AT GROUND ZERO FOR U.S. CLIMATE CHANGE

Spending Earth Day at Ground Zero for Climate Change In America

Mark Grunwald, April 22, 2014 (Time)

“…[A]t an Earth Day hearing in my Miami Beach neighborhood, I got to hear [former astronauts Senator Bill Nelson and NASA science official Piers Sellers] reminisce about the view from 10 million feet…[Climate change is real, they said,] and it’s already a problem in my low-lying part of the world. Saltwater intrusion is increasing in the freshwater Everglades, which is causing problems for farmers…[O]ver the next fifty years, Miami-Dade’s beaches will need about 23 million cubic yards of new sand…Miami Beach alone plans to spend $400 million to upgrade drainage infrastructure…[Yet] Republican politicians in coastal areas [like]Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina] rarely acknowledge the danger their constituents face from rising seas…Dr. Sellers pointed out [that] the IPCC believes the main cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels. And as Senator Nelson pointed out, it will take government action—he mentioned the possibility of a carbon tax—to reduce the burning of fossil fuels…Ultimately, the local argument against climate change—it might flood your neighborhood—seems a lot less compelling than the global argument, the Blue Marble argument. This is a nice earth. It’s our home. It’s the only planet with ice cream and the Everglades and the NBA playoffs. We should try not to mess it up…” click here for more

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