As the Economy Tanks, Don't Forget the Environment

Much clearer today, a nice November day, as it should be.


With my eye on the environment and the economy, it is obvious national attention is centered on the economy. As it should be really since this is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, affecting millions of folks, even world wide. But this new focus should not lessen the severity of what is happening to the our environment. What was a nice, increasing green movement has seemingly been put on the back burner - a very dangerous place.

Two new articles point to the increasing, disturbing evidence that the not so good global warming predictions are turning out to be more severe. For instance, the logical thinking that reducing CO2 emissions would eventually (like soon, a few years or so) result in a lowing of atmospheric CO2 has just been thrown out the window. In fact, scientists are reporting that it could take thousands of years to reduce the level and that the problem is once CO2 is produced, it's here to stay, maybe forever. Say what? Now that demands a holy @$*%! response.

Another report on the continuing rise in temperature, summarizes the effects as evidence supported by well known scientific studies and publications with excellent links for further details. This is a really hit home article for anyone who still needs a shot of reality. Pretty hard to run away from the real science and facts behind this article. If you need to sink your teeth into a whole book of facts, try the recently released "The Long Thaw: How Humans Are Changing the Next 100,000 Years of Earth's Climate" by David Archer. This should be on everyone's holiday list.

We, as in humans, usually like to tackle things one at a time. But we can not afford to do that right now. There are two catastrophic events going on right now that require equal attention - the economy and the environment. The goods news out of this is both can benefit from each other if the solutions for each include the other. Some call it the new green economy and there certainly is some truth in this idea.

The challenge then is to keep both of these in mind with your daily decision making. Luckily a lot of green behavior (energy efficiency for one) and consideration for the products you buy can save you money - a win win for all.