The Reality of Climate Change
Summary
Many of the most significant geopolitical and security issues currently challenging societies, both developed and developing, are directly connected to the remarkably rapid and profound scientific and technological (S&T) advances of our time. At the outset of the 21st century, however, most societies are having difficulty deciding which of these dramatically new S&T opportunities to embrace and which to reject. Such challenges are especially complex when there is significant public and private sector disagreement about even the existence of the problem, as well as its source(s).
Of the seemingly innumerable challenges associated with S&T being debated (e.g., sustainable energy sources, infectious diseases and pandemics, food safety and security, radicalization of cultures), those connected to “climate change” are among the most intractable. The often irrational discourse and public uncertainty about climate change defines how complex and challenging such issues can become. While public and political disagreements rage over the existence of climate change, and certainly its relationship(s) to human activities, there are increasing physical indications that changes in climates (local, regional and global) are occurring with a rapidity and severity not anticipated by many credible scientists. The need to accurately characterize climate change and its relationship to human activities is especially urgent given the worldwide decisions now being made concerning the use of different sources of energy (and their respective impacts on climates).
There is a need to more effectively engage the average citizen in the increasingly contentious discussions concerning the reality of climate change and its potential significance in their lives. While acknowledging the difficulty and almost quixotic nature of engaging the average citizen on such a complex topic, it is evident that a new, more effective effort is required to reconcile opposing views in order to obtain practical policies that can be implemented and publicly supported.
