hoped, there is no chance of limiting warming to the international goal set in 2015.
The Paris climate agreement set a goal of limiting warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, but that is clearly not going to happen.
On the other hand, the coal-heavy future that was estimated to lead to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit if we continued using so much gas, oil and coal turns out to have also fallen short of predictions.
As more people turn to green energy – windmills, solar power, electric vehicles, etc. – it obviously lessens the need of burning the alternatives. But they’re nowhere close to being a replacement at this point.
So, a little of this and a little of that leaves us landing somewhere in the middle.
We have seen more extreme cold in our recent winters and more extreme heat in recent summers. No one likes the idea of global warming, but scientists, manufacturers and the government have yet to come up with a viable alternative.
We’re a mobile society. We’re not going to stop driving our cars. You can’t uninvent the wheel.
So, what are the options?
Public transportation is not convenient enough or plentiful enough to lure people from their private vehicles. And it never will be.
Electric vehicles are not economically feasible for most people; they don’t have enough range, and until we see charging stations as plentiful as gas pumps, people will not make the switch to an all-EV society.
Wind and solar energy have made inroads, but neither is as reliable or as affordable as the current alternatives.
People like to travel. No one has come up with an electric plane. And it’s doubtful people would line up at airports to board one if they did.
In order for the human race to completely change its way of life, there has to be more on the table than dubious claims of possible global extinction.
The risks of climate change have not disappeared. It’s happening, just not at the rate we were told.
But even tenths of a degree can cause issues for the Earth’s ecosystem. We see more extreme weather events, some species die off, fresh water becomes scarce.
It is a problem. But despite years and years of scientific study, we’ve yet to hear a viable solution. Until then, we do what we can comfortably do and hope for the best.