Friday, October 13, 2006

Just because it's snowing in October doesn't mean global warming is a myth.

I've heard a couple people exclaiming that global warming can't be happening because it's snowing already. Well... global warming doesn't necessarily mean that the earth is going to get a lot warmer right away. Weather will become increasingly sporadic and drastic. This week, Tuesday here in Waterloo was 20 degrees outside, two days later it's snowing.

Global warming is happening and we all have have to come to terms that WE ARE going to see the impacts of this within our lifetime. So, instead of screaming "we should have listened!!!" like they did off the South Park episode about global warming, we should all act now.

I watched a really good documentary on CBC Newsworld a couple weeks ago called Can We Save Planet Earth?. It was about global warming and its impacts now and future impacts. Pretty scary. I went to their site and pulled off these facts. Check out the site for more information. I'm trying to find the documentary somewhere else so I can show it at school or something. I will keep everyone updated if I am able to make this happen. However! you should watch the Town Hall debate which was taped following the presentation of the documentary. Politicians among community activists and citizens debate how Canada has and will be dealing with climate change.

http://www.cbc.ca/bigpicture/planet.html

FACTS:

  • 9 out of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred since 1990.
  • 19 of the 20 hottest years on record have occurred since 1980.
  • 2005 was the hottest year on record according to the researchers at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
  • This past winter was the warmest Canadian winter on record.
  • France gets 80% of its power from nuclear and the U.S., Russia, Asia, Canada are all looking at renewing their nuclear programs.
  • Iceland presently gets 72% of its energy from renewable sources.
  • Canada's greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2003 were up 24 per cent (from 1990 levels). Canada is ahead of the U.S. in the list of industrialized nations who have increased their emissions.
  • Alberta oil sands are officially the second-largest source of crude oil - 15% of world reserves - on the planet after Saudi Arabia.
  • Canada's oil industry recently surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the primary supplier of fossil fuels to the United States.
  • Each barrel of oil from the Alberta oil sands creates more greenhouse gas emissions than 4 cars in a day.
  • Article 605a of NAFTA says even if Canada experiences energy shortages, it cannot reduce the percentage it exports to the U.S. without also reducing our own consumption.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good stuff Trish. Keep the heat on. Your generation has the chance to make a difference.

Archie Barr, Kingston ( Your Great Uncle).