A Path for Humanity

"Scientists say the arctic ice cap has been disappearing at an average rate of 14,000 square miles a year since 1978." This disappearance has been linked to atmospheric changes resulting from increased emissions of "greenhouse gases, so called because they trap heat in the atmosphere the same way heat is trapped when sunlight passes through the glass of a greenhouse."

For more on this topic, go to www.pughclimate.org.

When scientists travelled to the north pole, they found "water, not ice, at the top of the world." [The New York Times, Sept. 10, 2000. The Week in Review, page 3] Hopefully we won't have to wait until there are palm trees growing up there before people change their behavior.

"Most climate experts are certain that global warming is real and that http://hal/301_00.htm#26it threatens ecology and human prosperity, and a growing number say it is well under way."

"Past climate ups and downs mostly mesh well with natural variations in the brightness of the sun or ... big volcanoes. But the recent warming, according to several recent studies, only correlates well with one thing: the build-up of carbon dioxide, methane and the other greenhouse gases."

1) Telecommute, take transit, combine trips, use less fuel. Think about what's coming out of your tailpipe.

2) Eat less meat (cows produce methane). To sit idling at the burger drive-through is for the unconscious!

3) Boycott developers who bulldoze all the old-growth trees to build square.

4) Don't pave it. Blacktop reflects solar energy back into the atmosphere.

5) Ask your congressperson to support U.S. ratification of the '97 Kyoto Treaty.

Because of significant reductions in China's use of coal in the last three years, the U.S. is now the largest coal user, as it continues to be of oil and natural gas. The burning of these fossil fuels releases aerosols, along with carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere and temporarily masks the warming effect of the CO2. As we reduce the emission of new aerosols, carbon dioxide as a share of the problem will increase.

According to polls, 75% believe global warming is at least fairley serious, and 67% believe Bush should develop a global warming plan. (See Time Magazine, April 9, 2001.)