Scientists who perpetuate the claim that humanity is not the primary cause of global warming either are quacks or have their work funded in one way or another by industries and their financial allies who profit from the destruction of the earth.
I have yet to encounter an argument against the fundamental truths of global warming which did not fit the previous sentence. As Vice President Al Gore recently told us, the planet has a fever.
Where there is legitimate debate is just how bad the situation is as it stands today. The options go from bad to horrific to doomsday scenarios. In the interest of holding my audience, I limit myself to conclusions which I know can survive the most strident scrutiny.
Not surprisingly, since I am running to represent Florida’s eighth congressional district in Washington, I will focus this post on the Sunshine State.
The explanation is quite simple. The once-permanent ice shelf of Greenland will melt completely in a few short years. The damage is done.
If we parked every car, decommissioned every fossil-fueled power plant and extinguished every forest fire in every nation of the world, we could not save the Greenland ice shelf.
Can I provide a definite year in which the last layer of ice will fall into the North Atlantic Ocean?
No but the best-case as I see it is the year 2025.
What I can say for certain is that the rapid melting underway there today will cause a permanent sea rise of between two and three feet by the year 2015, perhaps as early as 2010.
What does that mean to Florida? Visit the following URLs for the answer:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/covers/issues/2007/0312.html
and
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/03/06/eco0312
Florida’s eighth congressional district includes the heart of our tourism industry, including Orlando International Airport, the busiest in the state, the major theme parks, including Walt Disney World, and many of our largest hotels.
Even if the first round of sea rise does not impact Orlando directly, the Sports Illustrated story linked above paints a very gloomy picture: every major professional sporting venue in Florida, Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa Bay, will face great challenges from the encroaching seas.
Clearly, if Sports Illustrated runs a theoretical image of the Dolphin Stadium infield under two feet of salt water and states “Global warming is not coming; it is here.”, we have passed the point of serious doubt in the commercial news media that global warming is not a myth and that the consequences will be here sooner than we like.
Sustainable Justice For All!
Corbett Kroehler
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Comments (3)
Corbett,
I clicked the link to the Sports Illustrated article and was shocked to see the photo. I can't beleive there is anyone disputing global warming when Sports Illustrated is showing it on the front cover. They have nothing to gain by that coverage.
So here is my question to you. In an upcoming blog post, can you give some solutions for what we can do as people of earth and US citizens to help stop or reverse global warming?
Jennifer
Posted by Jennifer on June 7, 2007 6:35 PM
really interesting and informative
David
Posted by David on June 7, 2007 9:28 PM
Jennifer,
Thanks for submitting your thoughts. Your grasp of the significance of the Sports Illustrated cover story is telling and gratifying. I will be delighted to mention solutions in my future posts. Indeed, the one which I am composing today and you will see next week will deal with the hype and reality of carbon offets, also known as green tags and renewable energy credits.
I am grateful for your attention to this issue and am hopeful that you will find my future work equally compelling. Please see the following URL for more information about immediate steps you can take:
http://www.fightglobalwarming.com It is published by Environmental Defense, an organization which gets the policy right, the science right and the politics right.
Posted by Corbett Kroehler on June 12, 2007 12:06 PM