Clean air photos may open eyes to air pollution
Finally some good news, as just about all major cities the world over are experiencing a dramatic decrease in air pollution as a result of the current lockdown.
People in India can see the Himalayas for the first time in decades. Los Angles is pretty much smog free, as is Paris and Beijing. New York, and even our Pittsburgh, is reporting cleaner air. Most likely this is just a short term improvement as the pollution will certainly return once the lockdown eases.
The improved air quality is another important show of evidence of what we have been doing to our planet for the past 100 years. Perhaps the pictures will awaken our leaders into actually accepting the fact that climate change is real and it is a central issue to the future of our planet and perhaps the whole human race.
Yes we have always had a changing climate as evidenced by the ice sheets that reached as far south as Northern Pennsylvania and the roaming of the dinosaurs across that same region. What is new, is the impact of human behavior that has caught up to us and poses severe threats to our future.
Some politicians and certain industries told us it’s not happening. Some even claim that the climate problem is fake and was all made up. I believe the scientist’s and there are thousands of them across the world that have evidence that we are in trouble. Their evidence is strong, consistent and alarming. Co2 is now higher that it has ever been. Our seas are rising, our ice is melting. The future for climate change has arrived. Our actions over the next few years will probably affect the next few centuries.
Our seas are warmer, as is our atmosphere. The past decade was the hottest in over 100 years. Heat equals energy and when you increase the heat in the atmosphere and the ocean you increase the energy available for storms. A recent report in Bloomberg reported that our oceans are simmering, with record high temperatures and these warm oceans could set off a year of extreme weather — more hurricanes, more fires and more storms.
Remember the Paradise fire in California that killed 106 people and caused over $24 billion in damages and the raging fires in Australia? The Climate Prediction Center advises that the entire tropical ocean is experiencing above average temperature as are parts of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Sea water remembers and holds onto heat better than the atmosphere and our oceans have been absorbing about 90% of the heat trapped by our extra greenhouse gases. The searing global temperature this year have also kept the cold locked up in the Arctic and prevented it from flowing southward to the temperate regions. Warmer oceans also pull rain away from land areas and this leads to more drought conditions.
Public TV last week had a program on dealing with our climate problem and the deforestation of vast areas of the world. Photos showed the impact of this deforestation and the damage done to the landscape. Trees are an important part of the climate change equation and the photos showing the difference between 1972 and today were convincing that we all need to take a look at the products we use and the effect they have on the planet. The future of farming and our food supply will also be an important part of the solution.
Perhaps the photos of the clean air in cities worldwide will at least get the discussion going. No longer can we allow the politicians to kick the can done the road and bow to certain industries. A lot is a stake, maybe everything.
Jack Hughes is a resident of Chalk Hill.