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Climate change has gotten a lot of attention recently on both sides of the aisle, as it is a broad topic that has many environmental, social and economic implications. It is often referred to as “global warming,” but this phrase is misleading. Jase Bernhardt, assistant professor of geology, environment and sustainability at Hofstra University, explains the distinction: “Climate refers to long-term weather patterns and conditions. It is not something that is observed day to day like a weather forecast, but data collected in thirty-year increments. “Global warming is sort of the initial term people use because the big impact of climate change is increasing temperatures overall globally,” said Bernhardt, who is developing research and coursework in climatology and meteorology. “But there’s a suite of impacts from climate change, not [just] temperatures.”
Bernhardt explained that the climate is naturally changing all the time, but it has been happening at a far more rapid pace in recent decades. One of these changes is general increasing temperatures, and within this time, the new variable that scientists have observed is human impact.
“One really important aspect of this is the loss of ice mass in the Arctic, especially in glaciers across rural parts of the Arctic,” Bernhardt said. He explained the ice melting as a “positive feedback cycle.” Bright colors reflect light, whereas darker surfaces absorb light. When the sun hits the bright ice, the ice is able to reflect it and remain cold. But as the Earth warms due to various influences, both human and natural, the ice melts rapidly, revealing the dark ocean water below. When the sun hits the revealed ocean water, the dark water absorbs the heat, causing the water surface to become warm and melt the ice further.
Ice melting in the arctic has a negative impact worldwide. As the ice melts, sea levels rise, and especially for coastal cities and small island nations, this leads to flooding. “And, of course, the majority of world’s population lives in entire coastal ocean locations. So, as a result, lots of people are vulnerable to the sea level rise,” Bernhardt explained. Rising sea levels are not only a concern for those directly impacted: Even land locked and wealthy nations may be forced to consider what they will do when flooding forces migration, for example.
Another side effect of climate change is what Bernhardt refers to as a local consequence. Cities tend to be warmer than surrounding rural and suburban areas, and this is because of “the vertical nature of cities,” meaning they are composed of tall buildings that can trap heat. “Also, there’s a paucity of water in cities. It’s mostly sidewalks, roads and buildings, things that can’t take in water,” Bernhardt said. The lack of water then impacts evaporation, which has a natural cooling effect. When sunlight, referred to as short-wave radiation, hits surfaces, it reflects back toward the sky in the form of long-wave radiation. Normally, long-wave radiation can go back into the atmosphere, trapped by some building and clouds, but it eventually escapes. However, in cities, long-wave radiation gets trapped in the skyscrapers and keeps the surrounding atmosphere warm. The lack of evaporation keeps cities warm during the day, and the buildings keep them warm at night. This will then lead people to turn up their air conditioning, which also negatively impacts the climate and poses yet another challenge: What about people who can’t afford this side effect of climate change? “There is also a justice issue as well as urban heat island effect,” Bernhardt said, elaborating on the social inequality aspect of this problem. As in most crises, low-income individuals are more vulnerable to climate change.
Bernhardt’s views reflect the concerns of many environmentalists and scientists, who stress the disproportionate effects climate change will have on the Global South and poverty-stricken communities. He does not believe in drastic changes all at once, however. “You can just do a little bit to a lot of things; just think small changes to a lot of industries. Everyone bears a bit of the burden and I think it’s more palatable,” Bernhardt said.
“And sort of a sad truth globally is sort of the irony that the countries that generally produce the most emissions, the big economies like the U.S., wealthier countries, Western Europe … can adapt more easily because maybe they have the money or people have the wealth to adapt, whereas countries like some of the small island nations and Oceania or parts of Africa or sub-Saharan countries are among the poorest in the world; those places are seeing some of the most amazing impacts,” he continued.
In the last century, life expectancy has skyrocketed as health and medicine has made huge advancements, but Bernhardt noted that our vulnerability to extreme weather has plateaued as best. There is no way to stop a hurricane, for example, but he stressed that with the advancements society has made, it doesn’t have to be this way.
To mitigate climate change and the resulting issues, legislation is needed. However, any legislation would have an economic impact. In recent years, climate change and how to address it has been viewed as part of the Democratic agenda, but Bernhardt said it has not always been that way, citing past efforts made by Nixon and George H.W Bush. Bernhardt explained that widespread denial of science has been a recent development; the American public’s response to COVID-19 has been another harmful example. As a society that values independence, he noted seeing trends of pushback among Americans in situations where a strong central government is required. Bernhardt doesn’t view the politicization of climate change as a partisan issue, but rather as a result of the American public’s general suspicion of science and the federal government.
There are jarring differences between the different ways climate change is presented, but Bernhardt rejects the “doomsday” and partisan approach. More extreme hurricanes, wildfires, a rise in the tick population due to warmer weather and endangerment of many species are just some of the universal consequences of climate change, and climate science itself emulates this universality. No one will be spared from the ramifications of climate change, and although people may understand it differently or have different solutions to the problem, there needs to be unity in that truth.
