Climate Change

Great edition of Democracy Now! today, reporting from Copenhagen. I embed it, check it out if you have the time. Good news is the EPA has ruled that six gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, endanger the environment and public health. This will give the EPA the ability to regulate greenhouse gases, under the authority of the Clean Air Act. Yay! for America taking a step in the right direction on climate change. But is it to little to late? The rest of the world is having a climate change council in Copenhagen. With Obama only making a guest appearance, and he's already decided that a binding treaty will not come out the council.

I hadn't realized climate change was getting this bad. The country of The Maldive Islands is being washed away by the rising oceans. This country is only 7 feet above sea level. Meaning in the next hundred years there will be less than 3 feet of the island above sea level, if the oceans are to continue rising at this speed.

As covered in this edition of Democracy Now! is where these oceans are getting their water. An indigenous Alaskan is interviewed as she describes the melting of the permafrost in the Arctic. Making it hard for them to continue their way of life.

I had no idea it was getting this bad. At this point it doesn't matter anymore if humans are the main contributers to the problem, or if its a natural earth cycle. We know the oceans are rising and the ice sheets at the poles are melting. We do contribute to the rising temperatures, regardless if we are the leading force doing so. We must cut back emissions, it will help. While we cannot control the climate of the planet, we do contribute to it.