Global Climate Change: Mortal Jeopardy

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Came across a good blog entry at Is America Burning blog on the recent UN report on Global Climate Change.[1] It has some interesting links to multi-media information.

A while back, media reform expert Robert McChesney had a guest speaking about Global Climate Change on his MediaMatters radio program. Bob said, something to the effect, that he has difficulty dealing with the subject of global climate change, because the discussion inevitably leads to depressing feelings associated with contemplating our own extinction.

As I listened to McChesney, I heard the words, and understood them. But on Saturday, April 7, I felt the words and was reminded of his comment. Listening to the DemocracyNow! podcast for April 6, their headlines included the following:

A new United Nations report on climate change warns that global warming could cause more shortages of food in Africa, more severe weather events in Europe and the United States, the decimation of coral reefs and the disappearance of the ice caps.

and the following:

A new study in the journal Science is predicting rising temperatures here in this country will likely result in a permanent drought throughout Arizona and the Southwest by the year 2050.

While listening, I realized that I was a little nauseated; this is a common response to thoughts of one's tenuous mortal jeopardy. In this case, it's all of humanity's mortal jeopardy.

As I watched polar bears swimming at the Baltimore Zoo recently, I was reminded of documented cases of their drowning due to melting ice at the North Pole. You can do something to save the polar bears. Submit Formal Comments to make the U.S. Government list the Polar Bears as "threatened and endangered" due to the loss of their icy habitat from global climate change.

Sources:

1. The report was written by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which consolidates the work of 2,500 scientists from the around the world.

2. DemocracyNow April 6, 2007 Headlines.

3. Polar Bear SOS.
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