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The Earth’s temperature has risen by about one degree Fahrenheit in the past century, with accelerated warming during the past two decades. According to the National Academy of Sciences, this is attributed to the rise of greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

Energy from the sun drives the earth’s climate and weather. It heats the earth’s surface, the earth radiates energy, bouncing it back into space. Greenhouse gases trap some of the outgoing energy which retains heat. Hence, giving us the name of, “The Greenhouse Effect.”

Since the birth of the industrial revolution, concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased nearly 30%., methane concentrations have more than doubled, and nitrous oxide has risen about 15%. All of these increases has increased the heat-trapping capability of the earth’s atmosphere. Trees and plants breathe in carbon dioxide, and have been what’s kept our carbon dioxide emissions in balance. But the destruction of our rain forests and woodland areas, have dramatically decreased this intake. Also, increasing agriculture, landfills, industrial production and mining contribute significantly.

Globally, sea level has risen four-eight inches, over the past century. Worldwide participation over land has increased by about one percent. The frequency of extreme rainfalls has increased throughout much of the U.S. Scientists expect that the average global surface temperature could rise one – four-point-five degrees, Fahrenheit, in the next fifty years. And two-point-two – ten degrees, Fahrenheit, in the next century. Which could cause fifty percent of our animal life to be extinct in our children’s/grand children’s lifetime.

Evaporation will increase as the climate warms, which will increase average global participation. Sea levels are likely to rise two feet along most of the U.S coast.

Carbon Dioxide is released to the atmosphere when solid waste, fossil fuels, (oil, natural gas, and coal), and wood and wood products are burned.

Methane is emitted during the production and transport of coal, natural gas, and oil. Methane emissions also results from the decomposition of organic wastes in municipal solid landfills, and the raising of livestock.

Nitrous Oxide is emitted during the agricultural and industrial activities, as well as during combustion of solid waste and fossil fuels. (EPA global warming).

Some global warming signs are: heat waves, and periods of unusually warm weather, ocean warming, sea-level rise, coastal flooding, glaciers melting, Arctic warming, Antarctic warming, insect diseases spreading, earlier spring arrival, plant and animal range shifts, and population changes, coral reef bleaching, downpours, heavy snowfalls, flooding, droughts and fires. How many do you recognize happening right now?

People can make a difference. Here’s some steps you can take:

Drive a fuel-efficient car. Look for the model with the best fuel economy in its class. Each gallon of gas you use releases 25 pounds of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, (CO2), into the atmosphere. Another great reason to car pool!

Choose clean power- more than ½ the electricity in the U.S comes from polluting coal-fired power plants. Power plants are the largest source of heat-trapping emissions. Try to switch to electricity suppliers that provide 50-100% renewable energy.

Look for the energy star- when it comes to replacing appliances, look for the energy star label. (Refrigerators, freezers, furnaces, air conditioners, and water heaters, use the most energy). If each U.S household replaced its existing appliances with the most efficient models available, we would save fifteen billion in energy costs and eliminate 175 million tons of heat-trapping emissions.

Unplug a freezer- if you own an extra refrigerator or freezer you rarely use, one of the quickest ways to reduce your global warming impact would be to unplug it. (Only plug it in when needed). This can reduce the family’s carbon dioxide by nearly ten percent.

If we all work together, we can make a huge impact on global warming. You could literally have your child or grandchild’s lives in your hands.

Tracey Criswell Wilson is an author on Writing.Com/ Writing.Com/
which is a site for Writing.Com/ Writers. Most of Tracey’s writings can be found at writing.com/authors/intuey writing.com/authors/intuey

“I am not working for world peace, I am working for individual peace all over the world.” from “Your loved Ones, Your Self”, by Wil Langford

Who the heck doesn’t want peace? Well, maybe a couple of international arms dealers, a few neo-cons and that kid that used to pull your hair in third grade. But ask almost anyone else if peace is a good thing, and they’ll say it is. So why don’t we have peace?

We don’t have it in the world. What with Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinians, there ain’t no peace nowhere, no-time in the Mid-East. Africa is up in arms (thanks largely to the world’s biggest arms dealer, the USA, by the way). Russia is rattling its sabers at Europe, because America’s “just protecting its borders” from North Korea and Iran by planning to put missiles in Eastern Europe. We’re still fighting in Afghanistan and now our gunships are shelling Somalia in an attempt to kill an Al Qaeda warlord that we think is there. Maybe.

For a change of pace from war, there are riots in Germany at the G-8 Summit, where a few malcontents think that the 8 wealthiest countries in the world shouldn’t be shaping the future for the poorest countries. What do they want? Socialism? Hey, let those other countries pull themselves up by their bootstraps. No bootstraps, you say? Well, we’ll sell them some and in return we’ll just take all their resources, especially the oil and minerals.

Even in that bastion of peace and all that’s good and patriotic, the US, all is not peaceful. The crime rate is rising and more and more people aren’t getting a peaceful night’s sleep, because they can’t pay their mortgage. Well, they can pay their mortgage. It’s just that they can’t pay their mortgage, health insurance, car payments, their taxes, childcare, cable bill, Netflix bill, credit card bills, and save for retirement and their kid’s college fund on the three jobs they’re working. You see them with their calculators out and papers spread all over the table at Starbucks, trying desperately to figure out where to cut corners, as they sip their fourth macho-latte with extra caffeine.

Even my life, which takes place in a part of the country where an international incident is more likely to involve smuggling cigarettes or poaching blueberries than shooting people, is not peaceful at the moment. I am not by nature a worrier. If there’s a problem, I think about it and decide if I can do anything about it. If I can, I do it. If I can’t, I leave it to resolve itself and get on with my life as best I can. Almost always, that works. Once in a while, it doesn’t.

I’m having a really hard time letting the Iraq War resolve itself. It’s not that I haven’t tried to help that along. I’ve been active in the peace movement since the 60’s, although lately only in the sense that I send letters and emails, call my congress critters and sometimes demonstrate against the war. I’m not on a par with Cindy Sheehan or some of my friends who are Friends and are spending most of their time working to end the war. But I’ve tried. I’ve been trying for over four years now and I’m weary and I’m depressed and I’m disheartened.

My brother, Wil, who is my spiritual advisor (not easy when your sister is an atheist, but he does a heck of a job), says that this is the peacecentury.org” target=”_blank Peace Century. On his blog, wilsblog.com” target=”_blank Wil’s Blog, he writes about how he’s received a message from his Loved Ones - who are really part of his Higher Consciousness - that this century will be a century of peace, but maybe not because good things happen to bring it about. Deep woo, I know, but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he’s right.

You don’t have to be a spiritualist or psychic to see that this world is headed for trouble. The people of the world, and I include myself in some of this, for the most part, aren’t focused on peace. They’re focused on getting more stuff, having more fun, proving how tough and “out there” and edgy they are by flipping off people in traffic. They don’t know what’s going on in Washington, because they’re too busy reading about Paris. Hilton, that is.

So many people know the point spread for all the games and the price of every item on the menu of the chains where they (and I) eat out way too often, but the fact that millions of people are living sub-standard lives in Asia, Africa, Mexico and here in the US, is news to them. So is the fact that millions of kids die everyday because their parents can’t afford simple things like $3 shots for diarrhea.

And let’s not forget that, according to Fearless Leader and his cronies, this is a Christian nation, and Christ, as even atheists know, was the Prince of Peace. (If you don’t think this is a Christian nation, just look at any night’s TV lineup. From WWE Smackdown wrestling to Faux News to the Sopranos, it’s definitely WJWW - What Jesus Would Watch - don’t you think?) That’s what a good portion of the G-8 world is focused on every night. Call me crazy, but I just can’t see O’Reilly, Malkin and Coulter as harbingers of peace.

Then there are people like me who couldn’t find anything to watch even when we had over 200 Dish channels, so the three we have now sure aren’t gonna make it. So do I spend my time changing the world instead? Nope. When I’m not reading, mostly fiction, I’m wasting way too much time playing games, reading blogs and blogging. Somehow, when I’m doing that, I manage to forget about the rest of the world and what I can do to make it better. It’s a knack.

So, that’s why I’m weary, disheartened and depressed about the state of peace in the world. I know there are a lot of good people working for peace. I know many of them personally. But what scares me is that some of them are getting a little raggedy around the edges and frazzled at the seams. We’ve been fighting this fight (pardon the choice of words) since we were teenagers, some of us.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus said he came in peace and look what happened to him. Before him and after him, there were many, many other people who came in peace and went out in flames or on a cross or under a pile of stones thrown by people who weren’t focused on peace. Probably just wanted to get back to their bread and circuses.

I could use a little reassurance here, so if you have something optimistic to say about the peace movement or the state of the world, please comment and make my day. It seems to me that if a dyed in the wool atheist like me, and a guy who sees beings of light in clouds, like my brother, can manage to be best friends for over 50 years, then the rest of the world should be able to get along. Right? I hope so. Peace.

Lill Hawkins lives in Maine and writes about family life, home education and being a WAHM at hawkhillacres.blogspot.com hawkhillacres.blogspot.com . Get the News From Hawkhill Acres: A mostly humorous look at home schooling, writing and being a WAHM, whose mantra is “I’m a willow; I can bend.”