Tag: Global Warming

Opinion: We all must rise to the challenge of climate change

On By CCLATXIn Global WarmingLeave a comment

We’re feeling the impacts of climate change all around us. Rising temperatures are changing our landscapes and livelihoods. The Great Barrier Reef is suffering from thermal stress that contributes to coral bleaching — more than half of the reef’s coral cover was lost between 1995 and 2017. In July, several European countries were severely affected by floods. Globally, eight of the world’s 10 largest cities are near a coast. And in the United States, almost 40% of the population lives in coastal areas, where sea level plays a role in flooding and land erosion.

Nowhere are climate stressors more obvious than in Texas. Our population is expected to nearly double by 2050, and most of the state has warmed between 0.5 and 1.0 degree Fahrenheit during the past century. We are seeing new diseases spread from tropical areas, and we’re experiencing more extreme weather events such as the winter storm that left two-thirds of Texans without power and almost half without water for an average of more than two days in February.

We need to urgently decrease emissions. And Texas needs a statewide climate adaptation plan.

Rising temperatures are caused primarily by an increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. CO2 levels have been rising steadily for more than 100 years due mainly to the burning of fossil fuels, trapping more heat in our atmosphere and contributing to climate change.

A special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which includes climate scientists from around the world, has said that human activities are estimated to have caused approximately 1.0 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming above preindustrial levels. And global warming is likely to reach 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate.

This is precisely one of the goals of the United Nations Climate Change conference, or COP26, which brought world leaders together to tackle climate change. Countries are being asked to set ambitious 2030 emission reduction targets that align with reaching net zero by the middle of the century.

We all need to do our part like a true phase-out of coal, accelerating the switch to electric vehicles and investing in renewable energy. There are positive examples around the world of countries that are heading toward a low-carbon future by embracing solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy sources. Texas produces the most wind energy of any state in the United States. The U.S. as a whole has the second-highest installed wind energy capacity in the world after China. A clean energy revolution must continue to happen across America, underscored by the steady expansion of the U.S. renewable energy sector.

Not only will setting ambitious emission reduction targets help with climate change, it will also lead to cleaner and more resilient cities and infrastructure systems. Energy systems with high percentages of renewables — or even ​​decarbonized power grids — are better able to resist shocks than those heavily dependent on fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal.

Extreme weather events such as this year’s winter storm are expected, and we need to adapt our infrastructure to withstand such stressors. And we especially need to take into consideration vulnerable communities, those that already suffer from chronic stressors related to toxic pollution, poverty, food insecurity, mixed immigration status and gentrification. States and communities around the country have begun to prepare for climate change by developing their own climate adaptation plans; we have many examples to follow.

Our world leaders need to leave COP26 with actionable goals and with concrete, meaningful and realistic deadlines. And policymakers and leaders in Texas must do their part and adopt and accelerate measures to combat climate change, addressing energy infrastructure and equitable resilience. Only then will we rise to the challenge of climate change.

Leite is an associate professor and the John A. Focht Centennial Teaching Fellow in Civil Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas. She serves on the leadership of a university wide grand challenges initiative, Planet Texas 2050.

Fernanda Leite

Austin American-Statesman

November 26, 2021

Let this environmental wake-up call sink in

On By CCLATXIn ExtinctionLeave a comment

Re: June 12 article, “UN: Climate and extinction crises are intertwined.”

When we are busy working, taking care of our families, being entertained, trying to make a buck, it is easy for us humans to overlook the harmful impacts we are having on Earth, harmful because they are going to hurt us directly and seriously.

We have received thousands of wake-up calls, such as the recent United Nations report, but we still haven’t woken up. The rapid heating of Earth, the decimation and rapidly increasing extinction rate of countless species, the despoiling of our oceans — relatively few of us want to hear about these things or take them seriously.

The most important things you can do to counteract them? One, educate yourself on how we are impacting the environment and what changes you can make in your own life to help mitigate them. Two, support only candidates with the most aggressive environmental protection agendas. It is essential we take action quickly.

Mark Warren

Austin American-Statesman

June 21, 2021

U.S. can lead in transition away from fossil fuels

On By CCLATXIn Greenhouse GasLeave a comment

Re: May 17 article, “The climate tree has fallen.” It is refreshing that the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency is able to present facts: “The Earth’s climate is changing. Temperatures are rising, snow and rainfall patterns are shifting, and more extreme climate events … are already happening. Many of these observed changes are linked to the rising levels of carbon dioxides and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, caused by human activities.” All of us have experienced the effects of major disasters. Pollution kills 100,000 Americans every year and many others experience health impacts. I suffer from seasonal allergies which are getting worse.

We need to cut down emissions by pricing carbon and transitioning away

from fossil fuels. Our dependence on fossil fuel would require large amounts of carbon-free power that is lower priced than fossil fuels. Innovations in renewables and nuclear power are ongoing. The U.S. can lead the way, collaborate with nations, and invest in research and development of such power.

Kalpana Sutaria

Austin American-Statesman

May 22, 2021

State’s next looming health crisis is climate change

On By CCLATXIn Health, Texas LegislatureLeave a comment

What kind of world do we want to live in, and what kind of world do we want our children to inherit? Do we want to be faced with recurrent and prolonged extreme heat waves, wildfires and hurricane seasons? Our climate crisis is not simply an environmental issue, it is a health crisis that has the potential to be more damaging than even our current pandemic in the long-term. As fellow Texans and medical students, we invite you to join us in supporting key bills currently in the Texas Legislature to fight climate change and protect our friends and families.

Texas summers are only getting hotter. Without further action to combat climate change, we could see almost two months of extreme heat each year in the next few decades, compared to fewer than 10 days now. This puts infants, young children, and people over 65 at risk of heat exhaustion and stroke. For the nearly 2 million Texans who have an underlying cardiovascular disease, heat waves make their hearts have to work much harder, which causes more emergency room visits, severe illnesses and deaths. Our homeless population and low-income communities who struggle to keep the A/C on will have to fight to stay alive during such overwhelming heat.

With these heat waves come megadroughts, which significantly increase the risk of wildfires, such as the massive 2011 Texas wildfire that burned almost four million acres. For the over 2 million Texans with COPD or asthma, wildfires severely exacerbate these and other respiratory diseases. Pregnant mothers exposed to wildfire smoke and air pollution have much higher rates of preterm birth, low-birth weight infants and stillbirths. If we don’t act, the terrifying red skies and black clouds we saw all over California last year may become common in Texas, too.

Heat and wildfires are not the only threats. Texas will be hit harder by hurricanes and flooding. The surface waters of the Gulf are warming up, and this heat creates an ideal environment for monstrous hurricanes. As we witnessed with Hurricane Harvey, these severe storms destroy homes and health care infrastructure, damage sanitation systems, and cause great physical and mental harm.

Let’s talk about how to fix this climate and health crisis. While we’re proud to be Texans, it is alarming that if Texas was a country, it’d be in the top 10 carbon emitters worldwide. We contribute heavily to climate change, and we are doing Texans a disservice if we say that the oil and gas industry provides quality jobs. The industry occupational fatality rate is seven times higher than that of general industry, and their employees are frequently exposed to dangerous chemicals and particulates that have major long-term health consequences such as lung disease and cancer. Transitioning to more sustainable energy sources translates into safer, more reliable jobs, which are healthier for employees and our communities.

The state legislature must recognize this urgent crisis and take long-overdue action to protect our beautiful state and its people. There are specific steps we can take. The Texas Legislature needs to pass HCR 22, HB 1044, SB 243 and other legislation to address climate change. HCR 22 and HB 1044 would be instrumental in setting the stage for future sensible, nonpartisan legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to these extreme weather events. SB 243 will improve energy efficiency, lowering demand on the electrical grid while providing weatherization to people’s homes and businesses. These are just a few of many critical bills that will safeguard our future. Please contact your state legislators today and ask them to support these bills. Let’s make sure our kids and grandkids will have a state and planet worth living in.

Hancock and Tee are medical students at Dell Medical School at UT-Austin and executive board members of the school’s Environmental Health Interest Group.

Canaan Hancock and Michael Tee

Austin American-Statesman

April 28, 2021

The need to employ science with urgency

On By CCLATXIn Wildlife ImpactsLeave a comment

As I sat trapped in my house during an unprecedented Arctic freeze, I hoped my power wouldn’t fail.

I jumped each time an ice-laden branch from my heritage oaks fell onto my roof or in my eerily frozen yard. I worried about my wife driving home from her commute on slick roads in an ice storm. I watched as my resident wild birds– with no choice but to endure during this extreme cold–clustered around my feeders, dependent upon my refilling them.

And I wondered whether a nationally renewed validation of science can help facilitate an understanding how arctic warming actually sends polar weather to Texas, with potentially devastating effects. We will certainly need to employ science with a COVID-level sense of urgency if we are going to make even the slightest headway in coping with the truly existential climate crisis we are still facing.

Martin Byhower

Austin American-Statesman

February 27, 2021

LTE Under Consideration: Carbon neutral not same as net neutral emissions

On By CCLATXIn Oil and gas industryLeave a comment

Re: “Carbon neutral not the same as net neutral emissions,” Statesman, 13 Feb 2021. As the byline of the author, Scott Tinker, doesn’t say, he is the director of UT’s Bureau of Economic Geology. What would you guess “economic geology” means in the state of Texas?

It is of course undeniable that, as Prof. Tinker says, “The reality we face is that humans impact the earth.” When he lists the impacts of various energy sources, however, he glosses over the huge differences in their impacts’ severity. As he doesn’t say, fossil fuels are the dirtiest and most dangerous, while nuclear and modern renewable energy sources are vastly safer and cleaner.

If the costs of burning fossil fuels were accurately reflected in their prices, by imposing a tax on their carbon content, then nuclear and modern renewable energy sources would be not only vastly safer and cleaner, but also cheaper.

Hamilton Richards

Submitted to the Austin American-Statesman

February 23, 2021

These are the results of humans heating Earth

On By CCLATXIn Texas LegislatureLeave a comment

Re: Dec. 29 article, “Five things worth remembering about Austin’s weather in 2020”

An interesting article about Austin’s 2020 weather. I couldn’t help notice the words “climate change” and “global warming” never appeared – interesting because record-setting heat waves and droughts, permanently escalating “average” temperatures, increasing number of hurricanes and severe weather events, and the general “weirder” weather you mentioned, are all results of humans heating the earth.

One might be tempted to think this isn’t so bad, it’s just the weather; and indeed, if the warming stopped dead in its tracks right now, we could live with the results, albeit at high cost. The problem is, the warming is still escalating rapidly, and will continue to do so unless we take immediate, vigorous measures to stop emitting greenhouse gases.

We have the technology and resources, and even the proposed legislation (HR763), to slow and ultimately stop the toasting of our planet. Let your government representatives know you want it done, now.

Mark Warren

Austin American-Statesman

January 4, 2021

No vaccine for climate change. We must act

On By CCLATXIn Global WarmingLeave a comment

Despite the President’s claim that COVID-19 will disappear, scientists are quite clear that it is worsening. If only we had listened to the experts, we could have prevented such loss of life, financial destruction and the world’s disbelief that America could no longer lead. This situation is about to repeat itself. Our next pandemic is climate change.

Scientists warned us in the ’80s that if we didn’t act, the cost, loss of life and the future of our planet would be in danger. We are now seeing that these predictions are coming true.

September was the hottest month recorded since temperature tracking began. Today, there are weather extremes around our planet. We have seen this movie before and it does not end well. We may find a cure for the virus, but there is no vaccine for climate change.

We must act now for our children and grandchildren.

Dale Bulla

Austin American-Statesman

November 3, 2020

Texans should demand action from lawmakers on Earth Day

On By CCLATXIn Earth DayLeave a comment

This letter was published in 2018, but the discussion remains relevant today.

Each year, the world celebrates Earth Day on April 22 after its creation in 1970, when a large oil spill occurred on the California coast off Santa Barbara.

Concerns about the environment were increasing at the time in the U.S., and Republican President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.

Humankind has been using fossil fuels for a long time — and its use has helped modernize transportation, manufacturing and agriculture. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, human activities have produced 40 percent more atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, from 280 ppm to 406 ppm in early 2017. This increase has happened despite the absorption of the gas by oceans and forests.

These trapped emissions have severe consequences for humankind. They act as a blanket around Earth, allowing global temperatures to rise. The American Meteorological Society has been keeping records of weather since 1919, allowing scientists to understand the changing climate.

Thirteen of the 15 hottest years in last 100 years occurred between 2000 and 2014.

Researchers found that there is some certainty that human activities are responsible for warming of the Earth.

As temperatures rise, evaporation increases, which causes more water vapor, a potent greenhouse gas. These conditions create more intense storms. We saw the likes of them in 2017 in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

Hurricane Harvey started as a tropical depression, grew into a Category 1 hurricane and continued to gain strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and churned towards Texas.

It became a Category 4 hurricane, covering a huge area from the coast to Central Texas and dropping 51 inches of rain over Houston. The estimated damage is $198 billion.

Total damages from natural disasters in 2017 alone are estimated between $300 billion to $400 billion. Victims are still waiting for help. In comparison, the damages were just $46 billion in 2016.

The list of climate change impacts is large: Heat waves, floods, wildfires, melting glaciers, rising sea level, droughts, severe storms, off-the – charts high temperatures in the Arctic, crop destruction and deforestation are just a few.

Earth Day is especially crucial for Texans this year. We must reverse warming of the planet by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and developing clean sources of energy. The longer we wait, the harder it will be.

The Montreal Protocol signed by 197 countries to discontinue ozone-depleting chemicals was a success story in 1987 for the global community. It has worked hard for years, and 195 countries signed the Paris Climate Accord in 2015 to limit global temperature rise. But President Trump announced his intention to withdraw in 2017, making us the only country to disengage.

A Yale survey of 36 congressional districts in Texas shows 67 percent of adults are concerned about global warming — and 75 percent believe in funding research into renewable energy sources. Millennials are broadly convinced human-induced climate change is real and deserves action. Industries, businesses, universities, cities and states are addressing it.

A carbon fee and dividend is proposed by Citizens’ Climate Lobby, which would put a fee on oil, coal and gas. The money collected would be returned to American households.

This rebate would stimulate the economy and make clean energy cheaper. The Climate Leadership Council is proposing a similar solution.

On Earth Day 2018, let us demand actions from our lawmakers to find solutions. A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. House are working on it. Let us support them and ask others to join for a livable world for all.

Kalpana Sutaria

Austin American-Statesman

April 21, 2018