What caused massive strength of Irma, Harvey? Look at fossil fuels, and be afraid.

I began writing this letter late Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. Sitting in my home, I am scared and afraid of what is about to happen as Hurricane Irma approaches.

But more than being frightened, I am angry. Humans do not cause hurricanes, but collectively we are making them worse. How can we allow any elected representative to ignore science and not do everything humanly possible to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere? Our tropical deluge of a few weeks ago, Harvey, and now Irma have all set meteorological records. These records are a direct consequence of the rise in ocean temperatures due to global warming caused by the increased carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

Mankind has successfully made changes to our sources of energy in the past. From the use of wood, to coal, to oil and to natural gas, we have made these transitions before. In the past, the driving force for these changes was purely economic, but this time it is science-driven. And we cannot ignore the science.

Today it is the financial influence of wealth and power that is intimidating our politicians. Therefore it is up to us to make it clear to all of our elected officials that we demand fossil fuels be minimalized in favor of clean (carbon dioxide-free) sources of energy.

This time we have survived Harvey and Irma, but we will not survive our gluttonous use of fossil fuels in the future.

This story was originally published September 16, 2017 at 2:49 PM with the headline "What caused massive strength of Irma, Harvey? Look at fossil fuels, and be afraid.."