iluvmyloser

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abby724

Living in South California, to answer your first questions... Hell yes. We've just recently had rain, the first in a long time. And there was a time early of last year that we went on without rain for... seven months (save for that freak cold snap but that just made everything worse). Nowadays, whenever we get rain, it's only a little, and not like that substantial stuff we used to get seven years ago. The mountains and the empty plots of land with only grass used to be so green... Lush, lush, stuff. And now, it's just dead. Temperatures have gone up a bit, too... Five years ago, it used to cool down in September, to maybe, 74°F / 18°C, but now it's usual to have 87°F / 30.6°C in the middle of October.

I've been noticing how dirty the sky lines have been getting, too... The rain used to clean up the air a bit, leaving it all deep, clear, and blue. Seven years ago, the sky was almost always clean. Nowadays, it always looks like this. The sudden population boom (more people have moved in since then) doesn't help any, either. And, unfortunately, most of the people moving in... Well, let's just say I've seen more litter around the streets, parks, and roads that I used to. Oh, and I hate long road trips... You just see more dead mountains, more smog, and more big rigs pumping up smoke into the atmosphere... Though on occasion I see turbines out in the middle of nowhere... And cows. Poor, poor, innocent cows, living so close to the freeway... The roads are almost always a bit congested, too. I feel glad that I'm inside a car with air-conditioning whenever I'm on a freeway. Also, since I live somewhat close to the burn areas, some mountains... are bare and brown. Flash flood warning areas, you know? Since there are no plants to hold the soil together. Though the old ones were already dead...

Oh, and it's not just the environment and the weather that's messed up, too. It's only just now that birds in California have started to migrate to Mexico... They usually do that in October, but since it's been so warm, they've been staying longer. I've head this has happened in Canada, too... That the geese are staying and dirtying up the lakes with an extra +30cm / one foot of guano on the lake floors. And what's with the flowers? Don't get me wrong, I love roses, but my mother's yellow ones used to die around October. They're still alive, though they are just starting to wilt from the cold.

I know climate change has happened before, and that it's a natural occurrence. But what I think is not natural are the new extremes I'm seeing within such a short period of time compared to what's happened before...

Can we do anything to stop climate change? I don't think so... Like I said above, it's a natural phenomenon. And what humans ahve done to speed it up... I'm not sure we can reverse those effects. I do believe we can slow down what's happenning, though. But it first has to start with the United States. If one of the world's superpowers isn't going to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, then it's obviously setting a bad example to other countries. Australia will also have to change if anyone wants China and thet other countries who haven't associated themselves with the protocol at all to turn heads.

Is the public willing to help? Are they ready? Well, it seems a good majority, but then there's another good majority who'd rather have a sports car with a horsepower of 300 than use something like a hybrid, a hydro, an electric, or compressed air car, which, by the way, do exist, and some existing models, so far, can reach 60mph / 100kmph. (Watch the Science channel special Future Car some time.) So, perhaps not all of the public is ready yet... But at least a good majority is. Enough to make a difference, but the government needs to move in if the world is going to see some bigger differences. I mean, look at all the farmers clearing away rainforests for more land. People are not going into conserving the planet if they can't conserve themselves. These people need incentives to join, whether it's a little extra pocket money, or major fines for logging and the likes. Genetically-modified crops and plants could help with this, too... If farmers had genetically-modified corn cobs that could produce twice the harvest in half the space, they might not be so desperate for land, right? Projects researching and legalizing these crops would ahve to be funded, and your average third-world country farmer probably isn't going to volunteer. So yes, I think the public can make a change... But it won't be as effective as with their governments' support.

Hmmm, what do I think of those who deny to help the situation... Move them to Greenland, Alaska, or Antarctica for a few years. Show them before-and-after pictures of glaciers, forests, rivers, and lakes. Ask them how they feel about dolphins going extinct, people's lives being endangered by drought, and having to wear air masks every time they go outside. Those people... I'm not fond of them at all, especially those working at oil companies. Sure, if everyone switched to solar, air, water, and natural-gas-powered technologies, those guys would be out of jobs and the guys at the top would lose the multi-million dollar industry that they leech off of, but really, what would you rather go for? I mean, look at it like this:

Okay, let's say that human-assisted climate change doesn't exist, and that humans aren't doing anything to make it worse. And then, let's say humans are taking action to reverse climate change. Human-assisted climate change isn't happening in this scenario;the world isn't heating up drastically or anything like that, but humans are spending and wasting money on the issue. So,the worst consequences of taking action on something that doesn't exist, is economic issues. Maybe at the worst, global economic depression. But then you look at the other side of the spectrum... What if human-assisted climate change really was happening, but we didn't take action? I'm sure you've heard a few predictions, right? More Katrinas, land (including Florida, London, and New York) being eaten up by the ocean, farms killed by droughts and storms, scarcity of sealife (and seafood! No, my sashimi...) caused by lack of habitat (dead coral reefs, sediments polluting the ocean, oil spills which could also be caused by storms, fights over freshwater (it'salready happening over Lake Chad, though a 2001 report concluded the lake's drying up probably has nothing to do with global warming), people getting cancer and other illnesses from inhaling polluted air, whole natural food chains spiraling into discord, diseases propagating as never before as a result of environmental catastrophes damaging septic systems and a lack of political unity to uphold a progrma like the Red Cross, etc... oh yeah, and then there's money problems. I'm not sure a nation can recover from such disasters without spending at least a little money... And unfortunately, it usually takes at least millions of dollars to recover from ONE disaster. What about a bunch simumltaneously? Just look at what Hurricane Katrina's cost. What if there were storms like the worldwide? It's a little extreme, but what if the worst does happen? This argument is elaborated here. I thank Tim Buckley for posting it on his site...

So, I ask you. Is it a better deal to preserve the planet, or not?

Did I go overboard again? Oh, and I forgot to put if I recycle or not... Well, I do, but I won't elaborate on it because I'm afraid of the character limit.

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iluvmyloser

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P.R. Princess

yea i hate it i live in VA and we normally get snow and we have been having like 70 degree weather about noew. i hate it.

and yea i see the trash all the time its disgusting. and i do recycle i try and recycle like everything, and about the poeple who dont care well they are sorry.
i dont care if you think im being mean well to bad cause its true. it really disgusts me. i dont see how anyone cant take a minute out of the day and put their trash in a garbage can they just throw it out on the ground.

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_gwenibe_

Australia has officially committed to the Kyoto Protocol WOOT. Now the USA is the only country that hasn't committed to it..

anywho..

on the topic of litter..well those people are just lazy. How hard is it to put a plastic bag some where in the car so the rubbish doesn't go out the window? Any ways..what comes around goes around, they will probably end up swimming or drinking that waste some time in the near future XD

As for enhanced global warming, some of us are feeling the effect now. One minute drought the next flood. Farmers can't grow food so we have a rise in food cost (and it really hurts >_<), a dieing great barrier reef, tropical diseases in non-tropical areas, thousands displaced every year due to extreme weather events.

Either way it's going to hurt us economically, especially if we don't do something now about it. And if governments think smart now, acting now won't loose jobs or hurt the economy. Not acting would be far worse than doing something now. Human induced or not, we are one with the environment not apart from it like many people think, so protecting it is only going to be beneficial for the survival of our children one way or the other

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sangogirl

yeah. well i live in texas and we texans have a huge fine that comes with littering and signs with our motto don't mess with texas and anti littering pics. still it is hard to find that many people who recycle (i am one of them) because the lack of avaliabity to find recycling plants. i started a recycling program in my school, the first it ever had. i was able to easily find a paper recycling place, and a can recycling place, but was unable to find a place that recycled plastic. i looked for hours online and made a few phone calls but to no avail. unfortunately, i was voted off as president and the recycling program was canceled, (the new president doesn't want to do the job i had to do). i don't think that's its that people don't want to recycle it think it's that they don't have easy acces to recycle

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bigfoot88

Hey look I'm all for finding an alternate fuel source & recycling and all that jazz. I do agree it's really disgusting to see liter all over believe me I've picked up trash before to clean my yard from people who throw trash when they drive by or trash from the elementary school by our house. Yes I know an elementary school littering.

But keep in mind you cannot ride of all pollution because you need pollution to survive. As for global warming I think it's just scam for some scientist to raise money for other things. Did you know that only 50% of scientists actually agree that global warming is true. Now see I can see the logic in the global warming theory but I have an issue with it. The dangerous CO2 that caused the hole in the Ozone can also be produced in many ways. It can be produced by all animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. Also doesn't Volcano’s produce CO2.

The issue I have with it is this; all these verities of things that produce CO2 have never caused a hole in the ozone before. That only when the industrial revolution started in the early 19th century would cause a hole in the ozone. As for the weather I think that all of you are just thinking way too much into this and just finding things that would support the global warming theory.

I mean look back at how the seasons in the past went. I can remember a winter when there was no snow then the next there was feet of snow. I can remember cold summers than the next summer days averaging in the 90s. The point I'm trying to get at is weather changes all the time it will happen and it has happen in the past. Wasn't there something called the little ice age when winter happen all year around. All I'm saying is that there are bigger things to worry about then the weather. I know I'm going to get a lot crap about this reply but honestly people just think about it doesn't make sense.

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_gwenibe_

Well.. I would think that all scientist think that global warming is true because...after all it is a natural, I mean without it..earth would be too cold for life. What some scientist are arguing over (though we are slowly coming to a general conclusion anyway) is enhanced global warming - whether or not humans are helping the temperatures way above their natural levels and since we've never had humans on the planet before pumping this much C02 in the atmosphere, we don't know the effect we are actually having on it. So really we don't know if this sudden rise in temperature and climate change has anything to do with us or not - hence why we have scientist arguing over it.


I can see why it get's confusing but CO2 levels have nothing to do with the ozone. This issue with the ozone was that other chemicals ( CFC's- one use was in fridges) were being released into the atmosphere and breaking up the ozone (which keeps deadly radiation out). That issue as been re solved and last I've heard/seen any major holes in the ozone are steadily repairing themselves since the use of the chemicals have dropped.

global warming and Co2 a different things. The emission of CO2 (natural or not) is being trapped into our atmosphere which (in simple terms) means that it keeps more heat in, on earth - hence the rise in temperature

and as for change in weather..well if this is a natural occurance or not..your still going to get more extreme weather events, more frequently/less frequently. It's surprising how much a rise in water temperature and change in currents effects the weather. Everything in this earth is so beautifully interconnected.

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!Mini Dev

We should sort out polution, i often recycile but occaisnonally i will just throw cans in regular bins, but never would i litter the floor that like the worst of the worst for the envourment, i hate litters if my mind isn't going blank i think it is illegal to litter?

Lasura

Sheesh... I think the world as we know it is deffientely comming to an end. For peace sakes! it is snowing in Turkey, the temperature is about -30 degrees while in Latvia, the temperature hasn't yet fallen bellow -10 degress and the snow melted in two days in my home town, which is more of a rural area and in a few hours in Riga, the capital.

But I am sure that the earth will recover and I think we've about earned to not recover... No one and nothing can make people care more appart from themselves so they should just open their eyes and take a look around.
And start blaming yourself more for what is happening around. It makes me so very mad when people say that global warming is a natural process and has happened many times before even without humans. Yes it has, but it doesn't tell us that we can go on polluting as we are because we are making this faster. People just don't want to take up responsibility.

And it really isn't that hard to make this world a little bit better. Just turning of all the lights when you don't need it, sorting your garbage a bit and putting the recycling material in the recycle bin, turning your washing mashine to 30 degrees and putting as much clothes as you can in, taking more people in your car or going by train for a change and other little, rather economical actually things would have some effect if all of us would start and try doing it.

I am always putting the recycling material where it should be an am trying to convince my family too that it is better And I sit in a dark room half the day, I wash clothes once a week and stuff all my and my sisters clothes in, I never EVER throw garbage on the gorund, unless it is organic material and I am in the middle of a forest- then it will do only good I try my best

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My recommended fanfic: "Dreamer" by Scourge

Mr. K

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