Dimmer than a 30-watt bulb.

Climate change action still faces an uphill battle in the U.S. due to an uninformed public, just when efforts to step up mitigation need to happen!  Here’s a small example.

Levi Johnston, pop culture curiosity, was recently interviewed again by a real journalist.  He said he does not believe climate change is caused by human activity, according to this interview, which was on MSNBC.  This is unfortunate, because there is no reason to air his uninformed views, yet they’re out there. The interview illustrated that he doesn’t know much about anything else, either.  Even the evolution question stumped him.  Thankfully, he’s only running for mayor of Wasilla, not President, (like aborted governor Sarah Palin, who also thinks we’re victims of “natural solar cycles”).  Levi is typical of other people at his age and educational level, people who seem to be everywhere online.  Many of these people think that  “solar cycles” or “sunspots” are causing climate change.  These myths have been debunked over and over again, but the deniers don’t notice, don’t read, or don’t care.

If solar cycles or sunspots, etc.  were to blame, we’d be in very serious trouble, since we can’t control those things.  Luckily, we can still control our own destiny and survival, because we can control our own activities which are causing climate change. What’s needed is simple. We need to lower our carbon emissions and find ways to absorb the CO2 already in the air.

You won’t hear this news from the mainstream media, because they are funded by companies who depend on our current way of life continuing as is. This way of life is built on capitalism, growth, intense use and disposal of resources, expansion and accumulation of wealth, and heavy pollution; all of which are going to have to be replaced by a sustainable way of life very soon.  These facts are not even debatable, at this point. (Sorry, Levi).

The UNFCCC’s new executive secretary, Christiana Figueres, recently said that the hot and violent weather of this summer was only a taste of what’s to come if carbon emissions are not cut by governments world-wide. Here is a video of her recent statement.  Download the statement here.

Pakistan’s deadliest floods killed 1,800 people, ruined crops worth at least $3.3 billion and ripped out 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) of roads this year. In Russia, record temperatures and fires caused by drought destroyed grain crops this summer. . . . . “Such impacts on society and economies are but a mild taste of what science says will come if we do not continuously raise our ambitions for environmental protection as each year passes,” Figueres said.

Source of story: Bloomberg and the UNFCCC.  And similar news:

As Arctic Sea Ice Melt Season Ends, Sharp Downward Trend Continues

by Andrew Freedman, Climate Central

After a false alarm earlier this month, the 2010 Arctic sea ice melt season has come to a close, with sea ice extent reaching the third-lowest [...]