In his recent commentary, Daily Post columnist Gary Beatty mocks the threat posed by global warming and sea level rise.
However, in its report “Catastrophe Modelling and Climate Change,” Lloyd’s of London states that the eight inches of sea level rise off the tip of Manhattan increased Superstorm Sandy’s surge losses by 30 per cent, and that “further increases in sea level in this region may non-linearly increase the loss potential from similar storms.”
This statement is profoundly disquieting when one considers that the United States’ Fourth National Climate Assessment projects oceans to rise by one to four feet by the end of this century and that “a rise by as much as eight feet cannot be ruled out.”
It’s also important to look beyond our own borders where, for example, millions of Bangladeshis are farming on land that is within a meter of high tide. To understand the devastating impact the advancing sea is having on this country, I recommend watching the documentary “30 Million.”
And try telling the people of small island nations like Kiribati and the Maldives, which are being swallowed by the sea, that the climate crisis isn’t real.
Sea level rise is caused by the warming of the oceans and the melting of land ice. Rapidly melting Himalayan glaciers feed rivers that sustain 1.65 billion people, many of whom live in India, Pakistan and China, which are nuclear powers.
Over 3,500 economists, including 27 Nobel Prize-winners and top economic advisers to presidents of both parties, have endorsed a plan to fight climate change. Their “Economists’ Statement on Carbon Dividends” advocates putting a steadily rising price on carbon dioxide emissions and returning the money to the American people.
A bipartisan bill embracing these principles has been introduced in the House of Representatives – H.R. 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.
The first sentence of this Economists’ Statement asserts: “Global climate change is a serious problem calling for immediate national action.” Let’s reach across divides and provide US leadership in the fight to slow climate change.
Terry Hansen
Hales Corners, WI
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