Climate change is real, but what do we do now?

-       Robert McLean

Climate change, a reality beyond doubt and questioning, but what do we do now?

Most public discussions about the seriousness and impact of climate change prompt the inevitable question: “What do I do right now?”

Rarely, if ever, have those on the panel - a panel frequently made up of world-renowned climatologists and others with anthropological skills, social knowledge and many with an acute awareness of the finitude of the world’s sinks and physical resources - articulate a clear answer of doable things; an action plan for the ordinary man,

The given answer usually follows by an unsettling pall of silence.

I suspect most on most panels know the answer, but as scientist or others of a similar ilk, their training and the instinct it imbues them with, tend to avoid such prescriptive answers.

Beyond that, the answer that might be lurking deep in their minds is contrary to the laisse-faire way of living that has lifted humanity to hitherto unseen standards of living, particularly in developed countries.

Not only are we facing the challenge of reducing our carbon dioxide emissions to zero, but somehow we have to go beyond that point to a negative position.

Doing that requires such a change to modern lifestyles that even the boldest of climatologists and those who understand the complications of climate change dare not speak the truth – it is, as Al Gore once said: “An inconvenient truth”.

We continue to chat, we continue to procrastinate, we continue to listen too closely to the doubters and frequently believe the stories they peddle, and while we do little, climate change continues further into zones over which humans are unable to inflict any influence.

However keeping a watch on what is happening is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), whose report: “2013 State of the Climate: Humidity” helps us understand a little more about the unfolding challenges.