Shouldn’t We Have Fixed Climate Change By Now?

It was 1896 when scientist Svante Arrhenius first discovered the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and the warming of the earth. In the 1980s it became abundantly clear that this would have huge negative impacts on the planet, and on humanity.

We struggle to understand the long term implications of climate change.

Since then scientists have been working to understand global warming in much more detail, and innovating to find potential solutions. We know that to stop global warming we need to stop greenhouse gas emissions, and we’ve known that for quite some time. So why have we not managed to stop global warming in its tracks?

In 1988 Michael McElroy, a professor at Harvard University, observed that:

“If we choose to take on this challenge, it appears that we can slow the rate of change substantially, giving us time to develop mechanisms so that the cost to society and the damage to ecosystems can be minimized.

We could alternatively close our eyes, hope for the best, and pay the cost when the bill comes due.” 

Read the Medium story by Tabitha Whiting - “Shouldn’t We Have Fixed Climate Change By Now?”