The scientific studies that show that humans are causing global temperatures to rise, oceans to swell, weather patterns to change, species to migrate and pollutants to clog our air are not debatable. There is global consensus among scientists that humans are causing the atmospheric climate and our ecosystems to change.

You do not have to be a member of one political party or another to accept the facts about climate change. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still have an opinion on what to do about it.

In its recently released special report, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change presented four possible scenarios about how to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels. Each scenario involved different percentages of carbon capture and decreased consumption. How you see your community’s ability to, and its role in, adapting to climate change can form your opinion on what to do about it.

Neighbors, please don’t consider climate science a matter of political opinion. Use your political opinion instead to voice what we should do about it.

Katherine Harrelson

Portland