Dear editor:
Ron Voss, PhD, seems to think that global climate change (caused by global warming) has something to do with a snowfall here, in August.
He was writing to you to express his ‘intrigue’ that a group might meet in Cochrane to discuss the implications of climate change.
In a democratic community it is normal for concerned citizens to get together to discuss issues of common interest. The Cochrane Ideas group has been meeting for several years for this purpose, and Voss would be welcome to join the group to express his concerns on this or any other issue.
Voss’ first point of dismissal was the spurious claim that there has been no warming in the past 18 years. In fact, the warmest years on record have been in this same period, but the oceans have absorbed most of the warming, a process that scientists warn will likely stop soon, and the warming will be absorbed in the atmosphere. Incidentally, warming oceans result in increased acidification and severely threaten ocean ecosystems.
Climate change is not religion; it is science. The world’s scientists are speaking clearly (as they have for the past 30 years and more) informing us of the problems and challenges we can expect, and advising that we take action to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, which causes global warming.
We need to listen carefully to the people who are the most informed on this issue, and avoid the contrarians who are reflecting the view of corporations, and others who have either a theological or ideological bias.
The Pope has defined climate change as a moral issue. Do we not have an obligation to our children to ensure that they have a planet that is livable?
Climate change around the world is forcing millions to leave their home areas in search of security elsewhere. It is becoming increasingly difficult, as a result of changing climate and extreme weather events, to produce the food required for a rapidly expanding population (200,000 new mouths every day). As a result of changing climate, ecosystems everywhere are in decline, forcing all of us to find ways to adapt to conditions, which are rapidly being altered. Most of the world is already finding ways to adapt and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Canada is an outlier in this process for many reasons, but especially as a direct result of a lack of political leadership.
If you want to make this into a religion, Dr. Voss, think of the Beatitudes and the injunction to feed the hungry, house the homeless and eradicate the injustice which desperately affects roughly half of the world’s population now, and will impact all of us in the coming years.
Hugh Pepper
