what's a girl to do
I've been puzzling myself over the problem of how to talk about climate change, and I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere. Part of it is my own experience being driven crazy by zealot friends who are more farsighted and more annoying than I. Face facts: your friends are sunbathing, and that is, in some locales, an excellent side effect of experiencing five record-hot years since 1998. If they are enjoying themselves, and you make some buzzkill comment, what's the point? It is sunny, and they can't do anything about it right then but enjoy. If you insist on misery during nice weather, comfort yourself the way my Catholic coworkers did -- it all comes around, one way or another.
[snip]
Since I saw her speak, I've said this every day: "[Elizabeth] Kolbert says average global temperatures are estimated to rise 5 to 8 degrees by the end of the century. She said, to give us some context, during the last ice age the average global temperature was only 10 degrees cooler than now." There are a few handy aspects to this facty. One is, I attribute it to another person, an expert, and I don't have to pretend to be a know-it-all who's doing everything right. Another is, I'm terrible at remembering specific numbers, so it's nice to know I'm correct somewhere within a range.
Another facty is that the aforementioned Ice Age ended after a global temp increase of only three degrees - is it safe to make any assumptions from another four or five?
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