Climate Change

Last month, a Republican-aligned polling firm called on hunters and fishermen nationwide to get their views. Some of the results were unsurprising: Outdoorsmen regard themselves as politically conservative and register Republican over Democratic by a more than 2-to-1 ratio. But here's one response that may have caught President Barack Obama and his re-election team by surprise, if they noticed it at all: A majority of these sportsmen believe global warming is the cause of this past summer's high temperatures and want the White House and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Kudos to Tim Wheeler 's informative article about teachers being trained to bring climate change issues into the classroom ("A grant to help teach climate change," Aug. 16). Republican members of Congress want to end funding for this project because teaching children about climate change threatens them and their fossil fuel patrons. Remember the American movie classic "It's a Wonderful Life?" At the end of the film, little Zuzu quotes a lesson from her teacher at school. This is how change happens.

Today's editorial "What about climate change?" (Oct. 18) was great! Thank you for asking the question that CNN's Candy Crowley decided was less important than the economy during the debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. You described Mr. Obama as "head-and-shoulders above his challenger," but being as far behind as we are on climate change isn't a virtue. James Hansen of NASA is the planet's best-informed climate scientist. He said we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent per year, until we reach zero emissions.

The Sun's excellent editorial on climate change and its dangers ("Warming: Storm damage ahead," March 14) was so wide-ranging and "national" that it rather skimmed over what Marylanders are aiming for right now in the way of "just… reducing harmful emissions" even while we are warned to get ready for 100-year storms that come every decade, or worse. The work of placing offshore wind power off our coast is in the legislature now and needs support. That's a big step to ending coal-powered, dirty electricity in the state and a breakthrough to give courage to others in other states.

The fight against climate change has "fizzled," according to Jonah Goldberg ("Obama drops climate change talk as green movement fizzles," April 28), under the relentless assault of right-wing lies and distortions that have managed to convince a befuddled public that there is serious doubt about the theory and reality of anthropogenic climate change. Mr. Goldberg might want to spend some time perusing issues of the Economist, a right-of-center European news magazine with a sensible and sober outlook on many global issues — including climate change.

As one of the more than 1,200 people arrested outside the White House during the recent tar sands action protesting plans to build a crude oil pipeline from Canada through the American heartland, I'm always amused by the Republican claim that climate change is just a theory, or worse, a hoax. Unless we all get PhDs in climate science, we have to accept the opinion of experts in the field who overwhelmingly endorse global climate change as both a reality and as something influenced by human activity.

Fresh off the hottest decade on record, it's a relief to know that the judicial system has upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's right to limit the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change ("EPA's climatic victory," June 28). As a Millennial and an aunt, I'm deeply anxious about the future and I long for a bold transition to a clean-energy economy before it's too late. This ruling will help spur that transition. While it is, as you state, "hard to believe a politically gridlocked Congress is capable of taking appropriate action," we can't let lawmakers off the hook.

Extreme weather events are on the rise, and scientists warn that global warming will bring even more extreme weather in the future ("Derecho and heat wave in review: records, rankings, and by the numbers," July 9). We know that power plants are the largest single source of the carbon pollution fueling climate change, but for too long power plants haven't had any federal limits on how much carbon they can spew into the air. President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency are working to fix this.

Global warming should be more in the news, with interviews with climatologists and scientists who study weather. There has been much coverage of the destruction wrought by Superstorm Sandy, but little about the changing weather patterns that cause such events. Many people believe that weather patterns are cyclical. But while the weather does seem to go in cycles, the number and ferocity of storms has increased in recent years. Yet there are people who remain in denial about the damage done to the people and places where these killer storms strike.

Crowning summer cookouts, ears of local corn are hot weather staples. Roasted on a grill, splashed with butter and sprinkled in salt and pepper — and in Chesapeake Country, Old Bay, of course — corn makes barbecues complete. This essential summer side dish may be in danger, however, if global warming continues to incrementally warm our Mid-Atlantic region. Corn, which prefers growing at about 50 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit, will feel the effects from hotter temperatures and more destructive storms, pests, weeds, diseases and ozone pollution.