“Jerry Brown led the planning for a Climate Action Summit to be held in September 2018.”

By Dr. John J. Hidore

The Politics of Climate Change

President Trump stated campaigning that he would take the United States out of the Paris Agreement of December 2016. He began the process soon after elected. As a result, two things happened. It rallied the rest of the world governments to act more decidedly to curb greenhouse gas emissions. In the summer meeting of the G20 countries, all except the United States confirmed their commitments to the Paris Agreement. The country of Sweden has committed to carbon neutrality by 2045. Germany has pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.

The second thing that happened as a result of the U.S. backing out of the Paris Agreement…..it united many cities, states, and people to join the forces to slow global warming and climate change. It also lead to the formation of new non-governmental organizations pledge to fight climate change. In the United States new groups include America’s Pledge and We are still in. A recently formed group known as the Global Covenant of Mayors has more than 7000 members worldwide. In the summer of 2017 governor Jerry Brown led the planning for a Climate Action Summit to be held in September 2018.

Climate Events of Note

A number of environmental events occurred recently that made climate change real to many who had questioned it. They include unusually high temperatures. Evidence indicates the earth is now the warmest it has been in the last 650,000 years. The winter of 2016-2017 was unusually warm. Temperatures were as much as 35°F (19.5°C) above the 30 year average. Record high temperatures occurred in many countries including the United States. In 2017 a record high of 129 °F (60°C) was recorded in the city of Ahvas, Iran.

In the past several decades the temperature in Phoenix, Arizona at the metropolitan airport has reached such high temperatures that air traffic has been curtailed or stopped for some hours. The reason is that the air over the runway became too thin for large aircraft to get enough lift to ensure becoming airborne. In the summer of 2017 such an event took place. The temperature at the airport weather station reached 119°F (84°C).

I experienced a similar incident that occurred at the airport in Lagos, Nigeria many years ago. The asphalt on the field became so warm and soft on a hot day that the wheels of a large cargo plane sank through the tarmac.

The last climate event to note…..the 2017 tropical storm season was marked by severe storms in several regions. Category four or five storms occurred in the North Atlantic region and in the Northwest Pacific region. Two category four hurricanes reached the United States. It is the first time two storms of this severity have reached the U.S in a single hurricane season!