An open letter to climate change deniers

I know that you have reasons why you deny the reality of climate change. You know that I disagree with your rationales. Fine.

However, you must admit that strange things are going on weather-wise in almost every corner of the world from which we get news. Just ask some old folks. As them if they remember weather like this. We don’t need to reach far into the past, nor tease apart the evidence to find some small hints of change. Remember the record-breaking heat across Europe last summer? How about two years of unprecedented fires in California, and many years of fires in the western US before that. You'll probably recall large swaths of middle-America covered with water, making it difficult or impossible for farmers to grow their crops. This winter bizarre weather is coming and going across the east and south-east of the USA. None of us are ever going to go to Greenland, the Arctic, nor the Antarctic, but those who do tell us that the ice is melting.

So, let’s say, for the sake of argument, that these climactic changes are temporary. Let’s further posit that these changes have nothing whatsoever to do with human activities. Can we at least agree that they are bad? Can we agree that they are harming humans, animals, industries and environments all over the world? You can’t grow crops if your fields are under water. You can’t mine for minerals in Australia if the country is on fire. Tourism revenues in Europe collapse if it is too hot to enjoy going there. You can’t watch the Super Bowl if your house burned down.

So, if you agree with me that there are bad weather events happening, can we also agree that researching these events is a good idea? Can we agree that it will help to find out what is making this happen, how often these events are likely to occur, and when they might stop? Can we agree that it would be a good idea to try and figure out how to do a better job of managing these effects when they occur? Can we agree that even if humans didn't cause climate change, it would help if we can figure out how stop these climate changes that are negatively affecting us?

Just a thought.