One of the hot-button political issues in recent years has been the debate over climate change. On one side you have the group that believe it is is very real and that in the decades ahead it will heave a stunning impact on our planet. On the other side, you have a group who believes that climate change isn't really a threat and may not be happening at all. Sprinkled amongst this debate is the ongoing question of whether or not humans are contributing to the changes in any way and what we can do to slow or reverse the effects. Now, a new report predicts catastrophic changes to the planet, and it comes from a pretty unlikely source.In August, the Trump Administration released a new report that says that if fossil fuel consumption continues to grow unchecked the Earth will see a 7ºF (4ºC) increase in temperature by 2100. That means that in a little more than 80 years, we could see a massive increase in temperature what would likely prove to be a disaster on an unprecedented scale for the planet. We're talking ice caps melting, sea levels rising, massive storms, widespread droughts, and intense heat. Of course, these predictions aren't anything new and researchers have been warning us about them for some time. But the fact that this temperature change is being predicted by the current Whitehouse is something to take note of.
As many of you probably already know, the Trump administration hasn't been exactly environmentally friendly. The sitting President withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Accords, has rolled back EPA requirements for gas milage and emissions on cars as well as coal usage, while also approving more drilling for oil in places that were once protected. And yet, this new report comes from within the administration itself, which would lead us to believe that while Trump and his team know that climate change is happening, they are electing to ignore it in favor of other interests, most notably ecumenic gains.
This latest report doesn't come from an environmental agency. Instead, the 7ºF temperature change is buried in a document that comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Document is meant to serve as a justification for removing fuel efficiency requirements from motor vehicles after 2020. The argument here is that temperatures are going to rise anyway, so the rollback of the emissions standards won't have much of an impact anyway. In other words, the planet's going to get warmer regardless of what we do, so why even try to make a difference?
I've argued before that it doesn't really matter whether climate change is man-made or not. It's happening, and by most accounts it is now happening at faster rate than we first thought. Shouldn't we be doing everything we can to try to reverse it, whether man caused it or not? Either way, Trump supports who continue to deny that climate change is real can look to this document to see that the administration has acknowledged its existence at long last. What happens from here will play a major role on the future impact to our planet.
