If one day the rain fell no longer, Maybe the clouds would see our distress And cover our dryness with mist dripping from trees like tears. If the sun ceased to shine through the haze of our smog and we turned all breathing things grey, would there be anyone to forgive? If green-speckled trout and glass frogs go extinct like the cloud forest's golden toad-- will curassow, kingfishers, elephants, ibis, sunda tigers all go, to our unending woe? If finches, grackles, sparrows all fall with scrofulous plumage, starved, diseased-- then crows and vultures, with fresh carrion to eat--may outlast us all. We drive past shanties, watch news of vast hurricanes, shrinking ice caps, thawing tundra, heat crises everywhere-- so we trade carbon-- a game sure to lose. We are linked with the life on this planet, we have to protect and use wisely-- blest the poor, they can teach us what matters most--shelter, food, family. Not big TVs, maxi nachos, the latest decor, streaming movies, huge houses, and more, always more. Our luxury makes us blind to our choices, thinking ourselves to be poor. The power of life is remarkable, the earth we inhabit can heal, to a point. But we need to remember that things can recover, until the day they don't.
Ann, as is often the case with empirical claims, there is at least controversy rather than scientific consensus. In fact, science is not like politics, where one can properly speak of consensus as something definitive. Science has a long history where consensus was blatantly wrong, e.g., the biggest mistake of all with total acceptance of geocentrism.
Dennis, preaching to the choir.
Forests dying, the cloud forests of Central and South America disappearing, along with all the unique species dependent on them. But it's not just global warming. It is water pollution from the medical waste of our pills, and garbage accumulation. We need to change our way of life, myself included.