Reader responds to column 'Is It Climate Changes of Just Weird Weather in Boston?'
- OPINION
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Friday, March 16, 2012
To the Editor: I would like to commend the authors of (West Roxbury Saves Energy's column) “Is It Climate Change or Just Weird Weather in Boston?” for answering the question correctly: it doesn’t matter. As the authors note, the climate has always changed and will always change to varying degrees, and that we’re in a period of accelerated change that is causing significant damage. What they miss is that this is a systematic problem that has less to do with turning the water off when you brush your teeth and more to do with what makes the lights turn on. Out of all the water used in the country, only 1% of it is used for domestic purposes, according to a 2005 United States Geologic Survey report. That means that all the water used for …
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“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” —attributed to Mark Twain. So, you’re probably asking yourself, “What’s up with winter this year? Is it CLIMATE CHANGE or just WEIRD WEATHER?” Can we know? Probably not. Does it matter? No. After all, Earth's climate has always changed. What we DO know and what DOES matter is that the change is now occurring at a rate way faster than “normal.” It is this rate of change that is of concern, and most weather experts and scientists agree that humans are responsible. According to a research professor at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University: “As the world has warmed since the fossil-fuel revolution after World War II, Arctic temperatures …
