Leaders needed who understand science

During the extensive coverage of Hurricane Harvey, news organizations make no mention of what is fueling these massive storms.

Climate scientists have warned us for decades that increased temperatures will not only warm the ocean, which fuels the growth of massive hurricanes, but also puts massive amounts of water vapor into the atmosphere. It is no coincidence that in the past 20 years, unprecedented hurricanes have caused billions of dollars in damages in New York, New Jersey, Louisiana and now Texas.

Every decade in the past 40 years has been hotter than the previous decade and fifteen of the hottest years on record have all occurred since the turn of this century. That’s the definition of a changing climate. And there is no relief in sight because this Administration is committed to dismantling every effort made in the last eight years to reduce carbon pollution.

We who live in central Pennsylvania aren’t ordinarily affected by hurricanes, but we are going to pay nevertheless. Taxpayers all across the country will be bailing out coastal communities who live in harm’s way for the foreseeable future, unless we get serious about tackling climate change. And the costs are only going to escalate.

We need elected leaders who can understand science and use that information to understand what the future holds and makes plans to ensure we won’t be harmed. But we don’t seem to have them.

This story was originally published September 19, 2017 at 9:35 PM with the headline "Leaders needed who understand science."