Solar And Wind Costs Continue To Fall As Power Becomes Cleaner

The climate will change until the sun is extinguished and all life on Earth will vanish.

According to the letter “Electric energy vs. fossil fuels”, it was highlighted that in 2017 the United States derives 3.1 percent of its energy from wind and solar energy (Aug.7). However, in 2012 we were deriving 1.6 percent of our energy from renewable resources. Under those circumstances, if the contributions of wind and solar doubles every five years, how long will it take for it to replace most other forms of energy?  

Coupled with this, the letter accentuates that the Earth’s climate has been changing forever – which is true. Alterations in climate can take hundreds to millions of years, and climate change can be a change in the Earth’s climate or a change in weather for a particular area. Yet, the main factors in climate change are small, predictable changes in the Earth’s orbit that alter the amount of sunlight striking the Earth, and the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. For example, orbital changes predict that Earth should be slowly cooling over the next 20,000 years. While on the other hand, there is evidence that the Earth’s temperature is rising instead of cooling. This can be seen when it comes to the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas that is more abundant and lingers in the atmosphere for a longer time – has risen by 40 percent in the last decade. It is distinctly the most probable cause of the observed global warming that has been more directly and negatively impacting the daily lives of numerous people around the world.

The climate will change until the sun is extinguished and all life on Earth will vanish. Nevertheless, life as we know it will vanish much sooner if we do not curb our carbon emissions by becoming better informed on global warming and on the proactive daily actions that can be done.