Congressman Mo: Where’s Larry & Curly?
Moe, Larry, and Curley – the original Three Stooges, are known worldwide for saying the most ridiculous things, which were hilarious. I can’t miss the irony that another “Mo”––this one a U.S. Congressman––shares more than a very similar first name. In this case, the message is equally ridiculous, but not so funny.
Last Wednesday-May 16, the US House of Representatives SubCommittee on Science, Space, and Technology gave the floor to Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks who “explained” that the scientific community’s concern about sea level rising due to melting ice on Greenland and Antarctica, combined with the thermal expansion of seawater as the oceans’ warm was WRONG. [SIC]
Congressman Brooks said that he believes the reason the sea is rising, is because there are more rocks falling into the ocean from places like the Dover Cliffs in England and the California Coast. (Photo of Subcommittee Chair Lamar Smith below; with a link to the full article in E&E News)
Hon. Lamar Smith R-TX) Chairs House Science SubCommittee. E&E News, https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060081951
When I first read the news report, I may have let out a burst of laughter — before getting angry and a bit depressed. This is not funny at all, though I remember thinking he must have rocks in his head. Our planet is warming dangerously. Melting polar ice and rising sea level are special symptoms of the larger impact. Climate has changed in past millennia quite naturally, but now we have broken out of the natural cycle, better known as the “ice ages.” Quite literally, we are warming beyond levels seen in millions of years and at a rate that is hundreds of times faster than in natural history.
As we try to get our heads around the new era of flooding that will almost surely accelerate, we need to shine a spotlight on this farce in the US Congress. Most will recognize these falsehoods about sea level rise intuitively, but here are some points to explain this to anyone that you can influence.
As Archimedes identified some two thousand years ago, objects do displace water. So whether a rock is put in a full glass of water, causing it to overflow, or into the ocean, it does add to the water volume. But with the global oceans presently rising by an average of one sixth of an inch a year, it would take an assemblage of rocks, eight miles in diameter to account for the current annual global ocean rise (per Washington Post rebuttal May 17 by Philip Bump). There is no evidence of extraordinary rock slides of that volume entering the sea every year.
The fact is that meltwater and icebergs from glaciers mostly on Greenland and Antarctica contribute a volume to the ocean that correlates extremely well with the rising sea level. The data comes from NASA and hundreds of researchers worldwide.
And we know why the world is warming. In the current era, it follows the increased burning of fossil fuels, almost exactly correlating with predictions going back to 1827, due to a phenomenon called the greenhouse effect. We have already warmed more than one degree Celsius, which is 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Even the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to which all nations (except the US) are committed, accepts that added warming is inevitable.
A warmer planet means more ice on land melting, principally in Greenland and Antarctica, raising global sea level. (See “The Elephants of Antarctica and Greenland“ for more.) Note that a warmer planet also means all the other effects such as changing weather patterns, more heat, more rain, more drought, more wildfires, etc.
As the ice disappears, the rate of warming will actually speed up, since melting ice consumes a huge amount of energy. As there is less ice remaining, the effect is for the temperature to rise even quicker. So like compounding interest, as the years pass, the growth in rate of sea level rise will surprise us. (See Beware the Doubling Time for more.)
Back to the three stooges act in Congress this week in the House Science SubCommittee. As they say, ‘you can’t make this stuff up.’ It is incredible that in this modern era, that this is what the top elected representatives in the United States of America are hearing. Talk about “false facts” and “fake news.”
So, what can one person do. For Americans, I suggest you write your member of Congress, as well as Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House, and perhaps Lamar Smith, the Chair of this Subcommittee. Point out this farcical theater on display last week in the House Subcommittee on Science. Feel free to cite this post. Make the case as you see fit, but below are two different Twitter-length messages, one referring to the specifics of the Science Subcommittee and the other the larger moral question. Feel free to borrow text from either message:
#1
Congressional hearings are opportunity for range of views, but should not be forum for false facts. May 16 House Subcom – Science, Space, and Technology was forum for farce science about rocks causing sea level rise. Shameful
#2
Future judgment about how we deal with climate change today will likely be harsh, like other moral choices in history. Sea level rise = special impact. Look at your children, grandchildren + others you love; think about how you will be remembered for what we do now
To share this with others–and perhaps get a Twitter storm going, here are some Twitter contacts:
- Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Paul Ryan – Twitter ID @SpeakerRyan
- Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Science, Space and Technology, Lamar Smith – Twitter ID @LamarSmithTX21
- To find contacts for your member of Congress, www.house.gov
We need leaders who are intelligent, have integrity, and courage. It was not on display last Wednesday in the House Subcommittee on Science, Space, and Technology. As a democratic republic, it is our right and responsibility to call out leaders who are unfit for their roles. We must not let the US Congress continue this insane fantasy. Like the little boy in the famous story by Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor’s New Clothes, we need to point out the obvious truth, in the face of propaganda and ignorance.
Please join me in making clear to all members of Congress that their theatrical hearings are a farce reminiscent of the Three Stooges and are simply immoral and unacceptable in the face of what is now at stake.