Dear editor,
RE: Tom Fletcher’s Oct. 3 column “Fanning fear of fire and flood”
As a millennial, I find it particularly insulting to see Mr. Fletcher dismiss the importance of climate change. My generation knows the urgency that is needed to act on climate change. It is our future that is being risked. The struggles millennials will face with climate change, and the real uncertainty of our future, go unacknowledged by Mr. Fletcher.
I find it upsetting that Black Press papers across the province give Mr. Fletcher a mouthpiece for such inaccurate messaging. Millennials like myself will be the largest age cohort in the 2019 election according to a recent Abacus report. To stay relevant to this generation, editorials need to focus on solutions to our climate crisis, rather than denying human-caused climate change.
Mr. Fletcher questions connections between climate change and the unusually damaging and deadly hurricane season. Scientists tell us that warmer ocean and air temperatures contribute to making hurricanes more severe. Warmer ocean water causes hurricanes to rapidly intensify, as was seen with this year’s hurricanes. And warmer air can hold more moisture than cooler air, contributing to more intense rainfall. Rising seas also make coastal storm surges worse.
He also questioned the association of our changing climate with this summer’s record wildfire season in BC. The summer of 2017 was much warmer and drier than average, and such conditions make wildfires worse. Summer temperatures in BC are expected to continue to get warmer because of climate change.
On behalf of my little sisters’ future and the future of my generation, I ask that science is acknowledged, and the issue of climate change becomes a priority.
Alyssa Taburiaux
Castlegar
