Letter to the editor: Why is climate a crisis?

A Dec. 9 article in The Washington Post, “Americans broadly accept climate science, but many are fuzzy on the details,” indicates that, while most Americans are concerned about human activity warming the planet, they don’t understand why that’s happening and what to do about it.

Those of us who are tuned into the climate crisis realize that having the public demand action is the only way to get the federal government to implement legislation to battle what is becoming an emergency (New York City declared a climate emergency in June). So getting information about the causes of our changing climate, and what we can do to slow that change, is essential.

How best to do that? With each of us now getting our “news” in unique ways, it’s hard to know how to spread the necessary knowledge to get the public to demand action. A good way would be to have local TV stations make the climate crisis a part of each weather forecast. Most of us see our favorite meteorologist as a trusted source of information, and a 60-second blurb about what the climate crisis is and what to do about it can help us all feel less overwhelmed and give us hope that the planet will be a livable place for our grandkids.

If you agree, call your favorite TV station and ask that the climate crisis become a regular part of its weather forecasts. Let’s turn the clouds of climate change into a bit of sunshine. Become a part of the solution to the biggest problem humanity faces.

Bruce Cooper

Cranberry Township

The writer is group leader of the Slippery Rock chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.