REDUCE GLOBAL WARMING
(Last Edited 10/18/08)
The Kyoto Protocol imposes limits
on emissions of greenhouse gases that scientists
blame for increasing world temperatures. President
Bush decided to abandon the Protocol and any serious
international negotiations on the
matter in March 2001. That unilateral abandonment
leaves the world to wonder why the nation that contributes
the most greenhouse gas emissions to the world atmosphere
refuses to accept responsibility for these emissions
and refuses to cooperate with the international community
to curb the global warming threat.
As of October, 2008, 181 countries had committed to abide by the Kyoto Protocol and 15 of the 18 original European Union Countries were on track to meet commitments. The US and Vatican City are still not committed, along with 14 other nations including the Palestinian Authority, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. One might expect more moral leadership from some of those countries than others.
For
a smashing (10 minute) online video on global warming,
click here. (You will need cable or dsl to
see this. So if you don't have it, try connecting
at your local library.)
The Council on Foreign Relations features several awesome interactive videos on Crisis Guide: Climate Change
Policymakers need to listen to what
Montana’s scientists tell us about climate
change partially caused by energy generation. They
tell how the 150 Glaciers that we had in our park
a century and a half ago have dwindled to 26 today.
And because of global warming, glaciers I hiked to
in Boy Scouts all will be gone in 25 years. If we
don’t act now to reverse that, you can take
the family vacation to “Used-to-be Glacier
Park.”
You
can reach perhaps the best websites on global warming
by clicking below:
Click
here http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3210/03.html to
see a PBS NOVA report (you will need cable or DSL)
on the world’s fastest
moving glacier, the Jakobshavn in Greenland, which
is over 4 miles wide and a 1000 feet thick. It has
dumped 8 miles of ice into the ocean in the last
five years. Instead of moving at a rate of 10 inches
a day, it has started to move at a rate of 113 feet
a day. The cause? Fossil fuel burning has increased
Greenland’s winter temperature by 6 degrees
Celsuis in last 15 years. (Summer temperatures up
1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius.)
The NOVA segment explains the mechanics of the glacial
movement.
Reputable scientists predict that
as the Greenland Icecap melts, we will see up to
a 23 foot sea level
rise; wiping out large amounts of Florida, Louisiana,
and other low lying land in the world.
The Heat is Online . (Click
on the heat is on page for more when you get there.)
(Ross Gelbspan's seminal site on global warming.)
Al Gore's website on Climate Change
Convincing climate change photos and facts by Gary
Braasch (Watch for Gary's
books on this site)
Excerpts from National Geographic's September 2004
issue on global warming (This site
has convincing pictures. Be sure to check out the
text associated with the pictures on the left by
clicking on it and surfing in the resulting areas.)
Credible scientific commentary
debunking climate change naysayers see www.realclimate.org
PBS report on what 884 mayor representing 80.9 million Americans from every state are doing to achieve Kyoto
Protocol limits on greenhouse gases. (The numbers
indicated here are current as of 10/17/08. They
are much higher than those in the original PBS report
because mayors have joined since that report.), For
Mayor Greg Nickel's site reporting on mayors
that have committed to this challenge.
Ross Gelbspan's criticism of US
media for pseudo-balance coverage of the global warming
debate
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (This
site contains peer reviewed scientific papers on
global warming. These papers support the overwhelming
consensus of the scientific community on the issue.)
Climate Crisis Coalition
Things Citizens Can Do at Gus Speth's
"Red Sky at Morning" Website.
IPCC webcast and Report on Carbon Sequestration If
it doesn't start, click as instructed.
Solar Cafe http://www.gardenearth.com/ Montana
native Steve Corrick's web site on Global Climate
Change features humor in "10 Best Things About Global Warming" link.
Leonardo
di Caprio's web site and
presentation on Global Warming inspired by Thom
Hartmann's book, The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight
whose book agent was Missoula's Steve Corrick.
Chris Mooney May 2005 thorough
report in Mother Jones magazine on Exxon Mobil's
strategy on global warming
Summary listing of Exxon's tigers in the think-tank
Exxon Secrets.org (Comprehensive
detail of the oil giant's $12+ million in funding
to "tigers" in their 40 think-tanks touting
the fossil fuel industry's claim that global warming
does not exist and if it does they did not help cause
it.)
US EPA's assessment of global warming impacts
on Montana and other states
Mother Jones articles on global warming
Pew Center on Global Climate Change
PBS Scientific America Series "Hot Planet,
Cold Comfort" with classroom activities
US EPA web site on global warming
US Global Change Research Program
Scientific article on Sizing
Up the Earth’s Glaciers: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/GLIMS/
Scientific article on El Nino: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/ElNino/
MONTANA SPECIFIC ARTICLES:
Scientific article on GLACIER
RETREAT IN GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, MONTANA: http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/glacier_retreat.htm
Selected
Graphs from scientific
article on temperature rise in Glacier Park, MT.
Watson, E., G.T. Pederson, B.H. Luckman, and D.B.
Fagre. 2005 (in press). Glacier mass balance in
the northern U.S. and Canadian Rockies: paleo-perspectives
and 20th century change. In: Ben Orlove, Ellen Wiegandt
and Brian Luckman (Eds.), Darkening Peaks: Glacial
Retreat in Scientific and Social Context, University
of California Press, Berkeley, CA. USA.