Global Warming

There's no doubt that we're entering an era of extreme global warming. The arctic and antarctic ice caps are diminishing as can be clearly seen from satellite photos. The Greenland Ice Sheet – a mass of glacial ice and snow covering 1.9 million sq km – is twice the size of France and Germany put together. The quantity of ice coming off Greenland's glaciers into the Atlantic has almost doubled in the past five years. It could raise the global sea level by 7m if it melted entirely. The arctic ocean is expected to be ice free by the end of the century. Sea levels could rise by 12 meters.

Greenhouse gases are being released into the atmosphere 30 times faster than the rate that produced extreme global warming 55 million years ago. We are already reaping the effects of these changes. The hurricane season is longer, and hurricane intensity and scope have increased dramatically. This is directly attributible to rising ocean temperatures since hurricanes derive their energy directly from the oceans. Hurricane Katrina is just the most recent example of the ferocity that can produce devastation over extremely large areas. As ocean temperatures rise, hurricanes will become more destructive in direct correlation.

Tornadoes are produced when cold air masses and warm air masses collide. They are becoming more destructive as well as warm air masses become warmer. As sea levels rise, lower lying coastal areas will become inundated. This destruction will start gradually and accumulate. Already we are seeing that the destruction in Louisiana will not be fixed before the next hurricane season is here. This pounding will continue year after year and only get worse as global warming proceeds and as more greenhouse gases are dumped ionto the atmosphere.

Consider these facts:

Most of the United States has already warmed, in some areas by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, no state in the lower 48 states experienced below average temperatures in 2002. The last three five-year periods are the three warmest on record.

Many places in North America had their hottest seasons or days on record in the late 1990s.

Since 1980, the earth has experienced 19 of its 20 hottest years on record, with 2005 and 1998 tied for the hottest and 2002 and 2003 coming in second and third.

America's cars and trucks pump 1.4 billion tons of heat-trapping CO2 into the atmosphere every year. Power plants are also big contributors to global warming. The technology exists to reduce the amount of pollutants from cars and trucks. Auto manufacturers, however, are reluctant to incorporate it. Courts have ruled that the US Government is not responsible for carbon dioxide emissions spewed from cars and trucks. George Bush refused to sign the Kyoto Treaty which would have reduced carbon dioxide emissions.