T-Minus 15 days Until The Beginning Of The Trump Presidency (Climate Science)

Donald Trump will be sworn in in a little over 2 weeks.  As we ponder that panic, let's look back at a few episodes from the past 8 years - all with the understanding that Trump would never/could never be able to accomplish any of it.

After the panic, we should ponder what we're losing.

January 20, 2015.

In his last State of The Union speech President Obama had this to say about Climate Change:

And no challenge – no challenge – poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.

2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. Now, one year doesn’t make a trend, but this does – 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all fallen in the first 15 years of this century.

I’ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they’re not scientists; that we don’t have enough information to act. Well, I’m not a scientist, either. But you know what – I know a lot of really good scientists at NASA, and NOAA, and at our major universities. The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe. The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it.

This is what NASA has to say about the climate:

The heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases was demonstrated in the mid-19th century.2 Their ability to affect the transfer of infrared energy through the atmosphere is the scientific basis of many instruments flown by NASA. There is no question that increased levels of greenhouse gases must cause the Earth to warm in response.

And this is what NOAA has to say:

A comprehensive review of key climate indicators confirms the world is warming and the past decade was the warmest on record. More than 300 scientists from 48 countries analyzed data on 37 climate indicators, including sea ice, glaciers and air temperatures. A more detailed review of 10 of these indicators, selected because they are clearly and directly related to surface temperatures, all tell the same story: global warming is undeniable.

 And this is what The Pentagon has to say:

Climate change poses another significant challenge for the United States and the world at large. As greenhouse gas emissions increase, sea levels are rising, average global temperatures are increasing, and severe weather patterns are accelerating.

So Obama is right.

On the other hand, this is what Trump says about global warming:

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

He's wrong.  Trump is wrong about "the concept of global warming."

And his pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, is a climate science denier.

So we're going from an administration that's clearly science based to one that clearly isn't and I fear what the planet will look like in a dozen years because of it.

Millions voted for Trump.  Millions more voted for Clinton. 

If the Republicans now in power pursue their anti-science policies (and there's no reason to think they won't - who's gonna stop them?) then we all lost in the last election.