Take steps to combat climate change, and support a carbon tax

The Arctic sea ice cover — the ice that survives the summer melt season — has shrunk dramatically. In the 1980s, Arctic sea ice extended on average nearly three million square miles at the end of summer. Since then more than a million square miles have been lost, according to a National Geographic report this month. That would be a loss of a third in only 35 years.

Low oxygen levels are worsening in the oceans, the Seattle Times reported Jan. 5. Warming waters absorb less oxygen, which in turn affects the health of sea life.

Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are the highest they have been in the last 800,000 years, The Olympian reporter Jan. 4. Climate change is affecting Washington with more frequent and intense storms, bigger and more intense wild fires, and sea level rise.

These are examples of many news articles appearing daily in our printed news media about the effects of climate change. Climate change is happening and at an accelerating rate. We can all do something about this problem if we would ride the bus instead of using the car, install solar panels on our roofs, and support a tax on carbon.

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Take steps to combat climate change, and support a carbon tax."