Category Archives: blog

U.S. reports that global warming impact already here!

The White House released the U.S. National Climate Assessment report, by 300 scientists and experts. It reports, “The effects of human-induced climate change are being felt in every corner of the United States, scientists reported Tuesday, with water growing scarcer in dry regions, torrential rains increasing in wet regions, heat waves becoming more common and more severe, wildfires growing worse, and forests dying under assault from heat-loving insects.”

The U.S. report is consistent with the U.N.’s IPCC global report released last week that warns of dire shortages of energy and food, and escalating damage from storms along with increasing drought, all from human-induced global warming. The U.N. report predicts that we have only ten to fifteen years to bend the carbon emissions curve downward or the costs of global warming will be astronomical.

Fortunately last month the Supreme Court upheld the authority of the EPA to regulate smog from coal plants, which generate electricity and are the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions. The Federal government must take the lead in helping our country reduce greenhouse emissions! ALL businesses and consumers contribute to global warming daily when we drive our cars and use energy at work and home.

More coming on what we can do in our personal lives to help humans survive on the planet.

Celebrate Earth Day!

Earth is suffering and needs help, if humans want to continue enjoying earth and our lives here.

The United Nations has released three reports on climate change, written by the world’s leading experts, in the past six months. The first report confirms that global warming is caused mostly by burning fossil fuels (think oil and gas). The second report confirms the profound effects that have already happened, including shrinking glaciers and persistent droughts, with rising seas and dwindling food crops on the horizon. The third report released this week is ominous—despite large investments in more efficient energy and alternative energy sources by the U.S., Europe, and Chine, emissions of greenhouse gases have risen twice as fast in the past decade as they did in the preceding decades. This means that we are nowhere near meeting the target of limiting the rise in global temperature to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above the preindustrial level—beyond that rise in temperature, our earth faces truly catastrophe outcomes. To reach this goal, we must reduce greenhouse gases by 40% to 70% by 2050. This requires a revolution in the way we produce and consume energy! What can you do to cut your use of gasoline in half?

U.S. needs to be more liveable!

An important index that measures “liveability”, which includes how well people are doing (and not just average income) puts the U.S. in 16th place, out of 132 countries.

Amazing! With our high average income, the well-being of U.S. people should be higher. We underperform because our economic and military strengths don’t create well-being for the average citizen.

This index, called the Social Progress Index, shows the U.S. excels in higher education, but we rank poorly in health (70th), in ecosystem sustainability (69th), and in basic education (39th). We don’t even rank well in access to water and sanitation (34th) and or personal safety (31st).

The U.S. must do better in using our high income to provide a good life for everyone in a sustainable environment!

 

The U.S. must do better in using our high income to provide a good life for everyone in a sustainable environment.