Ron Frehm/AP
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Detractors call us global warming 'alarmists.' The implication being that 'alarmists,' people who are concerned that the unnatural amount of greenhouse gas emissions accumulating in our atmosphere is leading to a slew of very dire problems, are exaggerating the extent of climate change to scare others into supporting a liberal, environmentally friendly agenda. Or worse, they're just doing it for attention.
Well. I, for one, will gladly accept the mantle of global warming alarmist. Why? Because I am alarmed at global warming. I am alarmed at the rate that it threatens to throw the natural balance of our planet into disarray. I am alarmed that the city I live in—New York City—may be partially underwater in less than a hundred years. I'm alarmed that it could destroy the underground subway system and throw the city's infrastructure into ruin.
But I do not base my alarm on a desire to scare others into supporting some liberal agenda, or a misguided desire for attention. I base my alarm on science—something that many climate change deniers have a tendency to overlook. And the latest scientific study done on the subject has come to a very alarming conclusion:
That sea levels on the Northeastern coast of the US could rise up to 3 feet, 8 inches, in less than a hundred years.
So. Is it time to spring for sandbags? Or start buying gondoliers and boats to turn Manhattan into the biggest Venice-style canal city in the world? Or bid Boston adieu? Not yet.
There's a reason we've been derisively titled 'alarmists' by the ever-decreasing group of deniers—because our calls to action are misinterpreted as fruitless noisemaking. But those detractors are losing ground, too—pun intended—as the far-reaching effects of global warming become clearer and clearer, there's less excuse to waste time on looking for tiny loopholes, ad hominem attacks on Gore, or harping over the ever-more-infrequent contrarian study.
It's time to act. Because global warming is terrifying. And I am alarmed.
How to Help Fight Global Warming:
Get Counted in the Fight Against Global Warming
Al Gore Says You Can Solve Global Warming
White Roofs to Fight Global Warming
Speaking Out on Global Warming
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