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| Scientific American/Graphic by XNR Productions/Photo courtesy of Wing-Chi Poon on WikimediaCommons |
Forget about “global warming”—the better name for what’s
happening these days is “weather whiplash.” That’s the term meteorologists are
using to describe the deep freeze that hit the lower 48 states last night on a
cyclone that whipped out of the North Pole.
Weather extremes in the US
in just the past six weeks have whipsawed from record highs to record lows, New Jersey’s state
climatologist, David A. Robinson, told The New York Times. “The fact is it’s
happened,” he said, “and we don’t know why.”
When the experts can’t say why what’s happening, I start
worrying. From what I’ve gathered being in—and frequently cursing—the weather
for 70 years, reporting on the weather for newspapers for nearly 30
years, and listening to and reading what various weather researchers have to
say, I’d say we’re in trouble.
“Global warming is sometimes thought of more as 'global
weirding,' with all manner of complex disruptions occurring over time,” Time
Magazine environmental reporter Bryan Walsh wrote in a blog post yesterday,
entitled “Climate Change Might Just Be Driving the Historic Cold Snap.” In his
estimate, “This week’s events show that climate change is almost certainly
screwing with weather patterns [in] ways that go beyond mere increases in
temperature…”
If you think he’s got it wrong, consider this: “In
1988…Americans experienced unusual drought, searing heat, floods, and
hurricanes—the precise events scientists predicted would occur with increasing
frequency and severity as the levels of greenhouse gases rise,” noted the 2010
edition of a college textbook, Natural Resource Conservation. Frankly, I can’t
even recall the weather way back then, a quarter-century ago, given the far
more extreme weather events in more recent years.
So I’m looking to some other experts—savvy practitioners of
civic action.
“Today, in the absence of governmental leadership and with time for
effective action on climate running out, collective action by religious and
spiritual leaders and people of our many diverse faiths is badly needed,” assert
the organizers of the Interfaith Moral Action on Climate, which is sponsoring a
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.-inspired march on Washington on January 15, King’s birthday.
“We must move away from an economy fueled by coal, oil and
gas that is destroying our ecosystem and impoverishing millions, and into an
Earth-friendly economy in which we thoughtfully reduce our consumption, share
our resources for the healing of those who are most in danger, and help all
Humanity turn toward clean, renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind and
geothermal,” says the Interfaith Moral Action on Climate group. Endorsers
include Church World Service, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Jewish Climate
Change Campaign, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Methodist Federation for
Social Justice and dozens of religious leaders across the nation.
This call for action was preceded by a letter to Congress in
July signed by more than 200 religious-oriented scientists, that said in part: “As evangelical scientists and academics, we
understand climate change is real and action is urgently needed. All of God's
Creation -- humans and our environment -- is groaning under the weight of our
uncontrolled use of fossil fuels, bringing on a warming planet, melting ice,
and rising seas. ... Our changing climate threatens the health, security, and
well-being of millions of people who are made in God's image. The threat to
future generations and global prosperity means we can no longer afford
complacency and endless debate.”
Beyond the current cold snap, 2014 already seems to be shaping up to be a
very hot year for civic action on climate change issues.
“When governments fail to do what is possible to protect the
very livability of a territory, its ability to produce food and provide
shelter, climate change becomes a human rights issue as well,” Mairead Maguire,
who won a Nobel Peace Prize for her peacemaking organizing work in Northern Ireland,
said in a statement endorsing the Great March for Climate Action. The march is
planned to step off in Los Angeles on March 1,
headed across the country to Washington, DC, with rallies along the way to urge Americans to press
President Obama and Congress to save America’s temperate climate and
other nations around the world from deadly environmental disasters.
“As the people of the
Philippines
dig out and bury their dead from yet another catastrophic storm event, we have
to do something big and we have to do it now,” said another march endorser, Los
Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz.
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