Watching recent Presidential debates and listening to the "punditocracy" speak on cable news, you could be excused if you thought the science on climate change was suddenly “undecided”.  This is ironic, given how many “weird” weather events, and “once a century” phenomena have occurred around the world.  It would seem appropriate (now more than ever) for people to admit that what climate scientists are saying with regard to extreme climate change is real and is actually already happening. 

Take Texas, for example. The Lone Star Republic is experiencing massive wildfires, devouring an area the size of Connecticut. These fires are propelled by the worst drought in the state’s entire history. And what’s the cost? Well, there’s the immeasurable cost of human suffering and displacement. Travis Miller, a professor at Texas A&M estimates the cost to be well above $5.2 billion. So when you talk about the “cost” of switching to clean energy and fighting climate change, keep in mind the cost of not taking action.

For some, who haven’t been following the latest climate science (say, anything since about 1970), it’s hard to understand how climate change (or global warming) can cause such different results – from droughts in some areas, to floods in others; from massive blizzards to more extreme and frequent hurricanes. Thomas Friedman explains it well. He calls the process of extreme climate change, “global weirding”- the wet areas get wetter, the dry get drier. It doesn’t help that Texas experienced weather this summer that made the quality of life miserable. In Dallas, there were 40 consecutive days of 100-plus degree temperatures. Imagine if we had weather like that here in Washington, DC, Rockville or Baltimore.

Thankfully, there are still some who insist on pushing reality based science. Clean Currents was proud to participate in an effort called the Climate Reality Project on Wednesday the 14th.  We had speakers from the University of the District of Columbia and Conservation Montgomery speak about the impacts of climate change. For our area, places like Annapolis are top candidates for major trouble from sea level rise and increased intensity and frequency of storms.  Annapolis, the seat of our state government, the historical heart of Maryland, and a thriving metropolitan area could become an entirely different place, and not for the better.  Clean Currents customers in Annapolis like Habitat for America, Severn Management, Boatyard Bar and Grill, Caffe Pronto, Sarles Boatyard, Ledo Pizza, and the Annapolis Maritime Museum are doing the right thing by buying wind power and taking other green initiatives. But we all need to do more.

Check out the Climate Reality Project and then take action. Climate reality is too serious a problem to be left to the politicians to handle.