I wrote this in my website blog. I thought I would share it here. Plus I am wondering what other people's opinions are on it.

So many times in my life I have heard people say who cares about the environment and the atmosphere it does not affect me directly. So it will be a problem in the future but that does not hurt me at all.

In reality yet it does. We as human beings are slowly killing the earth. The atmosphere that keeps us safe from the vacuum of space is slowly being eaten away by green house gases. The atmosphere does not protect us like it did when I was a little girl from ultraviolet rays. Its saddens me that in 30 years the atmosphere has degraded so much. There have been great changes in the weather patterns and temperature. Granted there is a great deal that has changed int emission standards over the years. However it just is not enough. We burn fossil fuels to make our cars go. Those fuels now days have been treated to burn more cleanly but its still not quite enough. I know that our president is encouraging the building of more nuclear power plants, tax breaks for hybrid car manufacturers, and clean burning diesel fuel cars. I have been watching the gas prices even though I don’t drive. Diesel fuel costs about the same as regular gasoline. That is the cheapest of the three types. Granted the reasons the president is trying to move us to hybrid cars and get more nuclear power plants out there is he is trying to get us less dependent on foreign oil companies. But it also has the distinct advantage of helping the environment.

I read an article about how the ozone is slowly being disinegrated, which I have known for a very long time. I first learned about the greenhouse effect when I was a young girl of around 10. Not that I am not young at 31 but you get my drift. The oceans have risen around 1.26 inches each decade. That is almost 4 inches in my lifetime. I know that does not seem like much, but think about the millions or even billions of gallons of water that is. That has to be coming from someplace. And it is coming from the polar icecaps. Now think about this if I manage to live to be 100 years old which I hope I do…. that is 69 years from now. If this warming trend continues the oceans will rise approximately another 9 inches. And think about this it may be even bigger if we do not find a way to slow down the break down of the ozone.

You say that this does not really affect us now. I gotta tell you that it does. If the atmosphere and the ozone were not there we would be dead. As you know the earth has weather as do the other planets in the solar system. The sun is no exception. The only thing is the sun’s storms sometimes leave the sun and go into space and attack the earth. These are called solar storms and solar flares. Our magnetic field and admosphere are what keep those storms from slamming into the earth and killing us all. There is a possibility that a really strong solar storm could at any time slam into this earth now and destroy our atmosphere. We have been luck so far that it has not. However if we continue this trend we are on of slowly destroying the ozone and the atmosphere…who knows we may just see the end of the world in our own lifetimes.

 

 

 

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

That is very true. I think more needs to be done to help the ozone layer. It saddens me that there are so many people who don't seem to care about it. The hole in the ozone layer is affecting people today yet people don't seem to see that.

Because of the hole in the ozone layer, the occurance of skin cancer has risen greatly over the last few decades, particularly in Australia. Still, people don't care.

I was watching a documentary thing a few weeks ago about the effects of greenhouse gasses. They found that the hole in the ozone layer has actually caused the earth to heat up. So it's not just global warming that is causing the world to get warmer. Some scientists did a study in New York just after 9/11 when all the airoplanes were grounded. They found that during those few days that there were no planes in the air, the temperature rose by a few degrees. When the plains were able to fly again, the temperature dropped again back down to normal.

They've found that pollution in the atmosphere is actually causing the world to cool down. Because Pollution particles are bigger than water...and pollution goes into the atmosphere and often ends up in clouds...the particles in clouds are bigger, meaning more heat from the sun is reflected.

So now we're in a catch 22...If we reduce pollution, the world will heat because of the hole in the ozone layer. If we keep polluting though, the world will stay cool but the hole in the ozone layer will get bigger.

I think we should reduce pollution though. If we don't do it now, the world's only gonna get more and more polluted, making the problem even bigger for later on when people do finally decide to do something...then it could be too late.

 

 

 

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

Dont cry sob..WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
It does sadden me, All this polution damaging the ozone layer.
Still millions of people and factories are poluting it even now.
Theres not much only you can do.
But if we all work together,
Only if we did, Imagine that.

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

It makes me pause and ponder over the point and sudden grief engulfs me when I consider the kind of environment damage we have witnessed in the last 100 years. To be precise the so called "good for technological advances" last 100 years of the history of mankind have been the most devastating for the environment as well. It gives me creeps just thinking of where we are actually heading and what all small steps(totally inadequate as they are) are being taken to counteract the heavy damage we have done so far and still are doing. We all have the power to make a difference no matter how small it is. We cant just keep sitting waiting for the govt people to do something rather we should join the action in some way or the other and that would make a difference.

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

i use to care, but then i suddenly relized, that no ones doing anything. the people in power are to concerned abotu their own pockets or winning the next election to actually take a unpopular root and restrict our use of flues, electricity or gas, oil. what ever.

the way i see it, the morons and morals, the morals of life, will end up collapsing on themselves, and i shall laugh when it does.

i know it sounds mean and pompous. but its true, when a humanity chooses morals over logic and reason, then humanity gives up its right to make any choice. just look at america, they voted bush in twice? im not mocking americans, just the peopel who voted for him.

its sad to think the human race is lead by freaking morons.

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

The only reason this is not being looked into more carefully, is based on big-business and what they have to lose. Oil companies and whatnot...

They do not want people interested in the environment, not do they themselves want to become interested, so they make environmentalists look like no-good losers, when it is they themselves that are the no-good losers.

It's true-i'm sure you've heard the terms so dearly associated with environmentalists, tree-huggers, granola-crunchers, and many other 'clever' remarks, just to slander what these guys are doing, which is a very noble cause.

They continue to laugh in the scientists faces when they tell the world about some imment threat to our very exsistance, because they have the money, they have the power, what cruel fate could befall them?

Environmentalist are trying to SAVE THE WORLD, and they have immense numbers of sound scientific research to back them up, yet they are being thrashed around by a small number of small-minded individuals who could care less about the future. YOUR world. The freakin earth for god's sake!

Let's get angry!

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

Well... the future does sound rather bleak, wouldnt you agree?

The thing is that, yes, indeed, the environment is deteriorating at an alarming pace, and that global state and industrial indifference is simply shocking. It seems like people are sort of hoping that technology, and relative self-restraint, are going to solve the problem sometime in the future, so that now we can pollute all we want without any worries and guilt.

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do so far (in terms of policy making, a power that belongs -sigh- to the ones actually pushing the earth to its limits). However, each and every one of us CAN push the scales a little.

I mean, we can all join an environmental group, or increasingly watch the way we dump our waste or the kind of waste we produce. Also, let's not forget, that ALL of us (at least over 18, that is) can change the way that we VOTE, and we can still vote against governments that are NOT environment friendly. Sounds dumb? It's not, it's a great start, and unfortunately, most people don't even realise how strong the vote is.

Do it. Your vote can be an indispensable ally in helping save the environment. Don't just abstain- vote for the green guy [well, DO check other parts of his agenda as well ].

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)