The future of fossil fuels, or my summer pulling weeds and reading
The Co2 levels in our environment have reached an all time high. Scientist are no longer arguing about whether climate change is coming , it is definitely here. Coral reefs are bleaching at dying at a rate unknown since the 5 previous mass extinctions on our earth. The levels of C02 in the environment are definitely linked to these mass extinctions. What causes higher C02 levels in our environment? Let me think….. Oh yes burning fossil fuels. We do not need to continue to feed our addiction to oil and coal, we need to find alternative energies now and start using them.
Do you know what thrives in higher C02 levels? Weeds, specifically Poison Ivy and Rag Weed. I know this because I neglected part of my yard for a couple of weeks this summer and when I went to clean it up I had a giant poison Ivy weed growing up the side of my house. I was not terribly concerned about this since I have always been immune to the plant. Not anymore, I was affected by the poison and had great difficulty eradicating it from my yard, arms and legs.
http://forests.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=102130
I have also spent a great deal of time this summer reading books studying the effects of climate change on our environment. One such book was A Reef in Time by J. E. N. Vernon, who is former Chief Scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science. He has spent a lifetime in admiration and study of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. He is now watching the reef bleach and die, which he sees as a great loss to the world. In his book he discusses the 5 mass extinctions during the history of our earth. He correlates these extinctions with many factors, but the highest correlation with these extinctions is high C02 levels on our planet. According to the author high C02 levels acidify the ocean causing mass loss of oceanic life followed by mass loss of life on land. Just a theory, but if correct our love of fossil fuels will lead to the next mass extinction on our planet, ours.
Reality is that Scientist predict that fossil fuels will be used up somewhere between the years 2100-2300. The time is now to stop using them. Renewable resources are available to us now. Wind, water, solar, and yes even nuclear sources of power are available now and we the consumer need to drive the economy by insisting that these are the fuel sources we will use. We do not need to destroy new areas of our environment by drilling for more fossil fuels. We need to turn our backs on Exxon Mobil and break our addiction to oil. In another book I read this summer To Follow the Water by Dallas Murphy There is a chapter devoted to the description of how the Vikings of Greenland met there fate during the little Ice age. They all died. Why, because they refused to change. They refused to change their ways, what they ate, how they worshiped and how they lived. Will we follow their example, or learn from their mistakes.
I guess we could continue to use fossil fuels until they are all used up, why not let our children or grandchildren explore reusable sources for fuel. Or, they can just wait, because in about 245 million years whoever is left can use us as fossil fuels.
Robin Hussey
St. Peters
(7 votes, average: 2.14 out of 5)
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Our weather patterns run in cycles. The idiots were saying an ice age was coming in the 70’s. Now the same idiots, headed by Al Gore, claim the earth is warming. The earth HAS NOT warmed since 1998.
Al Gore has made over $100,000,000, with this friggin’ hoax.