The "Environmental Page" or
Planetary Responsibility and Involvement
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As a human taking up space on the planet, we are all called upon to be good stewards of the Earth.
Unfortunately, we are contributing to the rapid eradication of species (plant & animal), depletion of resources for all species, and altering climate faster than natural processes would normally account for.
A Brief Reminder of Recent Weather History
Whether you believe in global warming or not, if your memory is good enough to remember back 10-25 years, you know that even your local climate is changing. Here in NJ, tornados were very rare back in the early 1980s, but since the early 1990's twisters have become much more common. Here's a very short list of other recent events.*
- September, 2010: 135 daily rainfall records were broken along the East Coast of the U.S. (e.g., Wilmington, NC got 19.7 inches of rainfall in 3 days.)
- 2010 beat 1998 as the hottest year on record.
- August, 2010: An ice island four times the size of Manhattan broke off from the Greenland glacier. (Manhattan is 22.7 square miles. Approximately 13.4 miles long and 2.4 miles wide at its widest.)
- 2000-2009 has been the warmest decade on record worldwide.
- Summer 2010: 153 of 1,218 U.S. weather stations recorder their hottest summer since 1895.
- Summer 2010: Moscow, Russia suffers its first major heatwave in centuries.
- September 27, 2010: Los Angeles, California has its hottest day on record - 113℉
- December 15, 2010: Parts of Florida drop to 19
- December, 2010: Syracuse gets 72" of snow before Christmas.
By the early "double-aughts," the U.S. had one summer of severe draught in the southwest U.S., followed by severe flooding in the southeast, followed by another year of sever draught in the central west, followed by a year of severe draught in the southeast. (Remember the legal battles that Florida, Georgia and Alabama had over water rights to their shared rivers because of the draughts back in 2008-2009?)
After a while, you just can't keep saying: "These are all just 'one-offs.' "
When the atmosphere heats up, mixed in with all that water evaporating, it means you'll not only have draughts, but you'll also have more atmospheric energy for severe storms (including winter storms), and also, floods. Climate change alsomeans that there will be fluctuations in hot & cold, dry and wet, in extremes that we've never seen before; and in places we wouldn't expect to see them.
And remember, the climate doesn't care about borders. You can't hide from "Mother Nature!"
What you can do
Regardless of wheter you believe that climate change is natural or man-made, the fact of the matter is YOU are one of the factors that can possibly help bring things back into balance.
This page provides links to a variety of environmental web sites. Find one that suits you, and contribute. Whether its donating your time, energy, knowledge, skill, or being a "checkbook activist," every person's involvement can make a difference over time.
Remember, you're not really saving the Earth, the Earth will do just fine if mankind suffers and goes extinct. You're really helping to preserve your OWN skin (and those of any descendants you have, or HOPE to have).
Get involved now, and do something to help reduce or eliminate the problems.
Links to Environmental Organizations
* - Items 1-6 are taken from the December 6, 2010 issue of Newsweek magazine. Items 7-9 are from the December 21, 2010 broadcast of World News with Diane Sawyer. (ABC-TV)
Page updated on December 21, 2010 11:28 PM
Copyright © 2010 by James L. Collymore - All Rights Reserved
