(no subject)
Dan and I had a date night last night. We went to dinner at Red Robin (woo hoo big spender!) and then to see Al Gore's documentary on Global Warming.
Go see it.
Seriously.
It was very entertaining. At no point did I feel like I was watching a documentary. It's smoothly and artistically filmed and very well presented.
And of course, the message is imperative. I went into the movie having recently read this article in my mom's magazine and looking for information to contradict what it claims. I thought Gore was very convicing; he shows the math and research behind the science and overall achieves a positive message: we have the ability to make this better. It won't bankrupt us as a country, nor as a people. In fact, it will bring us together as a planet and move us forward into a better place.
Most convincing to me were the slides of the changes in temperature and carbon dioxide levels gleaned from ice cores taken from places like Greenland. Scientists are able to determine these levels (the scientific explanation is that During firnification, air composition is slightly modified by physical processes such as gravitational and thermal fractionation. As a result of this latter process, detectable anomalies in nitrogen and argon isotopic composition develop during episodes of rapid climatic changes..) These measurable changes can then be graphed as far back as the first ice age.
What they show is astounding. In the last 2000 years, the level of CO2 never rose above 275 parts per million, even at the highest peaks. Starting in the 1830s (Industrial Revolution anyone?), the levels began rising above dramatically. In the last 50 years, they've skyrocketed to over 325 ppm. You can see the dramatic increase in this chart, which is fuzzy (go see the movie for crisp and beautiful slides of the data.)
That big rise on the right? That's C02 for the past 200 years.
The arguments that this phenomenon cannot possibly be man-made are RIDICULOUS. What in the name of all that's holy could POSSIBLY account for such a dramatic rise in CO2 except the intervention of man? What else has changed on this planet except our ability to use natural resources for energy?
Beyond that, there is the argument that this is not a problem. High CO2 levels don't matter. This is completely false. The Antarctic ice cap is melting. Greenland is melting. The Arctic ice cap is melting. And ALL at rates FAR EXCEEDING anything in recorded history. Rainfall is exceeding anything in recorded history. High temperatures are exceeding anything in recorded history. Lakes are drying up. Snow capped mountains are bare for the first time in recorded history.
Global warming is here. It's having a negative impact on our planet. Not doing anything is no longer an option.
And what's our President concerned with at the moment? Gay freaking marriage.
*throttles the dunce*
Go see it.
Seriously.
It was very entertaining. At no point did I feel like I was watching a documentary. It's smoothly and artistically filmed and very well presented.
And of course, the message is imperative. I went into the movie having recently read this article in my mom's magazine and looking for information to contradict what it claims. I thought Gore was very convicing; he shows the math and research behind the science and overall achieves a positive message: we have the ability to make this better. It won't bankrupt us as a country, nor as a people. In fact, it will bring us together as a planet and move us forward into a better place.
Most convincing to me were the slides of the changes in temperature and carbon dioxide levels gleaned from ice cores taken from places like Greenland. Scientists are able to determine these levels (the scientific explanation is that During firnification, air composition is slightly modified by physical processes such as gravitational and thermal fractionation. As a result of this latter process, detectable anomalies in nitrogen and argon isotopic composition develop during episodes of rapid climatic changes..) These measurable changes can then be graphed as far back as the first ice age.
What they show is astounding. In the last 2000 years, the level of CO2 never rose above 275 parts per million, even at the highest peaks. Starting in the 1830s (Industrial Revolution anyone?), the levels began rising above dramatically. In the last 50 years, they've skyrocketed to over 325 ppm. You can see the dramatic increase in this chart, which is fuzzy (go see the movie for crisp and beautiful slides of the data.)
That big rise on the right? That's C02 for the past 200 years.
The arguments that this phenomenon cannot possibly be man-made are RIDICULOUS. What in the name of all that's holy could POSSIBLY account for such a dramatic rise in CO2 except the intervention of man? What else has changed on this planet except our ability to use natural resources for energy?
Beyond that, there is the argument that this is not a problem. High CO2 levels don't matter. This is completely false. The Antarctic ice cap is melting. Greenland is melting. The Arctic ice cap is melting. And ALL at rates FAR EXCEEDING anything in recorded history. Rainfall is exceeding anything in recorded history. High temperatures are exceeding anything in recorded history. Lakes are drying up. Snow capped mountains are bare for the first time in recorded history.
Global warming is here. It's having a negative impact on our planet. Not doing anything is no longer an option.
And what's our President concerned with at the moment? Gay freaking marriage.
*throttles the dunce*