The Journal

Issue date: 5/3/07 Section: Opinion/Editorial

It is no longer a myth, no longer a suggestion of what is happening to our planet, but a fact that global warming is occurring and is rapidly getting worse.


Global warming is not a liberal or conservative, Democratic or Republican issue. It's not political. It is an issue everyone should be deeply concerned about because it affects every single person in the world.


The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released two reports on global warming this year solidifying that it exists and humans are the cause. The World Meteorological Organization and United Nations Environmental Programme created IPCC in 1988 to investigate the scientific basis for climate change.


Over the past few years, we have seen a strange smattering of weather patterns. In early April, St. Louis was experiencing typical spring weather: mid-60s temperatures, light breeze, sun shinning, a little rain - the usual suspects. Then, all of sudden, without warning the skies darkened and the temperature dropped into the 30s. It stayed that way for almost two miserable weeks. It was 20 degrees below the average for April.


Oh, global warming, you dark mistress, how dare you ruin my time to frolic and play outside before summer comes and it turns ungodly hot.


No, it's not the earth's fault, nor is it some higher power. It's our fault - we have no one or nothing to blame but ourselves.


Humans' incessant use of fossil fuels as energy sources is the root of the problem. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, fossil fuels such as carbon and natural gas release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when burned. These gases trap sunlight from bouncing back into space.


The additional sunlight penetrating the earth is essentially heating it up as if the planet was under a heat lamp. Therefore, the earth's temperature has been steadily rising and causing the climate to change. The earth's temperature has increased by 1.2 to 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.


The IPCC's first report titled "Physical Science Basis: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" released in February concluded that global warming is being caused by an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere because of humans, and is having a profound affect on the earth.


"Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750," according to IPCC.

Continued...

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