Expert details consequences of climate change
By Kathryn Reed
STATELINE – Despite a litany of information documenting how climate is changing and examples of its devastating impacts, one Nobel Peace Prize recipient remains optimistic.
“We still do have a choice. That is the very real reason for optimism,” Bill Collins told a group of more than 40 people Jan. 10 at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe.
Collins was the keynote speaker Friday for the three-day Operation Sierra Storm Meteorologist’s Conference. He is the lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, heads the Climate Sciences Department at Berkeley Lab and teaches at Cal.
Climate change expert Bill Collins talks Jan. 10 at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe in Stateline. Photo/Kathryn Reed
Climate change is evident from 2012 being a record hot year in the United States, to Australia breaking 123 records in 90 days in 2012, to the world temperature increasing about three-quarters of a degree centigrade since 1900, to the sea level rising 200 millimeters in the last 100 years.
Cities abutting major water bodies like San Francisco and Oakland are looking at how to handle the rising water. In the Maldives where the elevation is 1 meter above sea level Collins said people are experimenting with building artificial islands.
“Carbon dioxide is increasing from human activities,” Collins said.
In 1950 there were 270 parts per million, whereas in 2010 there were 400 parts per million in the atmosphere.
“Through isotopic analysis we know it is man-made. The source is fossil fuels,” Collins said.
That is what people have control over – the use of fossil fuels. What they don’t have power over are volcanoes and the sun, which are the two primary natural causes of climate change.
A potential irony is that as the Arctic ice melts, it will be easier to drill for oil there.
Forecasting models are split when it comes to whether the United States will see more precipitation or less because of the storm tracks. But what is known is what does fall from the sky is going to be in the form of more rain and less snow. This has significant consequences for places like California and Nevada that depend on snowpack for their reservoir storage and sustained water supply.
“It’s critically important to all of us. Water is irreplaceable. Fossil fuel is replaceable,” Collins said.
It is a warming Earth that alters moisture and rainfall.
“What was unusual will become the usual by the end of the 21st century,” Collins said. This is because of the change in the hydrological cycle.
40 people, wow, he drew a crowd.
I think most people know that the climate changes. It is intuitive.
The question is; to what degree is it caused by man?
The inference of this article that it is all man’s fault and we can control it. That is a folly for fools. Back to the “more than 40” people that showed up. That number has not been collaborated and faux scientist in this area of study are known to change data. In fact that is one of the only facts we can be certain of.
Save it doubters… Stop trying to convince yourself the world is flat. Unless your resume outweighs this actual expert, save your global conspiracy theories. The rest of living in reality have a planet to save for the next generation.
I was one of the more than 40 people in attendance and I was glad this part of Operation Sierra Storm was open to the public.
The first speaker, Virgil Welch, special counsel California Air Resources Board, provided some hope for the future. He spoke of green house emissions but shared that we were on track for 2020 standards. He made me happy that he’s on the earth’s side.
Dr. Collins shared some pretty frightening statistics. Yet, even with all his knowledge, he defines himself as an optimist. He said that we are experiencing the darkness before the dawn.
I walked away being more devoted to our planet and hopeful. Tahoe continues to provide us with opportunities that I’ve not had before and I learned something new. That’s a great way to start a day. Thank you to all who made it possible.
Quit trying to sell the global warming narrative.
Nobody’s buying this bunk any longer.
I wore long boots and took a large shovel but still couldn’t keep up with the garbage science coming from the talking heads.
Experts hardly. If they were your physician and you needed medical help I would respectfully suggest if you really wanted to get well you see a witch doctor or shamen. These Chicken Little war mongers, I mean scare mongers are all profiting big time with government grants and other taxpayer funded wild goose chases.
When they eventually arrive down below will they be at all surprised to find intense cold and not the flames of yesteryear.
And finally I believe Bill Collins has had a few too many Tom Collins.
Now for some hard science facts. How do these folks explain Tahoe being under thousands of feet of ice ten thousand years ago before SUV’s and the large trees found at the bottom of Fallen Leaf Lake.
CJ and Bitter, you two need to build yourself a little rocket, strap on a leather helmet and fly away to some distant hell-hole of a planet ….and take your fox n friends government conspiracy circus act with you. Good luck finding something as amazing as the little gem you currently reside on and somehow feel so little compulsion to protect.
The rest of the adults in the room find these climate conclusions reasonable and supported by the best science of the day.
@CJ McCoy, you ask, “to what degree is it caused by man?” We know that total solar irradiance (the sun) has been cooling slightly for that past 35 years, yet temperatures have continued to rise (in spite of what you hear in the media). Furthermore, we have known about the existence of the Greenhouse Effect since 1824. If the warming were caused by a more active sun, then scientists would expect to see warmer temperatures in all layers of the atmosphere. Instead, they have observed a cooling in the upper atmosphere, and a warming at the surface and in the lower parts of the atmosphere. That’s because greenhouse gasses are trapping heat in the lower atmosphere.
Although this may have been a small conference, there was just another conference where 21,000 scientists attended from around the world. Some conferences are local and small; others are quite large.
What kind of fossil fuel industry funded echo chamber of misinformation does one have to live in to be in denial of climate change? Do the deniers actually believe that 97% of climate scientists from every corner of the planet that agree with the seriousness of this issue are all conspiring together to lie about the overwhelming evidence for their personal gain? Or would it be more feasible to accept that the miniscule percentage of those real scientists in denial may be compromised or influenced by intentionally flawed data? It’s well past time for pretending that the opinions of those with misinformation coming only from the corporate media and limpaugh/fox bubble should be respected and any attempts to solve these problems should be delayed. The science is settled for people that live in a reality based world and this vociferous minority of dullards should be ignored.
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that Democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”… Isaac Asimov
Cj and bitter are flat earth believers and no matter what anyone says to the contrary, they will continue to spew their ignorance and hatred. Hope they find the edge soon so we can be rid of their poison. Happy sailing…
Just curious whether cj, bitter and suspicious were at the meeting. They all sound like typical faux news no-nothings. An independent university media study revealed that people who depend on faux news for information become dumber, i.e., more ignorant of facts. If they had bothered to attend Dr. Collins presentation, they would have seen proof that the most problematic and worrisome aspects of continued global warming and climate change are indeed “man made.” Proof beyond any doubt, reasonable or otherwise. Of course, faux news watchers are impervious to facts.
A sincere “thank you” to everyone who has jumped in here to defend pier-reviewed science & reality. We cannot allow the “flat earth” types to dominate this discussion anymore.
Great article. It is hard to believe there are people who just don’t want to acknowledge the reality of climate change and global warming. The science is there, you don’t have to remain ignorant.
other people assert that the earth is 6000 years old. solipsism is the basis for these head. in. the. sand. positions…
The unfortunate fact is only the “Western Industrialized” nations are sitting up and taking notice and at times action. Been to China or India lately? There is a reason why they are becoming the industrial powerhouses of today……. Very few environmental concerns. On a recent trip to China, I flew from Shanghai to Lijang. Took off in a rolling “smog” that reminded me of fog. 4 hours later after looking through the plane window down on what seemed to be a never ending brown layer through which you could not see the ground, I landed in Lijang. To put it in perspective, a 4 hour flight would take you from San Francisco to New York. That is just one example (albeit a huge one) of the general state of the world. Green costs money that most of the world does not have. We can “do our part” and feel good about the band-aids we are using, yet until the whole world gets on board, there is going to be very little change. How much is our local acts really going to change the global reality when we continue to consume goods that we contract less environmentally caring countries to produce?
The number that Dr. Collins used that made me take serious notice was that the climate is changing at 10,000 X’s the rate that could possibly be attributed to natural (paleontologic) timespans. . .that was the major difference in the data (from last years) – and in answer to the first commenter, McCoy – the panel anticipated (or adjusted to, take your pick) that sort of question, and devised a way to answer it. . .
10,000 X’s !!
To Worldcycle: as someone who routinely works with folks all around-the-world, I can attest to the fact that we, still the highest “users”, are just now becoming aware, versus your comment, as people in so many places are already experiencing (and suffering from) things that Americans still more or less ignore. . .
Dr. Collins was wistful and almost apologetic in saying he was still an optimist. . .”we still have a choice”, he said (in conclusion), but did not elaborate as to what the choice might (or should) be . . .
I ask the Global Warming alarmists this rhetorically:
Are you going to give up travel? Are you going to stop driving? Are you going to turn off your lights and stop heating your home? Are you going to grow your own food and stop shopping at the store?
Your answer was NO, to all of the above. If you’re a believer, you are the root of your own fabricated problem.
There have been 7 ice ages in the past 10,000 years. Each and every time, industry had nothing to do with the planet cooling and then heating. We are past the peak of the current heating cycle. You do NOT want another ice age; you won’t survive it.
The #1 source of CO2 in the world is…drumroll please…decomposing organic matter. You read that right. And don’t forget, all plant life requires CO2 to survive and thrive. Oxygen is a poison to virtually all life forms spare mammals and our avian friends.
It would be nice if the public would approach the government to ask why military planes are spraying our skies with aluminum, barium and strontium. Is there something else going on we need to know about? I am not blind, and why most of the public refuses to acknowledge these aerosol trails across our skies is beyond me. Wake-up people!
Hey CJ! Your whining is the on fact here. Again with your 18th Century trash talk of a Doctor that actually KNOWS something about science? Ninety Seven (97%) of actual Climatologists know that our Planet is getting hotter, glaciers and Greenland are melting, oceans are rising and acidifying. (Greenland alone is loosing about 50 Cubic Miles or fresh water in the form of ice into the Atlantic every year.) And the only thing you can do is question the number of people in attendance? Yes, Scientist have measured the amount of CO2 humans are putting into the Atmosphere… they do it with a math and physics. 9.7 Billion Metric Tons in 2012 is a LOT of CO2.
Gee Gary you are right, I guess at this point it would be more environmentally correct to junk my 15 year old Subaru and rely upon our virtually non-existent public transportation system. I see you out using it all the time, so I assume it must work for somebody. Couple of weeks ago I actually had to hitch hike home from Bishop related to a public transit system which does the Eastern Sierra with 1 bus a day 4 days a week. Once again, it must work for somebody otherwise it would not even run those 4 days. Have you ever tried to get to South Lake Tahoe from the Bay area? It can be done, yet not very convenient. So I am with Bitter on this one. I ride my bike whenever possible but since I live where the bus does not service, most trips I make to the store I use my car for I can do in one trip what it would take me twenty on my bike due to limited cargo capacity.
I try to be green because it it the right thing to do, not because I want to save the planet for future generations. My original post was supposed to imply that until everyone on the planet jumps on the train together on this, nothing is going to change.
First we need to build the train.
hey rock4tahoe,
did you ever consider why Greenland was named Greenland?
CJ, give it up.
The Global Warming Brownshirts are modern day environmental fascists.
There is to be no dissent from their beliefs; such will not be tolerated.
HEY CJ, Why is Los Angeles name Los Angeles, because Angels live there? NO!. It was a marketing ploy just like Greenland was a marketing ploy by Erik the Red. Nobody would have wanted to go the Greenland if it was called Coldland, Snowland; Erik even said so. Get a clue.
Hey BITTER! Quit your whining about Fascists since it was FDR, a Liberal Democrat, that saved your rear end from the real Fascists in the first place.
“did you ever consider why Greenland was named Greenland?”
Do you really want the answer to that?
It will make you look very foolish.
“The #1 source of CO2 in the world is…drumroll please…decomposing organic matter. You read that right. And don’t forget, all plant life requires CO2 to survive and thrive.”
That is completely irrelevant.That is part of the carbon cycle, which is usually in balance.
Burning fossil fuels is not.
Scientifically illiterate conservatives…. go figure.