Blog Action Day

Yesterday was Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change, sponsored by www.BlogActionDay.org. An amazing 13,254 blogs about climate change were posted from 155 countries, and more than 17 million readers participated.

Some people believe that climate change is occuring, and some don’t. Some people believe that global warming is caused by increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and some don’t. Some people believe that this current episode of global warming is caused by the actions of humans, and some don’t.

But this is a scientific issue, not a belief issue. The facts are real and impossible for a thinking person to ignore. Opinions don’t count for squat in the face of irrefutable facts. For example, far more glaciers are melting than are growing. The Arctic has warmed up ten degrees in the last century. Ocean levels in California rose eight inches over the past century, with the rate of rise increasing. Storms are becoming more frequent and more severe. Droughts are causing crop failures. People are dying by the tens of thousands in heat waves.

And yet some people ignore this prepondance of evidence. They prefer to believe the doubt spewed out by right-wing think tanks that are funded by oil, energy, and auto industries, companies that have a vested interest in blocking legislation that might curb greenhouse gas emissions. Just because last year was cooler than 2007 (which was the second hottest year on record), they say the planet is cooling.

It’s time to wake up and smell the forests burning. Climate change is real. It’s happening now and it is just going to get worse in the future. Do something! Then do more.

Any action that you take to conserve energy and reduce emissions by autos or energy companies helps. Conserving electricity, heating oil, and natural gas in the home, reducing trips by car, and buying locally produced items to avoid long-distance shipping helps. Planting trees helps. Eating at least some, if not all, vegetarian meals helps. Donating to organizations that fight global warming helps. Growing your own food at home helps. Recycling aluminum helps. Consuming less helps. Even conserving water helps, because it takes energy to transport and purify that water.

Examine your life and see what else you can do to make a difference. And spread the word. There are still a lot of non-believers out there. If people don’t believe the scientific evidence and take action soon, there is little hope for meaningful change.

What are you doing in your life to make that difference? Leave a comment.

(To read more of Lou Murray’s environmental writing, see her weekly column, Natural Perspectives, in the Huntington Beach Independent at www.hbindependent.com, under columnists.)