The ecological "footprint", especially here in the northeast, is much larger than average. People buy big houses, drive big SUV's, and waste energy in so many other ways it's sickening.
Here on LI, it seems everyone has to drive them, even though no one needs an SUV for anything (on road,anyway). They use 3-5 times as much gas as a car, pour out as much as 5 times pollutants, and are a danger to everyone on the road.
It seems the GMC series of beasts (the Yukon, Tahoe, Suburban) are the most popular with families 'round here, with the executives driving Hummers, Escalades, and Armadas to work.
Most ppl, when confronted with the question (why do you need such a big thing?) they say "well so my kids will be safe". Well your kids are going to grow up in a world ruined by your greed. Sea levels are rising, greenhouse gases are rising at record rates, earth is warmest in 2,000 years and you still have the gall to drive around in that big heap of metal?
What's happening to our planet is indeed quite rapid and scary. The patterns of flooding and drought we are seeing across the world, could very well be an effect of the rise in greenhouse gases, which is happening at record rates. The severe gypsy moth invasion in the woods, is going to be more frequent. This hurts the pine barrens too.
Greenhouse Gases Increased in 2005
Graph shows increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the past fifty years as measured over Mauna Loa, Hawaii. NOAA.
The level of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmsphere increased worldwide in 2005, according to a new NOAA survey.
Greenhouse gas levels rose to nearly 379 parts per million (ppm), an increase of 2 ppm over 2004. By contrast, levels before the industrial age began two centuries ago were about 100 ppm lower.
Warming Impacts Pacific Islanders
Sea level is rising in the Pacific Ocean nation of Vanuatu, highlighted in red on this false-color map. USGS.
In recent years, signs of global warming have appeared just about everywhere on the planet. Now, for perhaps the first time, it's forcing people to leave their homes.
According to a new United Nations report, about 100 people on the island of Tegua in Vanuata in the Pacific Ocean are moving to higher ground to escape rising seas.
Coconut trees along the island's shoreline are already standing under water. Some of the island's residents have taken apart their wooden homes and moved them about 600 yards inland. In recent years, storm-whipped seas have flooded the village about four or five times a year.
Climate experts say ocean levels could rise by nearly three feet (one meter) by the year 2100 due to global warming. Most of the extra water is from melting icecaps. The warming has been blamed on the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels in power plants, factories, and cars and trucks.
People in other areas of the Pacific Ocean are feeling the effects too. In Papua New Guinea, about 2,000 people living on the Cantaret Islands are making plans to move to higher ground on Bougainville Island.
Thousands of miles away in the chilly Arctic, global warming is also leaving its mark. Natives in the villages of Shishmaref in Alaska and Tuktoyaktuk in Canada may need to leave their villages as sea ice disappears around them.
Greenland's Glaciers are Melting
Greenland's melting glaciers are adding to rising sea levels. NOAA.
Evidence that Greenland is shrinking keeps piling up. As temperatures climb, Greenland's southern glaciers are getting swallowed up by the Atlantic Ocean at a faster and faster rate. Scientists say this big meltdown is having a much bigger effect on the rise of global sea level than once thought.
Its melting glaciers are adding twice as much ice to the ocean as compared to ten years ago. Greenland's total melting ice is responsible for about 17 percent of the 0.1 inch annual rise in global sea level. This is double the amount scientists estimated earlier.
Rising temperatures are causing the glaciers to flow faster. The increased flow causes more ice to melt into the sea. In 2005, Greenland lost 54 cubic miles of ice. In 1996, the total was only 22 cubic miles.
Scientists say the extra warmth increases melt water where the glaciers flow over rock. This helps ease the downhill flow of the massive rivers of ice as they steadily crawl towards the Atlantic.
NASA: 2005 Was Hottest Year
This map shows that average surface temperatures on Earth were way above normal (red) across much of the globe in 2005. NASA.
A NASA study says 2005 was the hottest year on Earth since global temperature record-keeping began in the 1890s. In fact, the five hottest years (2005, 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2004) have all been within the past decade.
In 2005, average global temperatures were slighty higher than they were in 1998. That year was marked by a strong El Niño which added to the warmth felt in some parts of the world. What is remarkable is that there was only a very weak El Niño in 2005.
Earlier this year, other climate studies named 2005 as the second warmest year after 1998. But NASA says those studies only looked at data through November and didn't include complete data for the Arctic. In the new NASA study, the weather was unusually mild in the Arctic in 2005. This helped boost the global average in 2005.
Over the past 30 years, Earth has warmed by 1.08 degrees Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius). Over the past century, the increase has been 1.44 degrees F (0.8 degrees C). Over the rest of the 21st century, global temperatures could rise from 6 to 10 degrees F (3 to 5 degrees C). This would make the Earth hotter than it's been in hundreds of thousands of years.
A temperature rise that big would have a disastrous effect on people, wildlife, and the environment. Sea level rise, coastal erosion, wildlife and plant extinctions, as well as floods, droughts, and other weather extremes will become bigger and bigger threats to the planet and its inhabitants.
Here on LI, it seems everyone has to drive them, even though no one needs an SUV for anything (on road,anyway). They use 3-5 times as much gas as a car, pour out as much as 5 times pollutants, and are a danger to everyone on the road.
It seems the GMC series of beasts (the Yukon, Tahoe, Suburban) are the most popular with families 'round here, with the executives driving Hummers, Escalades, and Armadas to work.
Most ppl, when confronted with the question (why do you need such a big thing?) they say "well so my kids will be safe". Well your kids are going to grow up in a world ruined by your greed. Sea levels are rising, greenhouse gases are rising at record rates, earth is warmest in 2,000 years and you still have the gall to drive around in that big heap of metal?
What's happening to our planet is indeed quite rapid and scary. The patterns of flooding and drought we are seeing across the world, could very well be an effect of the rise in greenhouse gases, which is happening at record rates. The severe gypsy moth invasion in the woods, is going to be more frequent. This hurts the pine barrens too.
Greenhouse Gases Increased in 2005
Graph shows increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the past fifty years as measured over Mauna Loa, Hawaii. NOAA.
The level of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmsphere increased worldwide in 2005, according to a new NOAA survey.
Greenhouse gas levels rose to nearly 379 parts per million (ppm), an increase of 2 ppm over 2004. By contrast, levels before the industrial age began two centuries ago were about 100 ppm lower.
Warming Impacts Pacific Islanders
Sea level is rising in the Pacific Ocean nation of Vanuatu, highlighted in red on this false-color map. USGS.
In recent years, signs of global warming have appeared just about everywhere on the planet. Now, for perhaps the first time, it's forcing people to leave their homes.
According to a new United Nations report, about 100 people on the island of Tegua in Vanuata in the Pacific Ocean are moving to higher ground to escape rising seas.
Coconut trees along the island's shoreline are already standing under water. Some of the island's residents have taken apart their wooden homes and moved them about 600 yards inland. In recent years, storm-whipped seas have flooded the village about four or five times a year.
Climate experts say ocean levels could rise by nearly three feet (one meter) by the year 2100 due to global warming. Most of the extra water is from melting icecaps. The warming has been blamed on the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels in power plants, factories, and cars and trucks.
People in other areas of the Pacific Ocean are feeling the effects too. In Papua New Guinea, about 2,000 people living on the Cantaret Islands are making plans to move to higher ground on Bougainville Island.
Thousands of miles away in the chilly Arctic, global warming is also leaving its mark. Natives in the villages of Shishmaref in Alaska and Tuktoyaktuk in Canada may need to leave their villages as sea ice disappears around them.
Greenland's Glaciers are Melting
Greenland's melting glaciers are adding to rising sea levels. NOAA.
Evidence that Greenland is shrinking keeps piling up. As temperatures climb, Greenland's southern glaciers are getting swallowed up by the Atlantic Ocean at a faster and faster rate. Scientists say this big meltdown is having a much bigger effect on the rise of global sea level than once thought.
Its melting glaciers are adding twice as much ice to the ocean as compared to ten years ago. Greenland's total melting ice is responsible for about 17 percent of the 0.1 inch annual rise in global sea level. This is double the amount scientists estimated earlier.
Rising temperatures are causing the glaciers to flow faster. The increased flow causes more ice to melt into the sea. In 2005, Greenland lost 54 cubic miles of ice. In 1996, the total was only 22 cubic miles.
Scientists say the extra warmth increases melt water where the glaciers flow over rock. This helps ease the downhill flow of the massive rivers of ice as they steadily crawl towards the Atlantic.
NASA: 2005 Was Hottest Year
This map shows that average surface temperatures on Earth were way above normal (red) across much of the globe in 2005. NASA.
A NASA study says 2005 was the hottest year on Earth since global temperature record-keeping began in the 1890s. In fact, the five hottest years (2005, 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2004) have all been within the past decade.
In 2005, average global temperatures were slighty higher than they were in 1998. That year was marked by a strong El Niño which added to the warmth felt in some parts of the world. What is remarkable is that there was only a very weak El Niño in 2005.
Earlier this year, other climate studies named 2005 as the second warmest year after 1998. But NASA says those studies only looked at data through November and didn't include complete data for the Arctic. In the new NASA study, the weather was unusually mild in the Arctic in 2005. This helped boost the global average in 2005.
Over the past 30 years, Earth has warmed by 1.08 degrees Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius). Over the past century, the increase has been 1.44 degrees F (0.8 degrees C). Over the rest of the 21st century, global temperatures could rise from 6 to 10 degrees F (3 to 5 degrees C). This would make the Earth hotter than it's been in hundreds of thousands of years.
A temperature rise that big would have a disastrous effect on people, wildlife, and the environment. Sea level rise, coastal erosion, wildlife and plant extinctions, as well as floods, droughts, and other weather extremes will become bigger and bigger threats to the planet and its inhabitants.
