Climate change only worsens as we ignore it

opinion@dailylobo.com

As many of us watched the presidential debates, there was one incredibly important issue that was glaringly absent from the dialogue. This issue was climate change. Indeed, this is the first time since 1984 that the candidates have not discussed the topic of climate change.

While many, understandably, have been most concerned about issues of jobs and the economy, climate change seems to have become viewed during this election as a fringe issue that is only the concern of special interest groups. However, we cannot forget and must remind our politicians that climate change is something that has affected and will continue to affect everyone.

While some still question the man-made causes of climate change, this is not a debate among scientists. A report by the National Academy of Sciences showed that 97 percent of scientists believe that current climate change is a man-made phenomenon, and that the 3 percent who remain unconvinced have lower expertise and training than the other 97 percent.

Climate change is happening and it will impact all of us. Some of the recent victims of climate change are those residents of New York and New Jersey who are recovering from damage caused by the superstorm Sandy. This storm is the largest to ever hit the East Coast, leaving millions without power and causing an estimated $20 billion in property damage.

While of course one cannot say that climate change caused a specific event such as this storm, climate scientists have concluded that changes in climate make such extreme weather events more frequent and severe. One scientist from the National Center for Atmospheric Research explained that the higher than normal temperature of the sea’s surface helped fuel and intensify this tropical storm.

Besides this catastrophic incident, over the summer we have also seen one of the more widespread impacts of climate change: persistent and devastating drought. Two-thirds of the U.S. suffered moderate or severe drought, and we weren’t the only country affected. In addition, many crops worldwide were down in production because of this global drought, causing the prices of food staples to rise.

We experienced the impacts of our changing climate in New Mexico, too. Nearly all of New Mexico continues to grapple with some level of drought and these conditions are forecast to continue.

Albuquerque in particular has been hit badly, with the smallest amount of rainfall in the first five months of the year since 1892, when the state began to keep climate records. These conditions have bolstered wildfires and hurt farmers and ranchers who rely on the rainfall for irrigation.

Climate change is not going away if we ignore it. Quite the opposite, for as we put it on the back burner, as we have in this election cycle, it continues to get worse. We have to let our representatives know that this is an issue that is important and also linked to other problems facing our country.