Climate
change is a complex topic and even some of the experts have a difficult time
grasping all of the implications. As the
climate changes so does the society and world in which we live. The most recent findings of the Inter-governmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) point out what the science knows and the risks
ahead.
Now
a documentary series tries to bring the knowledge of climate change to the ordinary
person. It does this by telling the
stories of people affected by climate change.
How does degrading the environment affect the world and the food you
eat? How does drought relate to climate
change? What are the risks involved in
our future?
These
are some of the questions addressed in a new Showtime series airing Sunday, April
13, 2014, at 10 p.m. called “Years of Living Dangerously”. It is a nine-part series that will address a
number of topics related to climate change.
The
first episode is already available on the internet at the website www.yearsoflivingdangerously.com
. If you do not get Showtime, you can
watch it here. Below is a discussion on
the documentary and climate change from two of the participants in the program
on a recent Face The Nation on CBS:
I
have seen the first episode and I think it does a very good job of weaving the
science into good storytelling. Anyone
viewing this should be able to follow the discussion and I think it will change
your world view. Tom Friedman of the New
York Times has discussed how climate change could affect the Middle East for
years, yet I was unaware of the extent the drought in Syria affected the
conflict there. If you have not read his
book Hot, Flat, and Crowded published in 2008, maybe this series will
encourage you to do so.
Some
say climate science is a hoax or that it is a religion. I hope you will listen to Katherine Hayhoe of
Texas Tech University. She is an
evangelical Christian as well as a climate scientist and is married to an evangelical
minister. She, along with two hundred
evangelical scientists, sent a letter to President Obama last year calling on
the administration to address climate change.
Science
is non-partisan and it not a religion, yet it has been used for partisan and
religious purposes in the past.
Scientists have been charting the effects of our civilization on the
environment for decades and the picture is clear. When you look at the sum of research devoted
to climate change the conclusion is clear that it is happening now and we are
the primary cause.
I
hope you get a chance to view this important series. Then I hope you will join me Monday, April 21st,
at 7 p.m. as I present “Climate Change and South Carolina” at the West Quad
building on the campus of the University of South Carolina. The presentation will draw on much of the
information I have already presented on my program Climate Matters. It is a look at how climate change may affect
us in South Carolina and covers topics you may not see in the Showtime series. The program is part of a meeting with the Sierra
Club of South Carolina.
