One foot of snow in a day, December 9, 2018. Taken at about 10:30 p.m. 

Most people probably don’t associate North Carolina with snowstorms. Greensboro, where I live, got 12 inches on December 9. Some areas farther west got even more. That’s a one-day total.

That much snow had not fallen on a single day here in living memory. Fourteen inches fell on December 17, 1930, the record for December. Twenty inches came fell on March 3, 1927!

The storm touches on at least two issues of more than local interest regarding sustainability.

The snowstorm and the climate change debate

Some people will point to a major snowstorm and ask whatever became of global warming. Other people will point to any kind of extreme weather as evidence of climate change.

A snowstorm is weather. Not climate.

It’s an observable fact that average temperatures for any given date are a few degrees more now than they were a hundred and fifty years ago. It’s an observable fact that the Arctic Ocean has been navigable in recent years. If the climate had been as warm in the early 17^thcentury, we would remember Henry Hudson for discovering the Northwest Passage, not for freezing to death looking for it.

Real science makes a link between human industrial activity and rising global temperatures. But too many environmentalists take the view that everything natural is good and everything technological is bad. That viewpoint twists real science into junk science. Its advocates want to use the power of government to coerce industry to make draconian changes. And industry pushes back.

Climate change deniers make a small portion of public opinion, although it seems to be larger in the US than elsewhere. About the same portion views climate change as a looming catastrophe that society must address quickly. That leaves the vast majority of the American public who accept that human activity causes climate change, but are not motivated to act.

It appears that most people have made up their minds on the issue. They either tune it out completely or demonize whoever takes a different viewpoint.

What should climate change activists want? For everyone to accept their narrative of what’s happening? Or actually do something that will move the needle on rising greenhouse gases?

Real change demands dealing with issues where people talk to each other instead of past each other. And not confusing climate and weather. The picture of a foot of snow on a table suggests one issue.

The snowstorm and light pollution

Taken from inside, about midnight, December 19, 2009. I kept no record of how I set the exposure, but the only light in the picture was reflected from clouds

It didn’t occur to me to take pictures of the snowfall until about 10:30 at night. It should have been too dark to see anything. Unfortunately a cloudy night provides plenty of light. Light pollution has become an insidious problem world-wide.

Enough light reflected from the clouds to get pictures, including the one at the top. I didn’t think to change the default exposure time on the camera. When I downloaded them to my computer, they were too dark to see clearly. I had to use some photo-editing software to make the image bright enough to post.

Not so the picture to the right. I took that on a snowy midnight in December 2009. I had no lights on either inside or outside the house. Some nights, I can hardly see any stars from my yard. They can’t shine through all the artificial light across the metropolitan area.

What does that have to do with climate change?

Street lighting causes most of the light pollution that obscures the stars. Most of our street lights are poorly shielded and targeted. The light shines not only down on the streets where it is needed, but upward to the sky. When Calgary, Alberta replaced its street lights with well-shielded lights, it reduced its energy costs by about $2 million annually.

Individual households and businesses contribute to light pollution. Among other things, we have lights on at night that serve no useful purpose. No one talks much about light pollution, or even notices it.

Imagine what would happen to energy usage if the whole world noticed light pollution and took steps to eliminate it. Surely it would reduce energy usage and therefore greenhouse gases.

Add to that the reduction in greenhouse gases that would result from addressing issues like food waste, boosting manufacture of recycled products, and so many more.