IT'S NEVER good to ignore credible warnings, even if the consequences aren't immediately visible. This is true whether you're dealing with termites or terrorists, car maintenance or cardiac health.
Or global warming -- especially on Earth Day today.
According to mainstream scientific opinion, global warming poses a credible threat to the United States.
We know that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are building up in the atmosphere, trapping more of the sun's energy, largely because of the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities.
We know that as the average global temperature rises, the volume of the ocean's water expands, pushing up the sea level and threatening homes, businesses and infrastructure along the Chesapeake Bay and the ocean, not to mention wetlands and other coastal ecosystems.
We know that with the average global temperature increasing with a speed unprecedented in human history, other major changes are likely: more deadly heat stress in U.S. cities, droughts in some areas, floods in others, less snowpack in the arid West, the possibility of more intense hurricanes in the East, the destruction of ecosystems and endangered species too fragile to adapt, and perhaps even the collapse of the Gulf Stream, wreaking havoc on the climate of Europe.
Changes we see today, such as the bleaching of already stressed coral reefs and the retreat of glaciers, are probably due in part to climate change.
We cannot accurately predict the impact of global warming to the Chesapeake Bay in 2030. But we should not be fooled for lack of a crystal ball into thinking the threat isn't real.
The good news is that the worst effects might be avoided if we act now.
More good news is that American ingenuity has a great record of meeting technological challenges. It will take a new industrial revolution to provide for economic growth without emitting greenhouse gases, but there is every reason to believe we can do it while continuing to grow our economy. Moreover, doing so will help us meet other national objectives, such as reducing our dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
That's why a bipartisan group in the U.S. House, including Maryland Reps. Wayne T. Gilchrest, a Republican, and Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, recently introduced the Climate Stewardship Act, a companion to a Senate bill written by Joseph I. Lieberman and John McCain. The bill would freeze U.S. greenhouse gas emissions after 2010 at the 2000 level.
