Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
Scientific American https :Hblogs.scientificamerican.com /guest -blog /forget- about - climate- change/ <br />Forget about Climate Change <br />We should be embracing energy efficiency and the low- carbon economy <br />because they promote jobs, national security and human health <br />By Rob Jackson on April 4, 2017 <br />Credit: Winchell Joshua, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wikimedia <br />In January, we learned that 2016 was the hottest year on record, the 40th in a row <br />above average. If years were coins, the chance of flipping 40 straight heads would be <br />one in a trillion. <br />Yawn. <br />In February, the Arctic was 50 degrees warmer than average. <br />And in March, an African drought threatened 20 million people, a humanitarian crisis <br />that has been called the worst since World War II. <br />March Madness, anyone? <br />If I said coal use in the United States dropped 20 percent in the last two years, <br />slashing carbon dioxide emissions and future climate change, some people would roll <br />their eyes. If I said the same drop in coal use and air pollution will save 3,000 lives <br />this year —and every year after if we stick with it— people might notice. Both <br />statements are true. <br />After two centuries of data and all these years, we're still arguing over the reality of <br />climate change and what's making our seas rise. We're missing the boat. We live in a <br />