Climate change stakes are too high to ignore

When Dr. Jay Grimes connected climate change to what we laymen call "flesh-eating bacteria" last week (Feb. 21), he posed challenges for both Coast residents and for the journalists and editors they depend on.

First, let me repeat Dr. Grimes' excellent, unsettling point: Warming oceans seem to be increasing the incidence of Vibrio-related disease, including the spread from Gulf oysters. We need to know this and respond accordingly. But that's not the end of the story.

The oceans are warming fast. A study published in 2012 in the journal "Science" found that they are warming 10-15 times faster now than they did at the end of the last ice age. Because of this warming, in part, sea levels are rising much faster than at any time in the past 2,800 years, according to two studies in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that were cited at Sunherald.com in "Seas are rising way faster than any time in past 2,800 years."

In fact, if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current pace, sea levels will rise 22 to 52 inches by 2100. This will change our lives on the Coast in more ways than can be explained -- no matter how expert the author -- in a science-backed forum.

And this brings us to the second challenge posed by climate change: It's hard to understand and harder to explain. Often, the scientific experts who understand it can't explain it to an audience of non-experts.

Newspaper editors and media producers will have to step up their game if they are to clarify the complexities of climate change to laypeople. Dr. Grimes tries, but an adept editor could have made his points even more unsettling.

Publishers can also help by featuring science-literate reporters who can explain the ins and outs of global warming to regular people. The stakes with global warming and climate change are too high to limit coverage to the national and opinion pages.

WILL WATSON

Long Beach

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 6:53 PM with the headline "Climate change stakes are too high to ignore ."