Letter to the Editor by David Newton
On December 1 in Madrid at a global meeting on climate change, U.N. Secretary-General Guterres stated: “Climate change is no longer a long-term problem. We are confronted now with a global climate crisis. The point of no-return is no longer over the horizon. It is in sight and hurtling towards us.”
On December 2, former Secretary of State John Kerry and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urged everyone to join them and more than 60 other founding members in “World War Zero [which] is a coalition of people [across the political spectrum] who are committed to addressing the climate crisis…” The New York Times reported: “Their goal is to hold more than 10 million ‘climate conversations’ in the coming year…”
We can all help by learning and talking about climate change. Here are two helpful resources:
World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency – Published online November 5, 2019 by BioScience, this article was endorsed by “11,258 scientist signatories.” It is printable as a free five page PDF.
Climate Change: Evidence, Impacts, and Choices – This National Research Council/National Academies publication provides “answers to common questions about the science of climate change.” (36 pages). Read online or download free.
David Newton
N0TE: The text above was sent to 13 Alabama newspapers and the Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer on 12/7/2019.
LTE published 12/9/19 in the Opelika-Auburn News.
Information for Discussion
World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency
Published online Nov. 5, 2019 by BioScience, this article was, as of publication, endorsed by “11,258 scientist signatories from 153 countries.” It is printable as a free PDF (five pages) at:
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biz088/5610806
Climate Change: Evidence, Impacts, and Choices
This National Research Council/National Academies publication provides “answers to common questions about the science of climate change.” 36 pages. Read online or download free at:
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/14673/climate-change-evidence-impacts-and-choices-pdf-booklet
Climate Science Special Report: Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), Volume I
“This report is an authoritative assessment of the science of climate change, with a focus on the United States. It represents the first of two volumes of the Fourth National Climate Assessment, mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990.” https://science2017.globalchange.gov/
The executive summary is at: https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/executive-summary/
A much shorter version (one sheet of paper) of the executive summary is at: https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/csd/assessments/climate/2017/highlights.html