I have recently read an article in The Independent entitled, Global Warming: Will you listen now, America? I am very alarmed at the information it confirmed. We have been hearing about Alaska seeing the most dramatic effects of Global Warming.
I have recently been to Canada where the temperatures were in the low to mid 80's. I spoke to quite a few people there who said the weather was above normal temperatures- enough to remark. As far as Alaska goes- it isn't just seeing a few mild side effects of some complicated scientific phenomena- it's really melting!
Senators Hilary Clinton (D) and John McCain (R) went to Alaska from August 16th-18th and saw this first hand. They were, "confronted by melting permafrost and shrinking glaciers [at Kenai Fjords National Park] and heard from native Inuit that rising sea levels were altering their lives." (The Independent)
This was reported recently by the Arctic Council, consisting of 300 scientists from eight countries, including the US, where they all agreed that human inflicted global warming is already having catastrophic effects on the people and wildlife in the Arctic.
NASA studies prove that the polar ice cap has shrunk by 250 million acres! That's the equivalent to the size of Texas, Maryland, and California combined together. The ice cap is retreating at a rate of 9% per decade, meaning if we don't do something now to slow the pace, the entire polar ice cap could completely melt and disappear by the end of this century. That isn't just a problem for Arctic life, but for the whole planet!
The damage they saw was crying out desperately for our attention. Everything from wildlife and nature to the daily lives of the Inuit are being threatened. Alaska may seem lightyears away, but everything is connected. The effects are worldwide, they're even in our own backyards. The extremes in temperatures, the strange weather.. climate change is here, whether we chose to acknowledge it or not.
The ecosystem isn't isolated to its location, it is connected to everything- from the frogs and bees in your yard to the polar bears facing extinction in the arctic. As enormous a problem as this may seem to be, we created it and we can fix it. Please be aware of this real threat and see what you can do to help.
Greenpeace on Global Warming
Global Warming- in plain English
*Global Warming- Undo It
Natural Resources Defense Council
Global Warming.org- Alaska
Global Waming.org
NYPIRG (New York Public Interest Research Group) on Global Warming
