Whenever the weather is atypical I hear comments about how the person talking is certain it’s due to global warming. I’m not convinced it’s that simple.
However, this morning I read an article by Bettina Boxall in the June 8, 2012 LA Times that a group of 22 well-respected scientists from around the world are agreeing that the population growth (more than 7 billion), rapidly rising temperatures, and environmental destruction, (such as clearing more than 40% of the earth’s surface for development and agriculture), are rapidly setting the earth “towards calamitous – and irreversible – biological changes.”
In a paper published in the June 2012 journal of Nature, these thinkers have concluded that what’s happening today is similar to what caused mass extinctions and permanently altered the earth’s biosphere many eons ago on our planet. For instance, they state that the increase in carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is making the ocean more acidic and less habitable to sea life.
And of course, that’s only the tip of the iceberg so to speak. The end result of what we are doing is creating conditions on the earth that are approaching the tipping point.
Now I don’t have any reason not to believe these esteemed folks. But I just wonder what needs to happen to get everyone on the same page to do something to turn the tide. Around the world and in our own country, we humans can’t agree on the minutest issues, much less work together for the common good.
Does anyone have any constructive suggestions? If so, please let me know at Facebook!
