LETTER: Climate change greatest threat to mankind
I strongly disagree with the article written by Marc Thiessen on the Nov. 4 entitled “Climate change is not an existential threat.” In fact climate change is the epitome of an existential threat to earth.
Based on his article and the lack of acknowledgement and participation by world leaders in the recent climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland we have hit the snooze button on the changing climate.
If putting a carbon tax on things would solve global warming, it would be worth it. The thing is, we can’t. We can write documents and accords to prevent war, but we cannot write a document that in and of itself will stop the change in climate and the upcoming catastrophe that could ensue.
The assumption is asserted in Thiessen's article that technology is developing at a fast rate and could solve the problem before warming the planet gets too far out of hand. The stakes are too high for wagering our planet on the next technological breakthrough. The time to recognize and take action is now. We need to collectively urge our leaders to step up and take action for planets sake.
The science overwhelmingly supports the realization of climate change – 97 percent of the scientific community agrees. Science shows historically climate has changed. Daily temperatures have been measured for a mere 170 years and It is the abrupt change in the last 150 years caused by Industrialization that has put our fragile eco system at risk.
The world energy needs are primarily fueled by coal, oil and natural gas. Only 1-2 percent is fueled by wind and solar. Ultimately, civilization needs to eliminate these 3 toxic pollutants and migrate to wind and solar in order to preserve the planet for generations to come.
Since coal is the nastiest of the three the priority is to get away from coal ASAP. Oil and natural gas will ultimately need to be eliminated as well as we migrate to solar and wind.
Climate change is one of the greatest threats to the existence of mankind that modern civilization has ever seen. This is not the time to minimize the issue. It is the time to take action in order to prevent the existential threat climate change poses to humanity.
— Don Vanderhoek, Fort Walton Beach
Share your opinion with a Letter to the Editor here
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Climate change greatest threat to mankind | Letter
