writeaboutwarming

I was listening to Science Friday on NPR today, and Ira Flatow said that increasing numbers of people now understand that climate change is really happening. He or a guest remarked that many of those same people ask, What can I do to improve the situation? Since that's a subject I haven't written about in awhile, and since there is so much each of us can do, let's talk about it. Where to start - what we eat? what we wear? what we drive? There are right answers to each of those questions. If you're eating conventionally grown food, that needs to change, because foods that "require" chemicals to be grown are killing all of us, both because of airborne pollutants, and because of the poisons that wind up in our bodies. While it is difficult to eat a diet that consists only of organic foods, there are so many organic options (especially produce, dairy foods, and meat) that you should acquaint yourself with what's available. The end result will be healthier bo...

October 17, 2011 - A report has just been issued which states that animals and insects will adapt to climate change by becoming smaller. I'm sure this has something to do with the ratio of volume to surface area, not that I'm smart enought to explain exactly how they affect one another. What immediately comes to my mind is the fact that humans have been trending in the opposite direction; we've been getting taller as nutrition has improved since World War II, and recently, we've been getting substantially heavier, as well. It's my guess that those trends are about to be thrown into full reverse; our food-growing capacity has been affected negatively on a worldwide basis by climate disruption. Because of the instability of our climate systems, finding ways to compensate will be very difficult. We all need to remember to be VERY grateful this Thanksgiving. Hold onto your seats, everybody: news doesn't get much worse than this. According to the October 5 Radio Ecos...

October 25, 2010 – The White Hou se relea se d a report on the 14 th of this month about climate change. The subject of the report is adapting to climate change. Not preventing, little in the way of mitigating. Adapting. Yes, I know – it’s too late for prevention. I also know that actions being taken on the city and state levels will help to mitigate some of the effects of climate change. I know that anything the federal government does is best done quietly, without fanfare. I know that the EPA is kicking into high gear (and that the Republicans only await a favorable verdict on Election Day before they act to stop it). Still: how very inspirational it must be to our international “partners” to know that we are devoting our se lves, at the national level, to adaptation. The title of the report says it best: Progress Report of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force. So much said with so few words; this title speaks of mis se d opportunities, of mis...