In the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, the coincident economic collapse, and Donald Trump’s disastrous administration—for which Vote Vets labels him “Traitor Trump”—the news media has been reporting less on the disaster of global warming. But it’s getting worse every year.
According to the Global Climate Change Network, “Earth’s global average surface temperature in 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record, according to an analysis by NASA.”
The details: 2020’s globally averaged temperature was 1.84 degrees Fahrenheit (1.02 degrees Celsius) warmer than the baseline 1951-1980 mean, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. “The last seven years have been the warmest seven years on record, typifying the ongoing and dramatic warming trend,” said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt. “With these trends, and as the human impact on the climate increases, we have to expect that records will continue to be broken.”
The continuing warming of the earth, despite the reduction of human activity brought on by the world-wide pandemic, makes clear how quickly we are rushing toward a time when the earth will become all but unhabitable. As the Global Climate Change Network points out, “Rising temperatures are causing phenomena such as loss of sea ice and ice sheet mass, sea level rise, longer and more intense heat waves, and shifts in plant and animal habitats. Understanding such long-term climate trends is essential for the safety and quality of human life, allowing humans to adapt to the changing environment in ways such as planting different crops, managing our water resources and preparing for extreme weather events.” The raging fires that have consumed so much of California are symptoms of the environmental disaster we face.
Donald Trump did nothing during his four years in office to fight against global warming. He dismissed it as a hoax. Fortunate for us, the incoming Biden administration has immediate and urgent plans to reduce the causes of global warming.
Maybe, just maybe, thanks to Biden, we may be able to slow down global warming before it makes our planet unlivable.
Tom Glenn, Writer 