Today is Blog Action Day and the focus this year is on climate change, something that should concern us all. Hundreds of thousands of bloggers all over the world, reaching millions of readers, are asking their readers to drop what they are doing and give some thought to this timely topic.
From Sandy: “Let’s start with a local look at how climate affects Wellfleet where I run a bed & breakfast. We have a seasonal economy on Cape Cod. If the weather does not cooperate, the tourism industry suffers. Wellfleet has had wonderful summer weather for as long as I can remember, predicable sunny skies, warm temperatures during the day, cool at night. Not any more. During the summer of 2009, the weather became finicky. June, cold and rainy. July, mediocre. August, hot and extremely humid, with none of the usual relief at night. A year ago, in December, we experienced a freak, half-hour storm that knocked down trees, as might a bad hurricane. This bizarre weather pattern reminded me of a similar storm a few years back in the Parc de Versailles, near where I used to live, widely reported by the media, felling oaks that had resisted wind for over 100 years. To me, it seems as if we need to listen to what nature is yelling loud and clear. Something is out of whack. Enter the scientists, silenced during the reign of George W. Bush. Thank goodness the USA has a new administration and is no longer in denial. Now is the time to put all the brainpower possible into reducing our carbon imprint in an effort to slow climate change.”
From Sven: “There’s drought in South Africa and Somalia. It’s obvious the climate is changing. Most people in the world believe this change is due to global warming. Some say global warming is a part of a cycle that has always existed. The majority of scientists, on the other hand, believe that climate change and global warming are related, that global warming has to do with the level of CO2, which comes from energy policy, with gas-guzzling cars, coal plants, etc. A major producer of CO2 is the developing world. The USA is the worst polluter. The second worst is China. Fortunately, China is at the forefront of nations developing wind and solar alternatives to oil.”
From Cape Cool: “We are organizing ‘Walk with me, Henry.’ On October 24, a day of international climate actions, join us to walk the coast Thoreau walked to demonstrate our concern about climate change and support global efforts to minimize human impact on climate and return to safer atmospheric levels of CO2 – our goal is 350 parts per million.”
