- We waited way too long, and now it is really, really hard to do something – In the early 1990s, scientists agreed on one thing: that 2°C was a generally accepted level of “warming” our world could safely endure. One of the scientists that participated in this decision, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, specified that it would be best not to depart from this number, according to the conditions our species have developed on. In fact, there are some scientists who believe 2 degrees are too much for our ecosystem to handle. But guess what? We waited so long to cut back on emissions, that now we’re on track for 4°C of warming. By the way, we’re pretty close to the temperature difference between the world as it is now and the Ice Age.
- Most of the people that are really affected by climate change have no chance of voting – There’s a map made by Standard & Poor that clearly shows that the United States, one of the leading sources of carbon dioxide emissions, is one of the countries that are the least affected by global warming. As Matt Yglesias explained, if you think for a second, few Americans are subsistence farmers or live in flood plains, river deltas, or islands. Our country is big enough so we can move around in case any climate shocks were to happen. But on a global level, all the other people in the world live in the middle of a carbon-intensive life right now.
- History proves we’re awful at sacrificing now to benefit later – The thing is, global warming doesn’t work the same way as other situations that the American political system might be used to. While we’re used to making decisions that seem to be helpful to us RIGHT NOW, when it’s about climate change, things are very different. Tax cuts might be popular because you have more money than less money now. So global warming does nothing but trick leaders into believing that their decisions won’t affect anybody. They will, but in the future.
- The effects of global warming aren’t so easy to reverse – This is something that our leaders find hard to believe: climate change has a fantastic “game over” quality to it. Once the West Antarctica glaciers start slipping into the ocean, it’s a done deal. Moreover, once the carbon and methane get released into the atmosphere, there is no turning back. This isn’t just another healthcare reform or another budget deficit that needs to be fixed. This being said, do you really think that someone will realize it in time to be able to stop all the consequences?
1 thought on “Climate Change: 7 Reasons Why America Isn’t Ready To Fight It”
What is the rest of the world doing> Not a damn thing