They say ignorance is bliss but when it comes to the weather it ignorance can be a bitter pill to swallow. I normally keep up on the latest news and I especially keep an eye on the weather since climate change is a frequent topic in my articles and blogs. For the past few weeks I had been busy readying the release of my next book, “Jesus Taught It, Too: The Early Roots of the Law of Attraction” and signing a contract for another book to be released late fall called, “Raping Louisiana: A Diary of Deceit.” While I was well aware of the heat wave out West and the deluge in Texas and other Western states, all had seemed relatively quiet on the climate change front-at I thought all was quiet.
Last night I went to check the weather on the internet and decided to take a look at the latest weather headlines. I have to admit to having been shocked to see so many weather disaster stories. I listen to NPR each morning and glance at our local paper everyday but with one or two exceptions, I did not pick up any of the headlines that follow. When the stories are scattered between many news reports I guess the enormity of the issue gets diluted. But when you begin to list the headlines in one place, a totally different picture emerges. On one site, these were the weather related stories and headlines:
94 Dead in China floods, landslides
South Dakota floods kill…
Indian floods death toll up…
Bush declares disaster area in Oklahoma…
Texas declares worst flooding in 50 years…
Heat moving eastward…
Flooded city in Kansas assesses damage…
Western US states swelter under record heat wave…
Country’s wettest June on record…
Tornado kills…in China…
Pakistanis set up flood rescue…
Weather extremes whither LA…
Pakistani monsoon victims riot…
Dallas looks like Seattle…
Climate change factor in Chile’s lake vanishing…
2007 seen as second warmest year…
Fires rage across sizzling Greece…
Scorching heat, floods wreak havoc across Europe…
Indian flood toll up, millions left stranded…
More heat ahead for sweltering west…
If you look a little deeper, even more stories arise concerning possible flooding from melting glaciers in Tibet, floods and deaths in England and Europe and general horror stories that are climate related.
We have also heard about many scientists claiming that the world’s climate is nearing a catastrophic tipping point and that unless changes in our carbon emissions happen soon, we could be in for real trouble. Of course, looking at the above headlines it would appear that we are already in trouble. Of course other stories say that policy makers are working on finding ways to reduce carbon emissions and sometime in the next 20 years we might get 30 miles per gallon for fleet averages. It makes you want to shout, “Hello is anyone paying attention to what is happening to the climate right now?”
American auto makers complain that converting to alternative fuels of greatly increasing fleet mileages would be too costly. Producers of electricity that use coal as their energy source say that making coal plants cleaner will cost too much money. All of our political and industry leaders say that having a clean planet will cost too much money. It really begs the question. What is the cost of the floods, heat waves, raging fires in terms of property and lives? Florida officials say that they need “five feet” of rain to make up for water deficiencies to quench the thirst of existing populations and to accommodate new development. Perhaps if the sea rises, that will no longer be an issue. Millions, if not billions of dollars are being lost now to climate chaos.
Our actions and inactions of yesterday are causing the consequences of today. Today, we are doing little to alter our ways and have no real solid plans for change for at least the next twenty years. If the weather headlines we see now are the harbinger of things to come, everyone had better strap in for we are in for quite the ride. It is also said that knowledge is power but that is wrong. It is the use of knowledge that is power and one can only hope that people wake up and pay closer attention to what is happening in the world now if we want to still have a world tomorrow.
Mr. Harris was born in Massachusetts. He attended The American University in Washington, D.C. and received his degree in Political Science. His graduate work was done at the University of Northern Colorado and Howard University. While in D.C., he spent several years working for local and regional government agencies. Upon moving to Maine he worked with three governors and served as the Assistant Director of the Maine State Planning Office. He worked on a White House Task Force for the development of a National Rural Policy and later served as Rural Policy Coordinator at the Federal Regional Council of New England. He has worked on gubernatorial and senatorial political campaigns and currently works in Special Education.
Mr. Harris is co-author of the novel WAKING GOD and is a nationally syndicated and featured writer for The American Chronicle. He is working on Book II of the Waking God trilogy and writing features for literary E-zines. His second novel, A MAINE CHRISTMAS CAROL has been released by Cambridge Books. Contributing writer for UPI's Religion&Spirituality web site.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Harris
Friday, July 13, 2007
Prevent Global Warming - What Can You Do To Prevent Global Wamring
Global warming is one of the major environmental issues that are haunting the people. Emphasis must be made upon what an individual can do to prevent global warming. Global warming refers to the increase in the temperature of the earth gradually which is affected by many factors. It is now a known fact that man is one of the main causes of it. The gradual increase in the temperatures is not a sudden process and has been there from a long time. But the rapid increase in development of the cities and technology has given rise to pollution which has causes the increase in global warming. Emissions from car, factories, burning of fossil fuel, use of CFC, deforestations have caused the global warming.
To prevent Global warming, one of the things that a person can opt for is use of alternative forms of energy production other than fossil fuels which give large amounts of carbon dioxide. Use of solar energy can be a good alternative which can be employed. Another thing they can do is to plant trees in their backyard or street which are natural controllers of the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. Trees are usually cut down for paper production, thus using recycled paper can be a really good measure.
Limiting the usage of appliances or compounds which produces CFC can also help. CFC is the major reason for the depletion of the ozone layer causing global warming. Another reason for global warming is the emissions from cars. The world has seen a geometrical increase in population. This has lead to increase in the number of cars. Identifying fuel efficient cars, use of bio-fuels, correcting the engine designs or even using electric cars are great ways to reduce emissions. Preferring walking, cycling and transportation by bus, train can also help to prevent global warming. Organizing carpools can also be a good method that can be done to reduce emissions.
In home people can try to conserve energy and electricity thus helping to prevent global warming. Switching to CFL bulbs which uses less energy and a longer life time can reduce the electricity usage. Reducing the usage of heaters and coolers can also help. Switching of electronics and other appliances which are not in use, replacing old appliance with less energy consuming goods can also help to prevent global warming. Alternative power sources like solar energy generators for homes is a good way to make sure that you are getting your power from means that are good for your earth.
Global warming is also caused due to less knowledge about it. Therefore awareness should be provided mainly to children and those in the factories so that they can also think about ways to conserve energy and to prevent the global warming. The future generation must be encouraged and taught to save the earth, our habitat. The media has a major role to play in making people understand the importance of global warming and its concerns. Only a collected effort by the entire humanity can reduce the global warming, which is a deep rooted problem. Global warming cannot be removed suddenly but many of the measures mentioned above if followed by an individual can contribute to reducing and preventing the global warming. Together we can make things happen and it is up to each of us to ensure that we take all steps to reduce global warming for us and for our future generation.
Preventing Global Warming is a burning issue, we got to start doing something to change the way things are, or our existence on this planet will be in real danger, learn more about Global Warming at http://globalwarmingpages.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carl_Ganser
To prevent Global warming, one of the things that a person can opt for is use of alternative forms of energy production other than fossil fuels which give large amounts of carbon dioxide. Use of solar energy can be a good alternative which can be employed. Another thing they can do is to plant trees in their backyard or street which are natural controllers of the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. Trees are usually cut down for paper production, thus using recycled paper can be a really good measure.
Limiting the usage of appliances or compounds which produces CFC can also help. CFC is the major reason for the depletion of the ozone layer causing global warming. Another reason for global warming is the emissions from cars. The world has seen a geometrical increase in population. This has lead to increase in the number of cars. Identifying fuel efficient cars, use of bio-fuels, correcting the engine designs or even using electric cars are great ways to reduce emissions. Preferring walking, cycling and transportation by bus, train can also help to prevent global warming. Organizing carpools can also be a good method that can be done to reduce emissions.
In home people can try to conserve energy and electricity thus helping to prevent global warming. Switching to CFL bulbs which uses less energy and a longer life time can reduce the electricity usage. Reducing the usage of heaters and coolers can also help. Switching of electronics and other appliances which are not in use, replacing old appliance with less energy consuming goods can also help to prevent global warming. Alternative power sources like solar energy generators for homes is a good way to make sure that you are getting your power from means that are good for your earth.
Global warming is also caused due to less knowledge about it. Therefore awareness should be provided mainly to children and those in the factories so that they can also think about ways to conserve energy and to prevent the global warming. The future generation must be encouraged and taught to save the earth, our habitat. The media has a major role to play in making people understand the importance of global warming and its concerns. Only a collected effort by the entire humanity can reduce the global warming, which is a deep rooted problem. Global warming cannot be removed suddenly but many of the measures mentioned above if followed by an individual can contribute to reducing and preventing the global warming. Together we can make things happen and it is up to each of us to ensure that we take all steps to reduce global warming for us and for our future generation.
Preventing Global Warming is a burning issue, we got to start doing something to change the way things are, or our existence on this planet will be in real danger, learn more about Global Warming at http://globalwarmingpages.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carl_Ganser
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