Should We Be Concerned Over Climate Change?

The climate is changing, but is the change cause for concern? 

“There are natural climate cycles, which are normal,” research scientist Roy Spencer says, adding that “If you move beyond the temperature to things like storminess, you know, hurricane activity, there have been no demonstrable, long-term changes in anything other than a modest, relatively benign increase in temperature.”

When it comes to climate change, Spencer, a meteorologist and research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, says he’s “been hearing the rhetoric and the fearmongering since the 1970s.”

Asked if he personally worries about climate change, Spencer says: “No, if I was seriously worried about it, you know, I’d be worried for my children’s future and my grandchildren’s future. And I’m not.” 

“I’m more worried about what our government is doing on a number of fronts, including regulatory mandates, which is going to make life much more expensive for them and therefore reduce their standard of living,” adds Spencer, who has researched climate change for 40 years. 

The “natural fluctuations in weather are normal,” argues Spencer, currently a visiting fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment. (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s news outlet.)

Spencer joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” for the final episode of a three-part series on climate change. In it, he explains what we know and don’t know about the root causes of climate change and the appropriate response to a changing climate. Spencer also provides insight into how the climate may change in coming years.

Listen to the podcast below: 

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email [email protected], and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.