There are those still hoping climate change and/or global warming is a myth. There are those quite happy to preach to that choir. Don’t be mislead by a recent report that has indicated the warming change “may have slowed down”. It’s added grist to the denier’s old mill. The emphasis is on “slowed down” and “may have”.
1. “Slowed down” not stopped. Ice sheets are melting, sea lanes are changing, catastrophic weather events have become more frequent and so on and so forth.
2. “May have” because global warming estimates are based on air temperatures and rarely include the oceans - which may well be serving as deep water heat sinks.
The journal of “Geophysical Research Letters” recently found even when surface seawater temperatures have remained stable the deeper waters below 2,300 feet have been heating up. That heat is expected to eventually rise compounding the warming trend. Other factors in the fluctuation may include the sun’s natural 11-year cycle of maximum and minimum solar energy output and other atmospheric changes.
The cost of common sense changes that err on the side of caution - as we do with air bags and seat belts, smoke detectors, helmets and all other safety measures - are always at the forefront of the deniers rants. Wake-up! The new economy based on clean renewable resources for energy will create jobs, technology exports and keep the USA as a world leader.
See also: InClimate 196, 168, 118; (TX Oil Man Meets IA Wind Farmer) July 16 (Way Big Solar CA) June 18 (For Dummies to Dummies Campaign) April 29