Climate Change Concerns Experts

The Heat

The United States government says climate change is already affecting the lives of Americans.

An updated report from the United States government says climate change is happening now and poses a serious challenge. From air pollution to extreme weather, we talk with scientists and educators about the effects of global warming and potential solutions. The report, prepared by some 300 global climate experts, found the entire country is vulnerable to harsher winters and extreme heat waves in the summer.

Just last month, a United Nations climate change panel said greenhouse gas emissions are still rising and efforts to reduce them will need international action and cooperation. Climate experts say the world’s top emitters are the United States and China.

To discuss the issue we were joined by Radley Horton, in New York.  He is the lead author of the White House Study on Climate Change for the Northeast. And in San Francisco, Barbara Finamore, the Founder and Director of the China Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Climate experts say global warming is a problem that’s shared by the world and, together, industrialized countries – like the United States and China – must work to solve it.  Michael Dorsey, the Interim Director and Visiting Fellow for the Energy and Environmental Program at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, DC joined the discussion.

Our next guest is a vocal opponent to the theory of man-made climate change. Marc Morano is the publisher of Climate Depot.com.

China is the largest consumer of coal in the world. Coal, the most abundant energy source for China generates about 70% of electricity for the country. But a continued reliance on coal certainly contributes to China’s air pollution. 2013 was the smoggiest year in half a century. The Ministry of Environmental Protection says only three of 74 major Chinese cities managed to meet official minimum standards for air quality last year. State-owned companies like Shenhua, the world’s largest coal company, are busy building what are called “coal bases” — huge industrial plants to convert coal into synthetic fuel that could make city air cleaner.

But is that the whole story? Let’s dig a little deeper with Chip Jacobs and William Kelly, authors of Smogtown, The Lung Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles. And their latest book is People’s Republic of Chemicals.