What people need to hear to connect the dots is this: Warmer air absorbs more water than colder air, so a climate-changed atmosphere absorbs and holds more moisture. It dries out deserts more thoroughly where that is the predominant climate, and drops more rain (and snow) more rapidly where that is the predominant climate. It creates a larger “bubble” of hot air moving toward the poles each season, which results in a larger (and colder) bubble of air being displaced FROM the poles.

Thus climate change drives extreme weather – longer, hotter droughts, colder, snowier winters, more violent rainstorms everywhere. This is the evidence people can see! Now, follow up with the logic ….

I have gotten to the point where I’m comfortable answering with a simple “yes” when someone asks if our new weather is a result of climate change. Look at the strange, huge scallops the Jet Stream has settled into — apparently an albedo-related effect of increased snowfall in Siberia, courtesy all the new moisture in the atmosphere from the melted ice and higher evaporation rates. Add in the fact that there’s now enough heat energy in the atmosphere to produce tornadoes at Christmastime in the US — etc etc etc. It may not be possible for a meteorologist to give a simple answer to the question, but I sure feel like I can.

I like to bring energy into the conversation fairly early. For most people, climate change is abstract. Except for having to turn the air conditioning on more, climate change is something that happens to other people who are unfortunate enough to live in places where Bad Things Happen.

But anyone who needs convincing about climate change also buys gasoline. They see it go up and up and up. They’ve been taught to blame politicians, greedy oil companies, speculators, anyone but themselves!

Fossil sunlight depletion is the flip side of the climate change coin. It is the carrot to climate change’s stick. People will eventually be forced to reduce their carbon emissions by price, so why not get a head start and do it voluntarily, and save a bunch of money in the meantime?

With this argument, I got my brother to sell his huge V-10 pickup that barely gets double-digit fuel economy. He is now driving a compact that gets nearly four times the fuel economy. He’s keeping tons of CO2 out of the air this way, but it wasn’t because of climate change.

To the extent we can make climate change about personal habits with an immediate fiscal impact, we’re ahead of the game. It’s unfortunate, but people will take positive actions for the environment for their own well-being before they will consider doing the same for their grandchildren.

And that’s really what it’s all about, no? Simpler lives bring fundamental pleasures not achieved by cheap plastic crap from China. Now I’m working on my brother to reduce his income by working fewer hours. That’s a tough sell, but I’ve already got him thinking about what he can do with all that extra time. And if he cuts back to a 32-hour week, he will without any doubt emit less carbon in the process.