"Most of the so-called problems the Democrats are talking about -- the end of the planet, threats to democracy and all the like -- they're simply made up,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham said.
If she was simply a talk show host, perhaps this comment could be brushed aside. But she appears on Fox News with all the pretense of journalistic standards. She speaks to millions of willing viewers.
She is an echo chamber for a large segment of the United States. Common folk in cities and towns across the country don’t believe climate change is happening. Or would rather not disrupt their lives to address the issue.
She is entitled to her opinions, but when she presents her opinions as facts, then it becomes a different matter. She influences many people and Fox News is not exactly known for getting the facts straight.
Is the climate changing? No question about it. We have study after study demonstrating that fact.
Is the climate changing because of human action? No question about it. The mechanism is well understood. More to the point, this is something scientists have known for almost a century and a half.
Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have increased from a pre-industrial 280 parts per million to 414 parts per million. This has altered the rate of heat transfer through the atmosphere resulting in a feedback loop which has shifted the mean surface temperature of the planet.
A recent study determined Arctic temperatures have risen by 5 degrees Celsius on average in the last 100 years. Another has tracked the collapse of ice shelfs in the Antarctic. And research from UNBC is following the demise of glaciers throughout the north.
But all of this is very subtle. Year over year, shifts in the climate and changes in the atmospheric temperature are not something you would notice. It is a bit like getting gray hairs. They slowly creep up on you until one day, you’re getting your haircut and realize just how many gray hairs there are.
Is climate change the end of the planet? No. The planet will go on but whether life as we know it is around is a whole other question. And not one that is “simply made up.”
Todd Whitcombe is a chemistry professor at UNBC.
