Check out these record low daily temperatures for Salt Lake City: 45 degrees in 1950, 42 in 1948, 47 in 1938. We used to have temperatures like this in August. No more. We rarely experience record cold for a given day, and we have not had a full year with below average temperature in Utah since 1993.
Until recently, many of those who dismissed global warming claimed that warming of the planet had ceased. In fact, the Utah Legislature is on record asserting in a 2010 resolution that “global temperatures have been level and declining in some areas over the past 12 years.” The mounting scientific evidence and record hot years of 2015, and then 2016, have made this contention untenable.
Fortunately, Republicans and Democrats are now coming together to move beyond climate denial and find climate solutions. In the 2017 Utah legislative session, Republican Becky Edwards and Democrat Joel Briscoe introduced a “Joint Resolution on Economic and Environmental Stewardship.” Their resolution called on Utah to acknowledge and respond to the risks of a continuing warming climate.
A bipartisan climate resolution will probably be introduced in 2018. Summer is a great time to write, call, or meet with your state senator and representative. Take this opportunity to help your legislator warm up to the idea of an up-to-date climate resolution.
David Folland, M.D.
Sandy
