Happy Earth Day
Started way back in 1970, Earth Day was established to encourage a revolt against environmental abuse. Of course, it hasn't been until recent years that most people, including myself took the concept of global warming too seriously. I guess, I was just too wrapped up in my own little world to really think about it, or care.
The majority of people today would agree that global warming is an important issue and progressing rapidly. The sad thing is that we're a big part of the problem but on an upnote, we can also be part of the solution. Reportedly, more carbon dioxide is now in the atmosphere than has been in the past 650,000 years. Carbon dioxide comes from power plants, cars, airplanes etc. This carbon stays in the atmosphere and holds in the heat, which results in global warming.
Humans have tampered with the balance resulting in the world's glaciers melting ten times faster than expected and atmospheric greenhouse gases have reached levels not seen for millions of years. Species are vanishing as a result of climate change. The extreme weather events, long-term droughts and rising sea levels that we see worldwide today are all results of global warming.
Last night, I watched Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," which addresses global warming. I didn't watch it sooner because to be honest, I thought it would be a boring, politically charged yawner, filled with scientific data that I couldn't get my little head around. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it is none of these things!
For those in the know and the rest of us non-scientist types, Al Gore addresses the problem of global warming in an informative, yet engaging and easy to understand way. With plenty of visuals like charts, statistics and photographs one can be left with no doubt that global warming is upon us and the time to act is now. Don't take his word for it, feel free to double check the facts. No matter what your political preference is, this is a must see DVD. As Gore says, this is "not a political issue" but a "moral one" and after watching it, I truly believe that.
Personally, I know I could do a lot more but recently we've replaced all the light bulbs in our home with cheaper and more environmentally friendly, compact fluorescent bulbs. They take a wee bit longer to reach optimal strength, but I'd say that's a small price to pay for helping the environment.
For more comprehensive information on the subject and loads of suggestions on how we all can slow down global warming go to www.stopglobalwarming.org.
