David Voigts.

The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has analyzed a broad range of data on greenhouse gas emissions and the effects on U.S. climate that had been gathered by the scientific community. In their report on this analysis, the Academies stated that the evidence for future harm to human health and welfare from human-caused greenhouse gases is beyond scientific dispute.

According to the report, although the U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide have decreased slightly in recent years, the total greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are increasing. This is a result of emissions from human activities including the burning of fossil fuels, production of cement and chemicals, agricultural activities, and deforestation. This increase in greenhouse gas emissions is the primary driver of a long-term warming trend that has led to measured changes including increases in hot weather extremes and extreme single-day precipitation events, declines in cold extremes, and increases in wildfire severity.

The analysis also found that the changing climate is negatively affecting the health and welfare of people in the United States. In addition to the direct effects of extreme heat and weather events, indirect effects include increased severity of diseases carried by insects and contaminated water, antimicrobial resistance, and increased costs resulting from climate change.

Finally, the report concluded that continued emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities will lead to more climate changes in the United States, with the severity of these changes increasing with every ton of greenhouse gas emitted. This conclusion is directly opposed to the findings of President Trump’s Climate Working Group that determined no substantial impacts from greenhouse gas emissions.

Congress and the voters must now decide whether our country’s leading climate scientists or the President’s hand-picked team is correct.

Vote wisely.

David Voigts is a retired ecologist and the current Conservation Chair for the Prairie Rapids Audubon Society. He is a Tama County native, graduating from Dinsdale High School, and lives in rural Jesup on his wife’s family farm.