Since 1955 the oceans have absorbed roughly twenty times more heat than the atmosphere.
Joseph J. RommMuch of the scientific community has been astonished that their increasingly strong and detailed warnings have been either ignored or attacked.
Joseph J. RommOn moral grounds, I think that if you believe a certain outcome is a very possible outcome, you have an obligation to tell people that. With global warming, the probability of a bad outcome if we stay on our current emission trends is incredibly high. If you know a bad outcome is likely to happen, what right do you have not to communicate that? You go into a doctor's office, what are they going to do - not tell you the diagnosis?
Joseph J. RommConservative Denyers and Delayers are the main reason America lacks the consensus and the political will to take up the fight against catastrophic climate change.
Joseph J. RommBy the end of the third decade of this century, all of American life - politics, international relations, our homes, our jobs, our industries, the kind of cars we drive - will be forever transformed by the climate and energy challenge.
Joseph J. RommSome 3 million years ago, when the earth was a little more than 3ยฐC warmer than preindustrial levels (about 2.2ยฐC warmer than today), Antarctica had far less ice and sea levels were a stunning 25 meters higher than today. If we stay on our current emissions path, the planet will almost certainly be that warm by the century's end.
Joseph J. Romm