This is our blog’s final post and we would like to use it to say thank you to everyone who has been reading. We have all enjoyed keeping you up to date on everything that has been going on with the issue of climate change. We hope you have learned a lot and we hope you will continue to make good choices that help to save our planet. We are sorry to leave you so soon, but there are many other places you can go to stay up to date with current environmental issues.
Please visit the following sites if you wish to keep yourself informed or get involved:
So, climate change is real; we’ve established that. We’ve seen that it’s so important that America is trying to combat it, and the international community is as well. We know that climate change can bring rising sea levels, rising temperatures, and more extreme storms.
Yeah, money. You know, the stuff that you wish your wallet was full of? Well, not only is climate change an environmental issue, but it’s also going to drain the world’s wallet as well.
If you’re wondering how that’s possible, take a second and think about it. When we have an extreme storm, say, Hurricane Sandy, it’s devastating. People get hurt, property is damaged, and infrastructure needs to be rebuilt. All of that costs millions of dollars to fix. Then, you have emergency services, FEMA, and other agencies who also need federal and state funding. I don’t have any totals for you, but let’s just say that all of that adds up to way more than your Chipotle budget.
Don’t believe me? Listen to these guys instead.
So, how much exactly are we talking? If you’re the kind of person who likes numbers, then let Harvard Business Review tell you that climate change could cost us trillions of dollars. You may want to get that beachfront timeshare off your hands before the sea rises up and swallows your investment. Ask the people affected by Sandy how much that can cost.
To get even more specific and even scarier, The Guardian estimates that climate change could cost up to $2.5 trillion dollars in economic losses. That’s 17% of the world’s assets. Most of us can’t even fathom that much money; it’s almost impossible to wrap our heads around a sum that big.
So, when people say that combatting climate change costs money…they’re still right. It will take a lot of work and investment to reduce our CO2 emissions and become more environmentally friendly.
But when you hear someone say that, or make the argument that it isn’t worth the economic commitment, refer them to the numbers above. The fact is, a little investment now will go a long way in the future. Think about it this way: when you pay your car insurance bill every month, it’s annoying. That money could go to other, more fun things. BUT when you get into an accident and you’re staring down a steaming pile of metal, you’ll be so glad you have insurance. It saves you thousands and thousands of dollars in the long run. So, if we take out insurance on our cars, homes, vacations, and lives, why wouldn’t we do that for our environment too?
Former Governor of Alaska and current Donald Trump supporter Sarah Palin is in the news again. This is a surprise to nobody as she is always making news for her controversial comments. This time she spoke on the issue of climate change. According to a new article in Variety Magazine, Palin is now promoting the new anti-climate change documentary “Climate Hustle.”
The film is being described as the opposite of Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconveint
Truth.” Palin is promoting its upcoming release and will make an appearance at its premier on May 2nd. She has made it clear that she is very passionate about the issue of climate change, saying “we’ve been told by fearmongers that global warming is due to man’s activities and this (the film) presents strong arguments against that in a very relatable way.”
Clearly, this documentary was made to support the views of those who deny that climate change is man-made. To deny climate change seems absurd to most of the scientific community, but Palin’s involvement has made this a political issue. Her most absurd statement relating to the film came when she said, “people who do not believe in American exceptionalism have made this into a campaign issue, so it’s vital that the other side be heard.”
Palin is wrong here, the issue of climate change has nothing to do with whether or not people believe in American exceptionalism. Just because a person does not see America as the greatest country in the world, doesn’t mean that climate change is not scientific fact.
According to an article in Seattle Pi, Palin’s home state of Alaska saw temperatures 18 degrees Fahrenheit above normal this February. The same article says that “news of the deniers’ documentary broke on a day when the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, measured in the clear air atop 13,000-foot Mauna Loa in Hawaii, reached a record 408.97 parts per million.”
The science is there, climate change is real and Sarah Palin is the one politicizing the issue in this situation. Please readers, do not support this new climate change denier film “Climate Hustle” in any way.
Last week, we reviewed some of the most recent domestic initiatives to combat climate change. While it’s good to know that America is concerned with protecting our environment and our health, it won’t work if we’re the only ones.
Thankfully, that isn’t the case.
In the 90’s, the United Nations set up a framework to ensure that all of its members would take steps to mediate climate change. It was creatively titled the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. To expand upon that, the UN created the Kyoto Protocol (the treaty, not the band). The Kyoto Protocol established that climate change exists, and it committed its members to reducing carbon emissions towards the goal of preventing further environmental damage.
To keep track of the changing environmental science, the Doha Amendment was added to the Kyoto Protocol in 2012. The Doha Amendment, named after the city in Qatar where it was hammered out, gives different guidelines for carbon emissions and tracking greenhouse gases.
Look how happy they look! All in a day’s work, saving the environment.
So far, 61 countries have ratified the Doha Amendment. The United States is not one of them. Before you let that get you down, let’s talk about the Paris Summit that happened this past fall, and how America participated in that.
The Paris Summit was an intense meeting between many different countries to discuss the rising global temperatures and what each individual country could do about it. It was high stakes and high profile, and many people were worried that negotiations wouldn’t work out.
Luckily, as this video shows, it did! 195 countries agreed to lower their emissions and try to limit global warming to 2 degrees celsius. While that may sound like small change, it definitely isn’t in the context of how much junk and pollution we (as a world population) put out into the environment.
While this deal won’t solve everything, and it’s still subject to scrutiny by the “non-believers” (see Donnie’s refutation posts), it’s still a huge step forward and a relief to anyone who cares about climate change. If so many countries with so many different interests can come together for this, is there anything we can’t do?
I was on TripAdvisor the other day looking up reviews on this hotel that I’m going to be staying at in a few weekends and noticed this link on the side. The link was titled “Check and see how green your hotel is!” I clicked on it and it’s super cool, you just type in your hotel’s name and address and it tells you how green it is. It also suggests green hotels in each state! Take a look!!
US environmental Policy 