Fact or Fiction

Hi Everyone,

Today's topic has very unfortunately become a very hot button political issue. The problem should have never become political, but in today's Washington, D.C., what else would you expect. If one side says it is dark outside the other side will disagree saying the opposite.

So what is today's topic? Global warming. As always, I like to deal with facts and just the facts. Not innuendo, spin or outright lies. So let's check out some facts about global warming from the 6/23 issue of Time magazine.

1) Weather records have been kept in this country since the mid 1800's.

2) Since the mid to late 1800's, at the start of the industrial revolution, man has pumped an unknown amount  of pollutants into our atmosphere. While at the same time, more forests were being wiped out for their wood.

3) Scientists have already documented a 5" to 8" increase in the sea level around South Florida over the past 50 years.

4) The first 13 years of this century were among the hottest since records have been kept.

5) California is in the midst of the worst ever drought in their history.

6) With each passing year, forest fires burn more and more acreage, especially in the West.

7) Not only the rate, but also the amount of polar ice melting not only affect sea levels, but also affects weather patterns around the world.

8) Just during the last 4 years, from the mid-Atlantic up the northeast coast, has seen more severe summer and winter storms. Just at my home, 60 miles north of NYC, lately when it rains, it's never a little shower, when it rains it is more like the sky just opens up and deluges us. For years now, during the winter, we don't get a lot of little snow storms, we get dumped on with 6 or10 or 14 or more inches of snow. Schools around here been talking about setting aside more snow days in addition to the 5 or so days already allotted.

Those are the indisputable scientifically proven facts. There are more, but you get the picture. But here is another fact, only 40% of Americans "strongly agreed" that the earth is getting warmer. That is a very sad number. I believe that our polarized politics is at the very least, creating our apathy towards global warming. In other countries, it is the majority of people who believe that our earth is getting warmer. The problem here is that Republicans have outright rejected climate science. Kinds of reminds me when the Catholic church told all that the earth was flat and that the earth was the center of our universe. A very long time ago science proved them all wrong. So why doesn't the scientific proof convince them now? Good question. Science is science and not believing sends us back to the dark ages.

Global warming is occurring now! And common sense says that now is the time to start acting not in the future. The future is also now! Please don't let spin and deceit guide you into thinking that we humans have not had a lot of influence on this problem and that global warming is happening as you read this.

Enough said.

Til next week.

Peter