The Earth’s climate systems are complex almost beyond comprehension. The old saying that a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the Earth creates a tornado on the other is true in many ways. Unfortunately many climate change deniers will use this complexity as a way to support their indefensible beliefs. We see many politicians in America using cop-out excuses like “i’m not a scientist”, or “the Earths temperature is always changing”. Although we don’t understand everything about how the Earth’s climate operates, this does not give us the excuse to ignore obvious changes in our global environment. The global scientific consensus is that the Earth’s climate is heating up and is more than likely caused by human action. If we choose to ignore this fact because we don’t fully understand it, we will be ignoring possibly the most significant existential threat that we face as a global community. Our nation’s leaders too often make the irresponsible claim that there is nothing we can do, or that short-term economic interests are more important than the long-term health of our planet. I hope for our future generations that we can come together and face this global crisis.
image citation: Weather Channel Co-Founder Denies Climate Change. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.snopes.com/politics/science/coleman.asp