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| WHY ME?
Global warming is the major challenge of our times.
Polar bears are not the only species in crisis.
Homo sapiens face a bleak future if this challenge is not met.
We're not the only ones talking about it...
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HAVE YOU?
Read the 2006, and 2007 articles in Time magazine? US News and World Report? The Wall Street Journal? Rolling Stone? Vanity Fair? National Geographic? your local newspapers? and most recently, the International Panel on Climate Change report released, November 17, 2007?
Seen Tom Brokaw's Discovery Channel special? President Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address? Al Gore's " An Inconvenient Truth"?
Checked any of the science websites devoted to the problem?
Observed the changes in the climate locally?
Heard that the polar bear and other species are facing extinction?
It's hard not to be aware that something is going on that demands our attention and determination to address.
SO WHAT IS HAPPENING ?
Carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases are released by the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of forests. These gases rise into the atmosphere, build up, and function like a blanket, trapping the Earth's heat. They have built up at an accelerated rate in the last century, trapping more heat and causing a tip in the balance of a complex, interdependent climate system.
According to 90% of the world's climate scientists, human activity is responsible for this quick rise. The imbalance in the Earth’s climate system has already resulted in serious changes. If we don't start fixing the problem now, more devastating changes are in store, with little time for humans and animals to adapt to them.
Some of the results of this tip in the balance:
- Decreasing snow cover and sea ice. Some Inuit have already had their lives drastically altered by this.
- Rising sea levels and increases in water temperature. Coastal regions, many of them populated, would be devastated.
- Increasing precipitation over middle and high latitudes. Heavy flooding is probable.
- Severe drought in lower latitudes. Less water means food shortages and starvation.
- Faster spread of disease. As temperatures rise, diseases such as malaria and dengue fever will spread more rapidly.
- Increasing frequency of extreme precipitation. Severe storms, such as hurricanes, will become more prevalent.
- Acidification of the ocean. Many fish species are already suffering and coral reefs are disappearing.
- Local consequences. In Wisconsin the fish population has already begun to show some effects from climate change.
For those of you who learn better by video:
This 10 minute You Tube video by a high school science teacher argues that the best risk management position is to act to prevent global warming. It is entertaining and informative, and has follow-up videos for those who want to get into it more.
This clip narrated by Leonardo di Caprio tells the story.
BUT REALLY, WHY ME?
Americans are big emitters.
According to figures by the Department of Energy, the US produces 22% of all CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. Some statistics claim that on average, each American is responsible for about 22 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, compared with an average of five tons per person throughout the rest of the world.
The New Scientist graph with side explanatory text shows carbon dioxide emissions by country.
| There are three main reasons why some countries use more energy per person than others:
· Climate
· The level of industrial development
· Energy taxes.
Carbon Dioxide emissions also depend on how electricity is generated.
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Hipprocates said, “Make a habit of two things – to help, or at least to do no harm.”
DUH- Even granting that the human hand in documented global climate change can never be definitively proven, doesn't erring on the side of caution make more sense than allowing the worst-case possibility to be realized?
We can’t have our planet and destroy it too.
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