Dr. Sandra Koch: Climate change can be solved

We can solve climate change. We have the tools. We just need to use them.

I’ve lived in Carson City for more than 30 years and have never seen hurricane force winds like the ones that knocked out power lines and took out so many trees in Carson City on Jan. 13-14.

The climate is changing fast. Last year was the warmest year on record. Not by a little, by a lot. There were a record number of weather and climate disasters costing more than a $165 billion. Here in Nevada we have seen unprecedented wind, drought, flooding and fires.

Americans are wondering: What can be done to reduce global warming both in the U.S. and internationally?

We are worried both personally and globally about the increase in weather related disasters happening around the world and in our own states. Mostly we are worried about the world we are leaving our children and grandchildren. They are suffering. They know we are not doing enough. They are hearing news that scientists are surprised how fast the climate is changing; that we are on the verge of uncharted territory. And it’s all happening in front of their eyes.

We’ve seen the environmental harm humans have caused many times over the years. Air pollution, water pollution, acid rain are good examples. Scientists figured out the causes and governments responded and addressed them. We breathe cleaner air and drink cleaner water than we did 50 years ago. Acid rain is no longer destroying our lakes and rivers.

The hole in the ozone layer found in the late 1970’s has been fixed. The damage to the ozone layer was causing a change in the jet stream and increasing radiation exposure to the planet- with potential to cause blindness and cancers among earth’s inhabitants. Scientists identified the ozone-depleting chemicals that humans were releasing into the atmosphere. Once the cause was understood, it took less than 10 years for the international community to come together and ban the use of the chemicals causing the problem. Ozone levels quickly stabilized and the ozone layer began to heal. What a fabulous success story.

Humanity is now facing a grave risk to our survival. We are experiencing a change in the world’s weather patterns scientifically proven to be the result of too much carbon in the atmosphere. Just like with ozone, we see that our atmosphere is injured, and just like with ozone, we know the cause.  We know the solution. We need to stop putting so much carbon in the atmosphere, and even remove some of what’s there. The question is will we do what’s needed to heal the atmosphere before irreversible changes have taken place?

We can heal the atmosphere. We can reduce the amount of carbon we put into the atmosphere. We can pull carbon out of the atmosphere. There still will be a need to use gas, oil, propane and coal, but we need to drastically reduce our use of them and we need to do it now. Later is too late.

Dr. Sandra Koch is a Carson City resident.