Can't Sleep..hopefully "We Can Solve It!"
Climate Change. That phrase almost seems innocuous.
If current emissions of carbon and levels of consumption remain the same, this is what the aforementioned phrase will mean for our children:
Drought, famine, mass migration. War.
Alarmist?
I'm going to iterate; this is the future that inevitably awaits in twenty to forty years if current emissions and consumption levels remain static, never mind the fact that worldwide demand for everything from cement and automobiles to basic resources like water and energy is expected to increase. It will be nearly impossible to harness this growth if the worldwide population increases from its current 6.5 billion. Just ask China and India.
Since government and industry is sluggish at best, let us hope for a miracle. A miracle in the form of a profound scientific breakthrough. Due to stubborn inaction or inadequate half-measures, a miracle is likely our only hope. (Yet even T. Boone Pickens has moved from swiftboating to wind power.) The worldwide changes taking place in our atmosphere, in our oceans, is projected (there is a lot of data) to be so significant that serious measures need to be taken. Switching to CFLs and carpooling will not cut it.
The time has passed for the world to strive to live like Americans. Americans should not be living like Americans. We need to take a step down so the third world can hope to escape from the morass of disease and poverty. It is the third world, after all, that will be hardest hit, though repercussions will be widespread.
Though I contemplate this from time-to-time, this latest wave was brought on by the rather measured Frontline episode on this subject: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/heat/view/
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/futurecc.html
BUT... http://www.wecansolveit.org/
If current emissions of carbon and levels of consumption remain the same, this is what the aforementioned phrase will mean for our children:
Drought, famine, mass migration. War.
Alarmist?
I'm going to iterate; this is the future that inevitably awaits in twenty to forty years if current emissions and consumption levels remain static, never mind the fact that worldwide demand for everything from cement and automobiles to basic resources like water and energy is expected to increase. It will be nearly impossible to harness this growth if the worldwide population increases from its current 6.5 billion. Just ask China and India.
Since government and industry is sluggish at best, let us hope for a miracle. A miracle in the form of a profound scientific breakthrough. Due to stubborn inaction or inadequate half-measures, a miracle is likely our only hope. (Yet even T. Boone Pickens has moved from swiftboating to wind power.) The worldwide changes taking place in our atmosphere, in our oceans, is projected (there is a lot of data) to be so significant that serious measures need to be taken. Switching to CFLs and carpooling will not cut it.
The time has passed for the world to strive to live like Americans. Americans should not be living like Americans. We need to take a step down so the third world can hope to escape from the morass of disease and poverty. It is the third world, after all, that will be hardest hit, though repercussions will be widespread.
Though I contemplate this from time-to-time, this latest wave was brought on by the rather measured Frontline episode on this subject: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/heat/view/
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/futurecc.html
BUT... http://www.wecansolveit.org/