I woke up this morning to the sound of birds singing. When I put my feet on the floor, they weren’t met by icy coldness that made me want to crawl back under the covers. I didn’t even have to warm up my car before leaving for work. So, you may be asking yourself, what is the problem? Well for starters, it’s December. Usually at this time of year cars are buried under snow and temperatures peak at a low 30 degrees. This year, things have been a little different, with rain falling instead of snow and temperatures ranging from 40 to 60 degrees.
Call me a liberal, tree-hugging, environmentalist if you want, but I’m not afraid to acknowledge the fact that for several years, the climate has been changing in some drastic ways. Call it global warming or cyclical climate change, the results are the same. The ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising, and warmer temperatures in the ocean are intensifying the strength of hurricanes and storm systems throughout the world.
The Environmental Advocates of New York [EANY] recently released a study entitled “Forecast for New York: Projected Global Warming Impacts and Next Steps.” According to their study, local residents who have seen major flooding twice in the last two years, may be in for more trouble. “Projections show that the 100-year flood event, a storm of great intensity that occurs only about once every 100 years, will come at shorter intervals as the climate warms,” the study reads. In addition to flooding, warming climates tend to cause increased respiratory illnesses, such as asthma, and make it easier for infections and disease to spread.
Scientists have been warning us about global warming for years, and the time has come to take action. No one wants to believe the carelessness of man kind may someday be responsible for the end of the human race, but if we continue to ignore the signs, that is exactly what is going to happen. I hope all the evidence is wrong and global warming is nothing more than an environmentalist’s bad dream, but it’s always best to plan for the worst scenario, and hope for the best outcome. We need to start putting pressure on government officials to limit emissions rates, promote mass transit, and encourage recycling, and whether global warming is a myth or not, we all need to do our part to keep the planet clean, because it’s not going to happen on its own.