Source: www.nytimes.com
USA, October 27, 2010: Remember climate change? It used to be a hot topic.
It’s hardly surprising that a new study released the other day by a scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research didn’t register on any political radar screens, amid America’s political wars. But it predicted the future of America’s agriculture with wide implications.
The study, by Aiguo Dai, concluded that most of the western two-thirds of the United States will be significantly drier by the 2030s, and that large parts of the nation face an increasing risk of extreme drought. This is not about melting ice caps; it’s about Dust Bowl-style drought within two decades. “If the projections in this study come even close to being realized, the consequences for society worldwide will be enormous,” Dr. Dai said.
When Barack Obama won the nomination, he said his election to the presidency would be historic on two issues: health care and climate change, a point when “the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” Two years later, you can barely find the phrase “climate change” on the Web sites of Democrats running for office, and for Republicans it has become an item of faith to be a skeptic.
Despite debate, informed and less so, the scientific consensus has not changed. We can tune in 50 years from now and find out who was right — at which point it will be too late.