It's -10 degrees, so much for global warming...

If I hear 1 more person say that to me I might just slap them upside the head, so watch out those of you who see me on a regular basis! I guess it's kind of a funny statement when you are having a winter like this where the high and low for the day is 6 degrees, but I digress. I sometimes wonder if people who make that statement actually know anything about global warming. So here's a little back ground info:

I have a BS in biology and have study science and the environment for a number of years so I will try and give you the less sophisticated version. Basically all the fuel we burn, cars we drive and factories we run create a bunch of exhaust. All the chemicals in the exhaust get trapped in our atmosphere and cause the planet to slowly warm. That's global warming. What people don't understand is just how that changes the planet. It not only causes the overall temperature of the earth to rise, but causes sea levels to change. If you know anything about weather patterns you know our weather is effected by ocean currents and temperatures. So if you get extra warm ocean temps then you can have a different type of storm or winter. Examples are El Nino and La Nina...I'm not going to get into all of that, but just know that as temperatures rise, so do ocean temperatures and water levels.

All of this change in the water causes drastic changes in our weather. So you get hotter summers and colder winters. When we get a snowstorm it's no longer a few flurries it's 8-12 inches at once. When it's a heatwave it's not just 1 or 2 hot days, but 5 or 6 in a row. All of these changes impact a number of things including: growing seasons, travel, and wildlife to name a few.

I could continue on, but I don't want this to be too long. So just know this, I believe climate change is THE biggest problem our planet is facing. Wars and conflict are never ending, oil prices are going to continue to go up, no one on this earth will ever solve all the problems. But climate change will kill us all in the end if we do nothing about it. I'm not trying to sound all doomsdayish, but Mother Nature will kill us all faster and swifter than we can kill ourselves. I think people are finally starting to see just how serious this issue is and if you are one of the few who haven't then maybe I should point out a few facts. The hurricane season comes earlier and lasts longer now with much more intense and powerful storms. Tornadoes are popping up much more frequently and in areas that usually don't have them. Earthquakes are becoming stronger and occurring in areas that are not used to feeling them. All things in nature are cyclical and all things in nature have an order of checks and balances. If we continue on our consumeristic path mother nature will surely put us back in check.

Also if you haven't seen An Inconvenient Truth it is a must see on my list. Please rent it or borrow it from a friend or a local library.
Here are a few other places to go for more info:
http://www.globalwarming.org/gw101
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html