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Gambling with the Future
by Chuck Hall
In
his State of the Union address on January 31, President Bush stated,
"America is addicted to oil." Although the United
States makes up only five percent of the worldıs population, we use
an estimated 25% of the worldıs energy resources. A large
percentage of this is oil and other fossil fuels. Clearly there is
some truth to the Presidentıs words. We are addicted.
One of
the characteristics common to addiction is denial. An addict does
not want to admit he has a problem, so he finds creative ways to
rationalize his addictive behavior. This may be the case with people
who deny that humans are playing any significant part in global
warming. Increasingly, scientific evidence demonstrates that human
activities are having a considerable impact.
On
February 5, 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
published its latest findings on global warming and climate change.
You may read the entire report for yourself at: http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf
. The study compared atmospheric samples with ice core samples up to
650,000 years ago. The contents of the atmosphere are trapped in
polar ice caps, and by studying ice core samples, the atmosphere may
be analyzed for thousands of years in the past. The study concluded
that, "The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide in 2005
exceeds by far the natural range over the last 650,000 years (180
parts per million to 300 parts per million) as determined from ice
cores. The annual carbon dioxide concentration growth-rate was
larger during the last 10 years than it has been since the beginning
of continuous direct atmospheric measurements."
The
report also concluded that it is more likely than not that man-made
factors are contributing substantially to the increase in average
global temperatures, and that it is very unlikely that the changes
in climate during the past seven centuries were caused by natural
climate variability alone. In other words, human activities are
contributing significantly to global warming.
In the
section of the IPCC report on predictions (based on climate
modeling), the study concluded that it is very likely that in the
future we will experience more frequent heat waves, periods of
heavier precipitation, more intense hurricanes and cyclones, major
changes in wind, precipitation and weather patterns, and constant
rise in sea levels. Even if carbon dioxide emissions were stabilized
today, the damaging effects could continue for up to 1000 years.
The IPCC
is made up of top scientists in the fields of meteorology,
climatology and other related sciences from 113 countries worldwide.
Over 90% of the scientists who work with the IPCC are in agreement
that human activities are playing a significant part in climate
change.
Those who deny that man-made greenhouse gases are making an impact
are therefore considerably in the minority. It may be that the
majority of scientists in the field are mistaken, and that this
small minority is correct in their assessment that humans arenıt
contributing to global warming. The majority is sometimes wrong;
however, with the world literally at stake, are you willing to bet
your childrenıs future on the outcome?
Chuck
Hall is a Sustainability Consultant and author. His latest book, Green
Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is
now available at Booklocker.com.
You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org or visit
the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org.
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