Climate Change--A Tipping Point

Floor Speech

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Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, 2015 was a landmark year for global climate change, and that is not a good thing. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2015 was our planet's hottest year on record. Last year the global average land surface temperature was 1.33 Celsius above the 20th century average, and 10 of the last 12 months tied or broke existing records for highest monthly global temperatures.

Despite the fact that climate science and research consistently display the reality of climate change, some of my colleagues still debate its validity in this very Chamber.

What is there to debate? More than 12,000 peer-reviewed, scientific studies are in agreement that climate change is real and humans are significantly to blame. For those of you keeping track at home, there are zero peer-reviewed scientific studies that state the opposite.

One of the primary concerns of these scientific studies is that climate change might trigger events that will dramatically alter the Earth as we know it. Scientists have discovered a number of tipping points where abrupt changes in climate could create a variety of national and global effects. It is hard to predict when these events could occur; but we know that when they do, we will have very little warning.

Reaching these critical points could lead to abrupt changes in the ocean, snow cover, permafrost, and the Earth's biosphere. Alarmingly, many of these events are triggered by warming levels of less than 2 degrees.

We now know that, in the latter part of this century, we will find the planet's temperature pushing not 2 degrees, but 4, 5, even 6, degrees Celsius of warming.

While it may seem minor, each degree makes a significant difference. A 2-degree shift in temperatures could lead to an increased rise in sea level by 55 centimeters. Levels have already risen by about 20 centimeters over the course of the 20th century, increasing flooding along coastlines, impacting people and properties. A 3-degree increase could impact water availability and accelerate drought and extreme heat waves.

Each of these conditions would negatively impact the production of major crops, like wheat and rice, leading to global food security risks.

Anything above a 4-degree increase would cause even more drastic consequences, such as extreme ocean acidification, a decline in glaciers, a change in ocean currents, and a nearly ice-free Arctic in the summer.

While the majority of the detected shifts are distant from major population centers, the implications will be felt over large distances, creating significant economic and humanitarian consequences.

As with any abrupt change in the Earth's system, a cascade of other transformations will likely follow, each building upon and exacerbating the others. We could see a shift in ecosystems, the collapse of permafrost in the Arctic, and an extensive species loss. Each of these changes would trigger massive implications for the natural systems and society as a whole.

So what does all this mean? It means we must act now. As President Obama said in his State of the Union address: If you want to debate the science of climate change, feel free to do so, but you will be pretty lonely.

Today America's business leaders, the Pentagon, the majority of Americans, the scientific community, and nations around the world recognize that we cannot wait to act.

We saw evidence of this last year when more than 40,000 negotiators from 196 countries descended on the French capital for the Paris Climate Summit. The Summit provided the world with an effective global framework for addressing climate change, but our work is far from over.

It is time to recognize that the consequences of inaction are far too great. If my colleagues are willing to put political ideologies aside and recognize that acting on climate change is not just in our planet's interest, but in the interest of humanity, we may still have a fighting chance.

Albert Einstein once said: ``The world, as we have created it, is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.''

Now is the time for Congress to change our thinking and address the reality of climate change.

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