Fighters of the Cause,
" Ha! Recycle? I'm not gonna waste my time with that. I'll be dead by the time Global warming happens. Whats the big deal?" A statement I've heard too many times. Not because they are bad people who want others to suffer. Not because they really don't care about others. But because they don't know. They don't really know what Global Warming is. They don't know that it isn't something for future generations to deal with, but something we must face now. One of the best ways to help, is to educate others. What is Global Warming? Global warming is the thickening of atmospheric layer that traps in the sun. Usually the sun's UV Rays come into the Earth's atmosphere to warm the planet up, and of those, some bounce back and escape the Earth's atmosphere, leaving the remaining to keep the Earth warm where its supposed to be warm. But when that UV trapping layer thickens, more and more UV Rays are trapped here on Earth, raising the temperatures abnormally which has many more effects than making people sweaty, but I'll get to the effects soon enough. Now, you say, What causes the UV trapping layer to thicken? Well its caused by the emission of heat-trapping gasses produced by vehicles, power plants, industrial processes, and deforestation. It is these gasses that trap heat in Earth's atmosphere. Scientific study has shown that heat-trapping emissions from human activities have caused most of the Global Warming observed over the past 50 years. More Carbon Dioxide (*heat-trapping gas*) is in the atmosphere now than in the past 650,000 years! Than it must be from those damn third-world communist countries! Actually the U.S., with only 4 percent of the Earth's population, is responsible for 22 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions! What effect does this have? Global Warming is changing distributions of plants and animals population sizes, growth rates, timing of plants flowering, and timing of animal migration. So? Plant and animal species might go extinct. Plants are a major tool for pharmaceuticals. If a certain plant goes extinct, there goes an ingredient to a diabetes pill or a AIDs treatment. If an animal goes extinct, it offsets the food pyramid and either many more animals die because they no longer have a major food source, or many flourish because they are no longer prey. The problem with the latter of the two, is that they may over populate, and kill off the species they eat, which in turn will also offset the balance. Its like a domino effect. Ok, so medicane and food I guess, are the problem? We can find another source for both those things. Global Warming isn't much of a problem. But it is. Global Warming is raising the temperature of the world's climate. This climate change is changing intensity and frequency of storms, droughts and fire, raising the level of the oceans, and melting glaciers. More and more people are dying of natural disasters. 'Each year in the 1990's 183 million EXTRA people on average were affected by disasters as were affected in the 1960's. Part of the reason for this increase is due to population growth and more people living in urban areas, and part is due to climatic factors such as increased rainfall and flooding caused by these climate changes. But natural disasters aren't the only thing you'll have to worry about. As temperatures rise, disease-carrying mosquitoes and rodents spread, carrying with them things like Malaria, Dengue Fever, and Encephalitis. What can we do?
Use compact fluorescent bulbs. Inflate your car tires regularly. Change your car air filter regularly. Carpool. Use recycled paper. When you use the dishwasher, make sure its completely full. Change the air filter in your home as recomended. Take shorter showers. Dry your clothes by air in the summer. All these things we can do to help, and more. For more on what you can do, visit: http://www.treehugger.com/ http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/ and
And remember, do your part: REDUCE! REUSE! RECYCLE!
In Solidarity,
-BlakSheep-
