SECURITY is the central issue of this political
struggle: NATIONAL SECURITY, ECONOMIC SECURITY *and*
ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY...Walter Cronkite continues to
demonstrate the courage of heart and clarity of mind
that compelled us to scrawl his name on the John
O'Neill Wall of Heroes...
Walter Cronkite, Philadelphia Inquirer: One thing we
have to keep in mind: While these might only be
worst-case scenarios, many of the conditions and
processes scientists think might trigger them already
are present or under way. Global warming is at least
as important as gay marriage or the cost of Social
Security. And if it is not seriously debated in the
general election, it will measure the irresponsibility
of the entire political class. This is an issue that
cannot, and must not, be ignored any longer.
Save the Environment, Show Up for Democracy in 2004:
Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/8187862.htm
Make global warming an issue
Walter Cronkite
is a nationally syndicated columnist
The contempt of the Bush administration for environmentalists and their concerns is well known by now. While evidence of man- made environmental damage mounts, the Bush team resists its implications like a defeated army whose rear guard fights off its pursuers as it retreats. That has been especially true of its handling of the most serious of all environmental issues - global warming.
First, the administration claimed that global warming
was the work of liberal hysterics and had been
discounted by "more sober scientists." Then, it
admitted that it was happening but said there was no
proof humans caused it, or could fix it.
Retreat No. 3 was the White House discovery that, yes,
indeed, some of the warming was due to human activity,
and we should take steps, say, to reduce emissions,
but those steps should be voluntary on the part of
industry.
There are two scientific theories that have been
gaining credence in recent years that challenge the
sanity of that kind of resistance to fact - and make
no mistake about it, global warming is a fact.
Both theories begin with a phenomenon that is taking
place right now. Scientists are beginning to
understand climate as a complex interactive system
that is affected by everything from the emission of
greenhouse gases, to deforestation, to the condition
of Arctic and Antarctic glaciers.
It is a system with a feedback mechanism. For example,
higher temperatures lead to the melting of sea ice,
which exposes more water to the sun. The water absorbs
more solar energy, which accelerates global warming,
and so on. Scientists fear that such feedbacks might
produce a self-sustaining and accelerating warming
that is beyond human control.
The second theory goes by the name of Abrupt Climate
Change. It suggests that catastrophic results of
global warming might not occur gradually, as most have
expected, but quite suddenly - within a few years.
This theory also starts with the melting of glaciers
and sea ice, but involves the dilution of seawater's
salinity - or salt content - that results. That salt
content is a key element in an ocean current that
takes heat from the tropics northward and cold water
southward and in the process moderates temperatures in
the Eastern United States and much of Europe.
The collapse of this so-called conveyor could, in the
worst case, produce a new ice age. The best case would
give us severe winters, increasingly violent storms,
flooding, drought and high winds around the globe,
disrupting food production and energy supplies and
raising sea levels high enough to flood coastal cities
and make them unlivable.
These are not predictions but real possibilities - far
more possible today than scientists had previously
believed. And while the politicos in the White House
continue to stick their heads in the sand, some at the
Pentagon have taken on the task of studying the
national- security implications of Abrupt Climate
Change.
What they came up with was a world whose "carrying
capacity" - the number of people the globe can sustain
- is being progressively lowered, a world where war
becomes the rule, not the exception, and where wars
are no longer fought for ideological, religious, or
geopolitical reasons - but for resources and survival.
This unclassified Pentagon study, completed last fall,
has been released to several news organizations and
was highlighted in the Feb. 9 edition of Fortune
magazine.
One thing we have to keep in mind: While these might
only be worst-case scenarios, many of the conditions
and processes scientists think might trigger them
already are present or under way. Global warming is at
least as important as gay marriage or the cost of
Social Security. And if it is not seriously debated in
the general election, it will measure the
irresponsibility of the entire political class. This
is an issue that cannot, and must not, be ignored any
longer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter Cronkite (mail@cronkitecolumn.com) appears
regularly.