Connecting Dots of Climate Change is Bleak Business

[marmar]

from CommonDreams:


Published on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 by the Portland Press Herald (Maine)
Connecting Dots of Climate Change is Bleak Business
by Daniel T. Masterson

Fear can mobilize the masses. Even more so if people truly believe that their fears are founded.

I believe that the recent wave of unusually warm weather has been terribly scary. If you connect the dots of climate data from around the country, things begin to look bleak.

It is not just the region where you live; huge portions of our country are experiencing warmer-than-usual weather. The climate of the expansive geographical region of the United States is changing; be afraid -- and be inspired to act.

Fear of Nazi domination inspired us to fight in World War II. Fear of communism legitimated the Cold War. Fear of terrorism perpetuates the War on Terror or, as it is now being called, the Long War.

Though it may be argued that the U.S. government purposefully inspired these fears in its own citizens, what happens if the citizens get afraid all on their own?

Can we inspire fear in our government? Is the U.S. government, as our pristine Declaration of Independence claims, truly beholden to its people?

Climate change might be hard for the vast majority of people to perceive. Each person's experience is limited to his location, but it must be made explicitly clear that a network of catastrophic changes is affecting people throughout our nation and around the world.

Throughout the entire country, temperature lows have been a far cry from their normal levels. Temperatures have been 15 to 20 degrees higher than normal lows for mid-December. In Maine, since November, this year's lows have consistently been 20-30 degrees higher than what is expected by analysts. .......(more)

The rest of the article is at: http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0109-33.htm

[jwirr]

1. I am reading Al Gore's book called Earth in Balance. Only on

Part 1 Chapter 3 and I am scared. Fear can be a motivator as we have seen in the last 6 years with rover & *ss. Unfortunately, it can swing either way - toward positive action or selfish violence. Hopefully we will have a government in a few years that gives us positive encouragement and leadership.