Still getting hotter

A Yale climate opinion survey in Spokane County indicates 69 percent of us believe global warming is happening and 82 percent support research into renewable energy sources. The survey shows 34 percent believe this warming is due to normal changes rather than by human activities. Normal changes include variations in Earth’s orbital geometry, solar output, volcanic activity (which cools the Earth) and timing of equinoxes.

NASA’s website has a graph showing the impact of each of these variables, and normal changes are not a significant factor. NASA’s graph clearly attributes Earth’s warming to human activities related to fossil fuel usage.

Thirty percent of the CO2 emitted by your car today is still going to be in the atmosphere 100 years from now. The third national U.S. Global Research Programs assessment report projects “the same summer temperatures that ranked among the hottest 5 percent in 1950 - 1979 will occur at least 70 percent of the time by 2035 - 2064.”

The good news is we agree that we need to move to renewable energy sources. The bad news is it’s going to continue getting hotter. The more we can reduce our use of fossil fuels the better off we’ll be.

Del Nord

Spokane Valley