Funny Trump Had Been in Office and Fixed Global Warming

President Donald Trump and Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin aren't the first people to seemingly make fun of climate science by citing recent cold winter weather.

They're just among the most prominent.

But is climate change really a joking matter?

Comedians, it seems, can get away with making jokes about almost anything.

When you are in the position of leading the free world, or a leading coal-producing state, jokes about such a sensitive – and serious – subject as climate change take on more meaning. It can appear that politicians are dismissing the heartfelt concerns of millions and the threats that have been identified by mainstream science.

We still don't know whether Gov. Bevin was joking when, late Friday as temperatures were dropping toward zero, he sent out this message on Twitter, superimposed over a weather map showing much of the nation in a deep freeze: "Trump has been in office 1 year and has already fixed global warming."

He's not returned requests for comment or clarification.

Related: Gov. Bevin uses deep freeze to credit President Trump with having 'fixed global warming'

The joke could be on people who get out in front of scientists by falsely pinning just about every change in the weather on global warming. But it doesn't take a lot of effort to determine that climate change itself isn't very funny.

At least not if you buy into what the scientists say who study it full time – those Ph.D.s who can decipher matters of physics, chemistry, geology, atmospheric sciences, ecology and other fields of expertise that go into understanding the complex relationships between human activities and the climate that makes life on Earth possible.

Here are seven reasons climate change isn't a joke:

1. Global and national security. The U.S. military sees climate change as a threat-multiplier that could destabilize populations and lead to war, while putting American assets such as military bases along low-lying coastal areas at risk from sea-level rise. President Trump himself signed a military defense bill in December that describes climate change as an urgent threat to American security and details the challenges climate change poses to U.S. military operations worldwide.
2. More frequent and intense storms. Heavy rain is increasing in intensity and frequency across the United States and globally and is expected to continue to increase, according to the U.S. Global Change Research Program Climate Science Special Report, issued last year by President Trump's own scientists. Warmer air holds more moisture and extra heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere have the impact of putting weather on steroids. How cities are constructed plays a big role in flooding, but scientists have calculated global warming made it at least three times more likely that Hurricane Harvey would stall over Houston and flood it, according to the Associated Press. Even in flood-prone Louisville, we're seeing more frequent, larger storms that are threatening low areas of the city, prompting calls to spend billions on shoring up aging sewer and flood protection systems.
3. Coastal area flooding. Sea level has risen about 8 inches since 1900, about half of that since 1993, making storm surges more dangerous. It's expected to rise 1 to 4 feet more by 2100. The Trump administration could not rule out a seal level 8 feet higher by end of the century. Major cities like Miami, New York, Boston and New Orleans are at risk.
4. Heat. Heatwaves have become more frequent in the U.S. since the 1960s, putting crops in jeopardy and people in cities at risk of heat-related deaths. People with heart, lung and other ailments can suffer severely during heat waves. Cities where temperatures can fluctuate greatly and where residents may not be used to extreme heat – including Louisville – have been seen the highest projections for heat-related mortality in the decades ahead.
5. Human health. Weather and climate affect the survival, distribution and behavior of mosquitoes, ticks and rodents that carry diseases, and some tropical diseases are spreading north as the climate warms. Other illnesses, such as asthma and other lung ailments can be made worse by air pollution or increased pollen associated with climate change and added heat can wear on people with COPD or diabetes.
6. Ocean acidification and heat. Coral reefs are undersea nurseries and home to at least a quarter of all marine life on the planet. Yet they are under serious threat from both, risking ocean health and, frankly, some popular seafood menu items.
7. Regional economic security. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently made public a new study that finds climate change is will push the Ohio River and its tributaries into uncharted waters, setting off economic and environmental crises like never before across a 13-state region, including Kentucky and Indiana.

One explanation may be the political divide. A Gallup Poll last summer found that nationally only 18 percent of Republicans worry "a great deal about climate change," compared to 66 percent of Democrats. Another poll out of Yale University estimated that slightly less than 50 percent of Kentuckians were worried about climate change in 2016.

It's just easier to joke about something not seen as a threat, even as scientists keep raising the red flags.

Reporter James Bruggers writes this Watchdog Earth blog: 502-582-4645; jbruggers@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @jbruggers; Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jamesb.

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Source: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/tech/science/watchdog-earth/2018/01/08/seven-reasons-why-trump-bevin-wrong-joke-climate-change/1012503001/

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