These special interests have retreated to a message that global warming will be good for us. But that too is incredible. Higher temperatures will mean rapid melting of the world's glaciers, rising sea levels and coastal flooding. Sea-level cities will suffer inundation, displacing millions of people. Biologists and epidemiologists expect warm weather diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and the west Nile virus to spread.
Adaptations are likely to come at a high cost.
While food crops are expected to grow larger and faster, studies demonstrate that larger plants will yield less nutritional value per unit, raising the risk of famine in poor countries. Fish, plant and other life in the seas are expected to suffer losses. Closer to home, Great Lakes levels are expected to drop, with losses to shipping and recreation. Michigan's maple trees will disappear at great cost to our color-sensitive fall tourism industry. Refusing to cap carbon emissions from even the dirtiest coal-burning power plants, and moving full steam ahead on exploiting all the oil and coal we can possibly extract, is terribly shortsighted.