OPINION

OPINION | RICHARD MASON: Time to turn down the heat

We've almost worn out the phrase "global warming," It's now fashionable to say climate change. But what is climate change? What we have is a planet that is actually warming.

This year is on track to be the hottest in recorded history. You would think that with extreme climate changes, the predicted consequences, and our advanced technology, every country in the world would be gearing up to reverse the trend. Many are, but not the USA.

Extreme weather resulting as the earth's temperature increases is accelerating. If you live in Lake Charles, La,. and look at the rubble from two hurricanes, you understand what the future of the entire Gulf Coast is going to look like in a decade or so.

This year was a record hurricane season, and as the waters of the Gulf continue to heat, next year and the year after that will result in more and stronger hurricanes. How long will it be until a large percentage of the Gulf Coast becomes uninhabitable?

Am I being an alarmist? As the waters of the Gulf continue to heat, Category 4 and 5 storms will be the norm. How many more hurricanes will it take before Lake Charles is abandoned?

El Dorado had two tropical storms this year. We're having weather similar to that of a sub-tropical climate. The July and August rains weren't anything like our typical south Arkansas weather. These rains were caused by waves of moisture-laden sub-tropical clouds. Check out Houston if you want to get a real feel for the coming sub-tropics.

If the earth's temperature continues to increase and the polar ice caps thaw--which is already happening at an astonishing rate--these massive hurricanes will be accompanied by a rise in sea level that will swamp the towns along the Gulf Coast until only the very largest cities with the resources to construct massive coastal barriers will be able to survive. Inhabitants of smaller towns will be forced to evacuate, and the Gulf of Mexico will encroach 10 to 15 miles inland.

If the current increases in temperature continue and storm intensity follows, we may see a new Gulf shoreline as much as five to 10 miles further inland within the next 15 years. That scenario will make the current pandemic look like a Sunday School picnic. How many worldwide lives will be lost as severe weather and drought sweep across the continents?

It's not only the Gulf Coast that's going to get hammered. During the past year, extreme weather has produced tornadoes in sections of the country where they were unheard of. The West Coast wildfires, caused by extreme drought conditions, burned a record amount of land, and as those weather conditions continue, the threat of wildfires will increase.

But as severe as the hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires are, they pale when compared to the consequences of a four- to six-foot foot rise in sea level. The number of worldwide towns and cities that are at or below sea level is staggering. It will be impossible to protect all the inhabited coastal land around the world. A majority of coastline towns will simply be allowed to submerge below the rising waters.

The consequences of inaction are horrific. However, it has become a mantra of some politicians to deny that global warming is occurring. It seems as if we are having to start the learning curve all over again, as we have with the pandemic.

What is different is that the pandemic will run its course, and in a year or so we will have a vaccine or herd immunity and will likely be through with it. That is not the way global warming works. If we allow the continuing heating of our planet's atmosphere, it will reach a point where the quality of life will be tenuous for several billion inhabitants.

Unless our country not only joins the rest of the world to try and reverse global warming but actively takes a leading role, the prospects for a severe reduction in the quality of life for our planet's future population is grim. We must attack global warming with the same intensity as we would a major threat such as a world war.

So why are we actively opposing the curtailment of activities that would slow or stop global warming? It's because our capitalistic society often desires to make money now--forgetting about future generations--without considering the consequences.

It's the same concept as the slash and burn of the vast east Arkansas old-growth forests that took place in the late 1800s.

Unless our country assumes the mantle of leadership and leads the way to reverse global warming, we will be dooming our great-grandchildren to live in a vastly inferior world. Surely we can put aside petty political rhetoric and lead a worldwide coalition to combat the greatest threat to mankind in recorded history.

If we care about future generations, every person should become actively involved. Only then can we reverse what seem to be an inevitable severe reduction in the quality of life for the earth's future inhabitants.

Email Richard Mason at [email protected].

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