(MintPress) – Extreme summer weather is wreaking havoc on all corners of the United States, causing flooding, dangerous wildfires, tropical-like storms and widespread droughts.
Now some members of Congress are lobbying their colleagues to invest time researching if conditions are caused by man-made changes in the climate and what can possibly be done — yet not all legislators are on board with the idea.
In a letter written to the chairmen for the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Subcommittee on Energy and Power, Rep. Henry Waxman and Rep. Bobby Rush, both Democrats, requested a hearing on the dangers of climate change, specifically focusing on recent wildfires and other extreme weather in the U.S.
It’s the 15th time the two congressmen have penned letters to the committee and subcommittee, requesting scrutiny into allegations of links between climate change and extreme weather.
“Our premise was that if you and other Republican members had genuine doubts about the strength of the science, you would welcome hearings at which Committee members could hear testimony from the nation’s leading experts.” the letter states.
Rep. Frederick Upton (R-Mich.), Chairman on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Edward Whitfield (R-Ky.), two ranking members in the subcommittee, were the recipients of the letter. A response requested by MintPress from Upton’s office was not immediately granted.
The letter highlights not only current weather patterns, but also recent studies which validate their concerns — that man-made climate change is real and is contributing to extreme weather.
The letter references a report from the Vatican, which was issued in 2011 by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and warned of disastrous results of climate change, which it claimed to be enhanced by man. Similar studies by the National Academy of Sciences, the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperatures Project, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency were also cited.
“Willful ignorance of the science is irresponsible and it is dangerous,” the letter states.
Heat waves, droughts
“At the end of June, more than 113 million people in the U.S. were in areas under extreme heat advisories,” the letter states. “Two-thirds of the country is experiencing drought. Kentucky is facing a historic drought that is threatening the state’s crop yields. Other states facing severe loss of corn and other crops due to drought include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio.”
This summer has proven to be one of the warmest on record, with heat waves throughout the country causing those in even the nation’s typically cooler climates to experience dangerous heat advisories. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), June 2012 global temperatures were the fourth highest on record.
“More than 15,000 warm temperature records were set that month as the contiguous United States experienced the warmest March on record,” the letter states.
In a Washington Post piece written by Brad Plumer, Meteorologist Jeff Masters says the likelihood that the spike in heat waves throughout the U.S. is probably not a coincidence.
“These are ridiculously long odds, and it is highly unlikely that the extremity of the heat during the past 13 months could have occurred without a warming climate,” he said.
While this has led to some discomfort among Americans, its impact goes far beyond sticky conditions.
According to the National Climatic Data Center, the current situation in the U.S. is producing the worst drought conditions experienced since 1956 — a situation that’s expected to cause food shortages and, consequently, a rise in prices at the grocery store.
This statement is backed up by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) designation of counties in 26 states as natural disaster areas. This label allows those living in such areas to apply for special assistance through the USDA.
And if experts are right, the situation isn’t likely to lift any time soon.
“The drought could get a lot worse before it gets better,” Joe Glauber, chief economist at the USDA told the Washington Post.
Wildfires
Even Bill Nye, known as “the science guy,” who also holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University, has sounded off on the issue, appearing on CNN to promote the idea that climate change was contributing to recent wildfires in the U.S., which have burned 2.1 million acres. The wildfires in Colorado that have destroyed vast portions of the state are considered the worst on record.
“Sixteen of the last 17 years have been the hottest years on record — that’s just how it is,” Nye said on the program. “Now I appreciate that we want to show two sides of the story, this is a tradition in journalism, it goes back quite a ways, I guess. But the two sides aren’t equal.”
Nye claims there are tens of thousands of scientists who are concerned about the impacts of climate change, while there are a “few people” who are drawing attention to the uncertainty of the matter. That uncertainty, according to Nye, is overrun by Colorado wildfires and recent tornadoes in Michigan.
“These are consistent with climate change,” he said.
In the letter, Democratic congressmen cite Jonathan Overpeck, a professor at the University of Arizona who echoes the sentiments of Nye, saying extreme weather conditions have worsened due to climate change.
“The extra heat increases the odds of worse heat waves, droughts, storms and wildfire,” he said. “This is certainly what I and many other climate scientists have been warning about.”