Yes Senator McCain I do care about what the bears are doing in Montana!
I never really thought of my self as a "tree hugger" but then I watched the documentary An Inconvenient Truth. This documentary really made me think, then I went to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks last year. This was an eye opening experience for me to actually be able to see these things first hand. I spent a lot of time talking to park rangers, locals, and reading literature that the park publishes on climate change and I really began to worry about the damage we are causing. Yellowstone had five forest fires burning and the water levels were at an all time low. The park had to restrict fishing because the water temperature was too warm and too low.
When we drove from Yellowstone to Glacier National Park the smoke from the fires at both parks cast a haze all around and ashes floated through the air. The evidence of climate change at Glacier National Park is easier to see. The park will soon lose all of the glaciers it is named after. The glaciers will all be gone by the year 2030 but some park rangers think they will all be gone before then. The rangers are also worried about the affect this will have on the animals as well. The animals are having to come closer to trails, towns, and other rural areas for food and water. One ranger told us a story about a bird that changes colors to protect itself, it turns white in the winter and grey in the spring. The color change happens by the amount of sun light not temperature so the bird is turning white before the first snow (since it is coming later and later every year) making itself vulnerable to predators. There are tons of stories just like these.
I hope that our candidates for president McCain and Obama really take a look at this issue and work to slow down the effects. If France can get almost all their energy needs from nuclear power and be able to out source some to neighboring countries why cant we? There are other choices as well like wind, natural gas, and solar power. I am not asking everyone to change their lifestyle just reduce your carbon footprint. Because if everyone just did one little thing it would make a huge difference.
6 comments:
I agree with you! I feel like we need to do something to save our planet.. go green! Obama and McCain should really look at this issue and try to change where we get our energy from and how we can prevent global warming from happening. By the way, the story of the bird that changes colors... it makes me so sad!! I heard on the radio that polar bears are headed towards extinction? We definitely need to conserve energy so that animals can live peacefully again!
Definitely. I believe that climate change is all man-made. Things didn't really start shifting until after the industrial revolution. And I think I've heard that the U.S. puts out more of the bad things that go into the environment than any other country except for China, who really doesn't have regulations on their output of "greenhouse gasses" (are they even called that anymore?). I think someone also needs to step in and tell China what's up. Its kind of unfair to ourselves and mother earth if we're turning a blind eye to whoever is making the biggest mess. Ours is only second biggest. I mean, we need to be responsible for ourselves but what good is being responsible when someone is standing beside you not making an attempt to clean up their act?
I totally agree with your concern with the enviroment. Some people look at me like I'm crazy when I start rambling about climate change and how big of a problem it actually is. If we all did our part, it could actually make a difference for our future. It is WAY more important than some people think! Another concern of mine is what changes to our enviroment off-shore drilling could cause. As a country, we definitly need to stop relying on those kind of sources and "the easy way" to energy, and make smarter choices for our future.
I agree with you 100%. Our planet is our most precious resource and its something that needs to be paid close attention to. The candidates would be careless to not focus on this issue! I recently read an article that other countries resent the United States with a passion because of how wasteful we are in everything we do. The fact that we aren't more mindful of our enviorment is scary because we won't have these resources forever. Even though we can't forsee exactly what our timeline is, when our resources will run out, or exactly which ones will go first...we know that its inevitable. And all americans should be extremley aware of the importance of decreasing thier "carbon footpoint." Everyone should know its not only a good idea to recycle, use public transportation, and be mindful of thier usuage, its thier responsibility.
I agree with you , but I can't believe that global warming is all our fault. We may be speeding up the process a bit but it is not all man-made. There is a climate change issue, but how can we disprove that it isn't something that naturally happens to the earth over the course of millions or thousands of years? I personally don't think that it is ALL our fault, although I am sure we are part of the problem. I do agree with conserving resources and going green!
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