Feel free to fact check
Concerning climate change, many Spokesman-Review letter writers complain about deniers not getting their proper share of media coverage. The imbalance is evident, but not the way they think. Deniers get far more space than warranted based on their share of the factual data.
Most of what I read from deniers is too vague to be verified. And what is checkable, never really checks out. So I am going to list a very small sample of verifiable facts about the climate crisis in the hope that all, especially deniers, will actually do some research to fact check me.
-17 of the last 18 years have been the warmest on record, worldwide.
-CO2 is the main greenhouse gas driving global warming. CO2 concentration is increasing at an accelerating rate. Fossil fuel burning is driving the increase.
-2014 data from NASA’s GRACE satellites shows Greenland losing 280 gigatons/yr of land ice; Antarctica – 118 GT (2018 data has Antarctica up to over 260 GT/yr), and glaciers shrinking by 75 GT/yr – all at accelerating rates of melt.
-30% of the Great Barrier Reef died from one recent bleaching event caused by warming water and increased acidity (CO2 creates carbolic acid). Coral reefs are projected to be 98% gone by 2050.
-It is a fact that sea level is rising as a result of land ice melt and thermal expansion. Speculation as to how much varies dramatically. Either way, say good-by to coastal cities, hello to massive climate refugee migration.
Barry Kathrens
Spokane