Climate change: Causes, consequences, corporate malfeasance, pseudoscience, and a call to action
Abstract
Chief Seattle famously said, “The earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” Well, the web is fraying, and our mother is dying. Global warming is a scientific fact; is getting worse; and is destroying the planet’s web of life, sickening and killing people and costing trillions of dollars.
References
While there were some drops in pollution during the coronavirus pandemic, consequent to more people working from home and thus lower transportation-related energy consumption, overall trends are likely to continue.
For more on the ACSH, see Donohoe MT. Corporate front groups and the abuse of science: the saga of the American Council on Science and Health. Z Magazine 2007 (October):42-6. Available at https://zcomm.org/zmagazine/corporate-front-groups-and-the-abuse-of-science-by-martin-donohoe/. Referenced version available at http://phsj.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/corporate-front-groups-abuse-of-science-with-background-and-refs.doc. Open-access slide shows on the ACSH and corporate malfeasance and public health can be found on the Public Health and Social Justice website at https://phsj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Confronting-Pseudoscience-and-Threats-from-a-Corporate-Front-Group-The-American-Council-on-Science-and-Health-2.ppt and https://phsj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Corporate-Control-of-Public-Health-Case-Studies-and-Call-to-Action.ppt, respectively.
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Add to this Trump’s appallingly anti-science, anti-public health, and negligent response to the coronavirus pandemic, which contributed significantly to the over 1 million deaths which occurred in the U.S., which was affected more than almost any other nation. The damage to the US scientific enterprise and reputation of public health agencies such as the CDC will take decades to repair. Both Scientific American and the New England Journal of Medicine come out strongly against another Trump presidency.
After winning the electoral college (but not the popular vote) and becoming president, Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, leaving it as only country opposed, but upon taking office, President Joseph Biden re-committed the United States to the Agreement.
For further information on global warming, corporate malfeasance and public health, pseudoscience, and many other topics, visit the Public Health and Social Justice website at http://www.publichealthandoscialjustice.org or http://www.phsj.org, where you can also find open-access slide shows, articles, and links to over 1,000 organizations. The Environmental Health subpage at https://phsj.org/environmental-health/ includes information on what you can do to minimize your own carbon footprint, along with how to become more involved in the fight against climate change.
