P.C. Shannon

I was reading an article in the New York Times the other day about the damage to offshore drilling platforms caused by hurricane Katrina. The platforms are built to survive a hundred-year storm. Hurricane Ivan, a couple years ago, was classified as a 2500-year storm, and Katrina rates as at least a 100-year storm. When one engineer remarked that these powerful storms were becoming more common, I couldn’t help but think to myself that since hurricanes are powered by warm water, the increase clearly indictes a rise in global temps, if not proof outright of global warming.

So it was no shock today when I found another article in the Times that says, “Storms with the power of Hurricane Katrina are becoming more common, in part because of global warming, according to a report from a team of researchers that will be published Friday.”

Then there’s this really encouraging piece from the UK’s Independent:

A record loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has convinced scientists that the northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold beyond which the climate may never recover. Scientists fear that the Arctic has now entered an irreversible phase of warming which will accelerate the loss of the polar sea ice that has helped to keep the climate stable for thousands of years.

Here’s the think about global warming: This increase in global temperature may just be part of the planet’s natural cycle of minor climate shifts. Or it may be very very bad. And by the time we have enough evidence to make a convincing argument one way or another, it will be too late. So doesn’t it seem like we should do all we can now to minimize our impact on the environment (notice I didn’t say, reverse the climate shift), just to be safe? I know it’s important for everyone to drive a bigass fucking truck, but wouldn’t it be nice for your great-grandchildren to be able to play in the ocean?