Vote for Our Mother (Earth)

In the IPCC report, it mentions some possible fixes for climate changes. These fixes are lowering the use of coal for electricity and increase the use of renewable energy sources (New York Times, p. 2). By lowering the use of coal, there would be less CO2 emissions. Less CO2 in the atmosphere will eventually lead to lower temperatures. Pairing up with lower coal usage with more renewable energy to be the source for electricity, greenhouse gas emissions will go down. However, these two fixes will not keep the global warming below 1.5⁰C. A fix that may prevent us from reaching 1.5⁰ is changing the world economy (New York Times, p. 1). This fix is simple in theory, but difficult in reality. It is a fix that will more than likely not happen because it requires everyone to agree and work together. One way to get to change the world economy is by voting for representatives that will work towards change and not drag their feet to prevent change.

Climate science is not young. In Reidy’s article, climate science first started in the late 1800’s with Tyndall. Tyndall realized the importance of gases in the atmosphere. However, climate science died when Tyndall died. I believe the science did not come back to the forefront until scientists started to realize that the Earth was warming. I believe that climate contrarians are either in denial or do not realize how long climate science has been with us.