The Climate Wisdom of Dr. Solomon

To focus attention and action on the Climate Crisis, the issue needs effective advocates. Al Gore has been by far the best so far, but he can't be the only one. For one thing, he's identified with his political party, which can play into this insane status of the Climate Crisis as a political and ideological issue.

But a new advocate may be emerging in the person of Dr. Susan Solomon. As a NOAA scientist and co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, she's said to be the impetus behind the strong statement by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which says in part:

We need an aggressive research, development and deployment effort to transform the existing and future energy systems of the world away from technologies that emit greenhouse gases. Developing clean energy technologies will provide economic opportunities and ensure future energy supplies.

In addition to rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it is essential that we develop strategies to adapt to ongoing changes and make communities more resilient to future changes. The growing torrent of information presents a clear message: we are already experiencing global climate change. It is time to muster the political will for concerted action. Stronger leadership at all levels is needed. The time is now. We must rise to the challenge. We owe this to future generations.

At the Association's ongoing annual meeting in San Francisco, Solomon managed to sound notes of hope and optimism along with very succinct expressions of the tasks ahead.

What she's optimistic about is the public acceptance of the truth about global heating. As Reuters reports: I'm incredibly encouraged," Susan Solomon beamed after speaking to the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Don't underestimate the power of an encouraging smile. But she accompanies it with wisdom.

Changes already under way will require adaptation in the short term, Solomon said, while efforts to reduce or reverse change will only occur on a long term. (There it is: Fix It and Stop It in one sentence.)

"I am personally an optimist" about increased governmental and public understanding of the problem, Solomon said. But, she added, "It is complicated. You can't see it, you can't smell it, you can't taste it."

She likened understanding of global warming to that of the ozone hole a few years ago. Once scientists were able to tell the story clearly, the public understood it, she said. Now science is on the same track with climate change.

"We are forcing the climate system in a new way, outstripping the sun," Solomon said. Overall there are more warm nights and fewer cold ones, a change that affects crops and animals as well as people. Detecting change can be difficult in one place, she said, because local changes one way or the other can vary widely from the average changes around the world.

"It requires you to think beyond your own backyard," she said.

Solomon is quoted speaking in simple yet striking images that may communicate more than the scary headlines, jargon and rhetoric on both sides. What's missing in these quotes is reference to lag time and time frames in general, but she is pointing out that understanding this crisis requires different concepts. It may be as important to get that message across as any specific scientific data or political proposal.