Was the city’s recent ice storm a natural occurrence or was it an extreme weather event linked to climate change? Those who deny that human-caused pollution is causing more climate disasters might say, “So, this ice storm is a sign of global warming?”
Mayor Butch Berry said when he was growing up in Eureka Springs, there was a year when they didn’t have school for a month because of snowstorms.
“The kids loved it,” Berry said. “We were sledding down Howell and other streets. We had a great time. But I think our climate is really changing. I am a firm believer in global warming. Go up to Glacier National Park, and you can see how much the glaciers have shrunk in the past twenty years. The same thing is happening to glaciers around the world. We are seeing more temperature extremes and we have this humongous weather change. It is all related to our climate changing.”
Berry pointed out that before and after the ice storm, it was abnormally warm. It was 63° on Monday, Feb. 6 compared to day temperatures in the low 20s during the ice storm the week before.
More and more Americans, like Berry, understand they are being personally affected by the impacts of climate change, including temperature extremes, floods, droughts, wildfires, and more severe hurricanes. The Pew Research Center has reported about three-quarters of Americans support addressing the climate crisis.
Scientists warn that the outlook is not good for reining in the increased amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere that are destabilizing the climate. Part of the issue may be that the best language isn’t being used to describe what is happening as CO2 levels in the air have increased 50 percent since the pre-industrial age.
Local rancher and retired science educator Katy Turnbaugh said she found a lot to agree with in a recent in Scientific American article by Susan Joy Hossel, “The Right Words are Crucial to Solving Climate Change.”
“We need to take the scientific explanation and express it better,” Turnbaugh said. “Instead of saying climate change, a better choice is climate disruption. We have change all the time. Quite often change means something good like a new job. It is better framed as climate disruption because it is going to disturb our lives. Global warming is an even worse term to use than climate change. Thinking what we are going to see as strictly warming is fictitious.
“Greenhouse gas emissions is another scientific term; a better term is ‘heat-trapping pollution.’ And don’t call floods, droughts, supercharged hurricanes, and massive wildfires natural disasters. These are human-made disasters.
“Humans are doing this,” Turnbaugh continued. “It is not natural. If humans were not here, disasters would not be happening on this scale. Instead of natural gas, call it methane gas. That is what natural gas is. Here a lot of people use propane and don’t realize it is a major climate disruptor. One molecule of propane makes three molecules of CO2, one molecule of methane makes one molecule of CO2, and gasoline is even worse, making eight to nine molecules of CO2.”
In early February, the continental U.S. experienced the coldest wind chill temperatures ever recorded, a minus 108 F° at the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
“They said it looked like another planet,” Turnbaugh said. “And yet New York City has had the warmest winter on record and the latest first snow. Those are the extremes I mean. Here we are also experiencing extremes. After the ice storm early in the month, it went up 63 degrees, almost 25 degrees above normal. These extremes affect food stability. It is hard on pollinators. It is hard on livestock.”
Some home gardeners reported their worst season ever with high temperatures and drought in July and August 2022. It was even harder on farmers and ranchers. Turnbaugh, who raises heritage breeds of cattle, chickens, pigs and goats, had difficulty getting enough water for her stock. The drought broke briefly, but then her ranch experienced a second drought in the fall that lasted around five weeks.
“So, I lost my fall crops that I had overseeded into pastures used for grazing,” she said. “That was a very large economic hit.”
Turnbaugh said people need to accept that as CO2 levels continue to increase, there will be more heat records, cold records, and snow records.
“Many people don’t realize how our planet systems are so intertwined,” she said. “It is like a big extended family. One thing impacts another which impacts another. A large portion of the excess CO2 ends up in the oceans which leads to acidification and the bleaching of coral reefs. The warmer ocean undercuts ice shelves, which promote calving and glaciers breaking up. I’m worried about methane hydrates frozen under the seafloor. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas. When the ocean floor thaws, it releases more methane. This creates negative effects from a feedback loop. With more CO2 equivalent in the atmosphere, we get wider and wider swings.
“People don’t understand that we are unbalancing the earth that has been kept in balance for millions of years. Why do people fall? They get unbalanced.”
As the evidence of climate disruption mounts, measures being taken amount to little more than greenwashing.
“Now the Bureau of Land Management has given a green light to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and we’re seeing the Alberta tar sands being exported to the U.S.,” she said. “I don’t understand why no one in my government has a plan about how we stop using the hydrocarbon fuels causing these problems. If you are going to build a net zero house, are you going to use an electric dozer to build the footing? No. Are you going to run trains off batteries? Take a big rig across country with batteries? Decouple the cement and steel industries from any carbon-enhancing emissions? Is the military going to run off batteries? I don’t think so. Not with the technology we have right now. Many Americans desire to see something done, but the proposals put forth right now are irrational. Who is investing in the technology so we can transition out of this? There is a huge gap in a plan and the ability to execute it.
“A big-ass battery in a small car only gets you so far. It doesn’t get my Amazon package delivered. It doesn’t harvest or deliver the grain I use to make bread. We took a step but didn’t go far enough with Biden’s bill that provides tax incentives for energy conservation equipment like mini-split heat pumps and solar panels.”
Recently big oil companies posted their largest annual profits ever. Exxon reported $55.7 billion in profits in 2022, Chevron raked in $36.5 billion, and Marathon $14.5 billion—all while Americans were getting socked by inflation at the gas pump.
“Many of us are tired of being harmed by people making money off of destroying our climate,” Turnbaugh said. “A lot of us are frustrated by businesses that continue to funnel money and resources into projects that produce greater climate disruptions. Just like the corporations that profited off tobacco and opioids, the oil companies knew about the dangers to the climate from burning their products long ago, and they lied about them.”
What can be done about the windfall oil company profits? California governor Gavin Newsom is advocating the California Legislature pass a price-gouging penalty to hold Big Oil accountable.
“While Californians were being ripped off at the pump last year, Big Oil’s bottom line ballooned to levels never seen before in history – making record profits off the backs of hard-working families,” Newsom said. “Then they flaunt it to their investors while refusing to even answer Californians’ questions about high prices. They’re ripping you off.”
Retired Greenpeace Senior Scientist Pat Costner, who lives in Eureka Springs, wrote to the Independent on Feb. 7 that “more than 50 years ago, the Stanford Research Institute presented a report to the American Petroleum Institute warning that burning fossil fuels is “almost certain” to cause temperature changes by the year 2000 that can “bring about climatic change.” Did API or any of its members warn governments or the general public that burning their products could destabilize the Earth’s climate? No, instead they have spent millions of dollars promoting climate denial.
“Is there anything that we, as individuals, can do to restabilize the climate? Yes, we can elect political leaders who will enact laws, regulations, and policies that will keep fossil fuels in the ground and support us in changing our lifestyles so that we consume less.