Welcome Spring & the Change of the Seasons. Just a Reminder Though: Our Lonely Planet is the Only Home We've Got!

Ah, Spring, it has arrived in the northern hemisphere! It’s eternal, they say. I say, it’s also internal; it depends on the outlook. Anyway, we have seasons because of the Earth’s 23.5º tilt. Life, as we know it, emerged because our planet happens to be in the right distance from a main sequence star! It took several billion years for Earth to become the planet we all recognize today; and it will be more-or-less the same for a couple billion years more, until our sun passes from its present middle age to old age when it’ll become cranky enough to destroy all life on Earth.

So, what’s the outlook for our lonely blue dot in a hostile solar system? Let's put some things into perspective. Our planet has been around for over 4 billion years. Most of this time, it was inhospitable to life as we know it today. A couple billion years ago, some blue-green algae—also known as cyanobacteria—began to produce their own “pollution” and helped create the atmosphere we’re familiar with today. Lucky for us, a few celestial renegades hit Earth, some of them really hard, and they changed life, including the extinction of the dinosaurs and the eventual rise of the mammals (like us).

Yes, many species can adapt to the conditions, some better than others. Nevertheless, most, including humans, can exist within a very tiny band of temperatures. The absolute zero (0 Kelvin) is -273 C, or -460 F. The hottest known temperatures are in the millions. In other words, we live in a fragile ecosystem, in a hostile universe, and we’re stuck here for the foreseeable future.

Some Common Sense is Needed

Since the industrial revolution, humans have been dumping huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The oceans have been absorbing as well resulting in increased acidity, which influences sea life, currents, temperature, etc. This is not a natural product, not part of any cycle. To me it’s a no-brainer. The smog over cities, the acid rain are all man-made. I’ve seen the effects of acid rain that has destroyed forests and has polluted lakes and streams, right here in my backyard—my beloved Adirondack park where I visit often.

If 98 doctors told you that you had to stop smoking because you could die of lung cancer (among other terrible diseases smoking promotes), and 2 doctors, who work for the tobacco companies, told you smoking is harmless, what would you do? Would you stop smoking, even err on the side of caution? Or, would you ask the 98 doctors to tell you exactly when you’d die and if they were absolutely certain you’d die because of smoking?

There is a consensus in the scientific community about global warming and that humans are responsible for it. Whatever natural cycle of ice-hot ages takes place, we humans are able to kick the pendulum so hard into one direction that we can break this normal cycle with catastrophic consequences.

Stupidity Can Be Deadly

For all of our advances in science and education, it’s amazing how many stupid people we have in positions of power. I do like a good debate, because I want to find the truth. It’s important for me to know. The more serious the issue, the greater the need to know. So, let’s have a rational debate about the environment, but we can’t waist our time with stupidity. Science is one thing only—the best tool we’ve got to understand the world around us. Not every idea, every claim has equal weight. It’d be a waste of time to debate the views of the Flat Earth Society for example. And, their views can not be brought into the classroom as an ..alternative scientific theory. [Similarly with other fictional theories of creationism, intelligent design, etc. There’s room for such “theories” in places like this.]

Al Gore testified in Congress about climate change, but I doubt he reached most Republicans there. Do you know that only 13% of Congressional Republicans agree with the scientists about a man-made global warming? Of course, you know that several past members of the Bush administration, NASA scientists and so many others have admitted to distorting or were pressured to distort evidence regarding global warming. No surprises here. It’s worth listening to what Gore had to say. This man makes sense to me.

“20 of the 21 hottest years ever measured in the human record have been in the last 25 years. The 10 hottest have been since 1990. The hottest was 2005. The hottest in the United States of America was 2006. The hottest winter ever measured globally was December of last year.”

Al Gore, 3/21/07 in his Congressional testimony

Need for Information & Action

Go out, take a nice breath of clean, crisp air and appreciate what we've got. Much of humanity isn't as lucky. The majority of people in the 21st century doesn’t have access to clean water! The environmental problems won’t always be confined only to the underdeveloped world. Bad climate affects everyone. Remember that our lonely planet is the only home we’ve got. Our children and future generations will also live here.

Don’t you think we should seek the truth about climate change and do something about it? At least 100 new people per second (3/20-3/21), over 550,00 (as of this moment), have signed Gore's petition that accompanied his testimony to the US Congress. We need more activists, we need more action. Politics is local and global. Vote, engage, participate, be vigilant.

photo credit: GP