WHY THIS ARTICLE HAS MORE SIGNIFICANCE THAN JUST REPORTING THE FIRST VERIFICATION THAT THE CLIMATE IS CHANGING

This article is the original copy that was cut out of the the Star Ledger on November 19, 1981. While it is two years shy of forty years since it appeared, this article tells us more about humanity than just the first evidence that the climate is changing. It tells us that for most of the past thirty eight years humanity as a whole has ignored the evidence that the climate is changing.

At that time in 1981 the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere was not at an alarming and world changing level. Humanity didn’t have to rush into any immediate action. We could have undertaken a world wide analysis and discussion trying to understand what was going on. We could have spent time figuring out to what degree human activity was contributing to a changing climate. We could have asked and answered questions as to what this would mean for human beings as well as for all other life on our planet. We could have determined what would happen decades down the road if human beings continued to engage in the same behaviors that led to today’s changing climate. If the answers came back that the earth would be detrimentally affected and not be able to function for the benefit of life itself then how do we change that outcome.

Let’s say it would have taken two to three years for an in-depth analysis, discussion and worldwide understanding and consensus about this issue. By the end of 1984 we would have come to a realization that something had to be done. We could have figured out what humanity needed to do and how we would go about doing it in order to avoid a climate change crisis decades down the road. We could have set a time frame of fifteen to twenties years to implement what needed to be done on a worldwide basis and we would have prevented the crisis that we face today.

Go to PEOPLE, IDEAS AND INNOVATIONS to read WORKING TOGETHER TO AVERT A CLIMATE CHANGE CATASTROPHE