Eliott's Insight: Climate Change Is Real And So Is The Danger To South Florida
Our economy is struggling to recover from one of the worst recessions in history, and now we get word the United States is pledging billions of dollars to fight global warming.
The money, pledged during climate change talks in Copenhagen, will go toward a $100 billion fund to help under-developed nations deal with climate change. Is it money we can't afford? Are we wasting precious cash on junk science? Are we falling for Al Gore's "The Sky is Falling" propaganda?
No, says Capt. Dan Kipnis.
Capt. Dan is a fishing boat captain with 30-years experience navigating the waters of South Florida. He is also a member of the Miami-Dade Climate Change Task Force. During a taping of News & Views, Kipnis told me climate change is a real threat and no other part of the world is more threatened than South Florida.
"If the water levels rise 3-5 feet in 100 years as predicted, we in Miami-Dade stand to lose 3.5 trillion dollars in homes, buildings, streets and other infrastructure. And that's just in Miami-Dade," he said. "If you live long enough you will see the effects of global warming. It's not like a hurricane that happens quickly. Climate change is slow."
Kipnis admits he has a tough job convincing people to act on a problem that won't happen for another one hundred years. Many people don't even believe climate change is real.
But if you go to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website, www.epa.gov, you will see that our planet is indeed warming at an alarming rate. In fact, 7 of the 8 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001. While there is debate, the majority of scientists say most of the warming is due to the rise in greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.
Kipnis is faced with global warming doubters all the time. He says he hopes they are right and the problem is not for real. But the facts say otherwise.
