i have been thumbing through my copy of Global Warming Survival Handbook: 77 Essential Skills to Stop Climate Change–or Live Through It by David de Rothschild.
Let me just say, this little gem has yet to disappoint me. For a gal like me, who needs fun illustrations and short, witty passages that I can digest and retain, this book is just the ticket. I’ve decided to include regular snippets from this every so often because I think it is so important.
Unless you live under a rock, chances are you’ve heard the words “global warming” and “greenhouse gases” tossed around more frequently in the past few years. And I’m willing to bet that the past few days of downright scorching, gross heat may have caused you to think that perhaps there is some truth to all of this green-mumbo-jumbo. Take a couple of minutes and read below for the best skinny on global warming I have found. If you’re skeptical or merely not knowledgeable about the facts, this will help clear up things for you……
Climate Control: An Introduction to Global Warming
Discussing the weather used to be so casual. Nice day, huh? Or, You believe all this rain? It’s harder these days–even our small talk is controversial. Scorcher isn’t it? Must be that global warming. For many, the greatest environmental threat that humans have ever faced is a political issue.
But it’s not. Global warming is a matter of scientific fact: 2006 was the sixth-warmest year on record since 1850; the top five spots are held by 1998, 2005, 2003, 2002, and 2004…
If we fail to recognize the immediate nature of this threat, the consequences could be catastrophic. Rising seas, searing temperatures, killer storms, drought, plague, pestilence. Finding solutions begins with identifying the problem. Briefly, here’s how global warming works. Energy from the Sun, in the form of light and heat, warms the Earth. Heat rises, and some of it heads back into space. Most of it, though, is trapped by molecules in the atmosphere–molecules of “greenhouse gases,” named because their effect is just like that of a greenhouse. Water vapor is a primary greenhouse gas, in addition to carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide. All are natural–indeed, without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would be cold and uninhabitable.
