Men stay focused during break
The evidence of global warming is overwhelming and remains a moral question was the message of the historian’s roundtable on Monday when 25 students and staff members met to discuss climate change. Panel members included Elizabeth Milliken from history, Wally Shriner from biology, Chris Jackson from philosophy, and Ted Sheinman from economics. Milliken moderated and kicked off the meeting with introductions and a background of climate change from the past, present, and future. The discussion centered on major fluctuations occurring in the climate and how human activity is contributing. Historical data and charts presented by Milliken showed the chart spikes in carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere currently measuring at 375 PPM (parts per million). The United States and China are the largest contributors as developing nations, Milliken said. Fossil fuel is the largest emitter of carbon-dioxide along with 200 years of exponential environmental growth and development, Milliken said. Scientists are able to accurately measure the carbon dioxide that was prevalent in the atmosphere in the past by measuring core samples trapped in ice bergs that are estimated to be thousands of years old. This is important for benchmarking. The documentation shows carbon–dioxide spikes during the industrial revolution, followed by down-and-up spikes until the largest spike in history being in the last five years. “With an estimated population of nine billion by the year 2054”, Milliken said, “imagine what the carbon dioxide levels would be like then.” Shriner pointed out that current documentation shows that environmental temperatures have changed overall by 1 degree warmer. “Why does it [1 degree] matter?” he asked. It warms the entire earth’s ocean temperature and affects species that are acclimated to specific temperatures, Shriner explained. Some species such as the Pica have a narrow heat tolerance and already live on mountain tops. He points out that environmentalists and scientists are predicting more shifting temperatures to the tune of 2.5 to 10 degrees depending on what measures are instilled to slow it down. That would mean a 5 degree difference our winters resulting in rising sea levels due to the global warming, he said. Shriner predicted the local effects may vary, but for the Northwest, we can expect dryer, hotter summers and warmer wetter winters in which mosquitoes (disease carriers) and other evasive species thrive. Sheinman said, “Economists aren’t surprised about climate change,” meaning that when the wind changes direction, free enterprise fails. Sheinman emphasized the importance of taking care of things we own. There are a lot of complaints about the cost of hybrid cars. Meaning that there’s a lot of hype about investing in the latest, greatest, and greenest widget that albeit is energy efficient, yet more expensive than comparable products. People want to know what’s in it for them before making an investment, said Sheinman. Sheinman suggested that the expense [of individual’s investing in energy efficient gadgets that potentially lower carbon-dioxide emissions] should be shouldered as a societal cost since it’s so high and suggests that most people think that their individual investments wouldn’t yield a return. “The cost of change is 2 percent of the GPD and that’s about half the growth rate,” Sheinman, said. Sheinman suggest changing the incentive structure in order to motivate society and individuals to make real change. “People are rational—and only evaluate [investments] on personal incentives,” he said. Sheinman talked about a number of possible ways to pay for change through various tax structures. Jackson, a philosophy and religion instructor at MHCC, commented on how 6 to 10 degree warmer temperatures in the climate in the Antarctic would be capable of melting a lot of ice; ice that quenches the thirst of entire societies. If all the ice melts, entire societies are going to be in big trouble, said Jackson. He then pointed to the growing documentation that the Antarctic Ice is melting (formerly thought impossible), and that it’s melting fast. Then he asked some questions: Q1: When is the level of confidence sufficient for taking inconvenient or unattractive measures? Q2: Should our orientation toward being fair incline us toward the inclusion of future generations? Jackson said, “While nobody purchases homeowner’s insurance that includes a clause for alien coverage, nobody in the world could or would understand that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is such a big deal when we’ve always had carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.” The problem,” Jackson said, “seems to be the water vapor and it’s creating serious problems.” The evidence is overwhelming, he said and the moral question is: Whose problem is it? If we leaned on the rapture theory, where all the Christian’s vanish, we’d better pray to God that the pilot is an atheist, Jackson said. There are so many unanswered questions and the solutions invariably depend on how we respond, think and care about the future, Jackson said in closing. Every little thing that we do as individuals is worthwhile, collectively, no matter how large or small. The Historians’ Roundtable meets again Nov. 20 to discuss the history of rock and roll.
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