A Time (and Need) to Change

So Partner and I just went to see "An Inconvenient Truth." And I know what some of you are thinking: that it's just another liberal bias film that spreads lies and mistrust against the Bush administration using global warming as its catalyst.

WRONG. This movie does nothing to spread false rumors about global warming or the current administration. It does, however, seek to reveal what has been happening in our world, and at a most rapid rate, over the last 20 years. I'll admit that the film is narrated by Al Gore (and to my belief, he is my president) and it gets a little over the top at times, but in his explanation of what's happening to the earth as I type is dead on. So on in fact, remember that little film called "Day After Tomorrow?" It's not so much fiction anymore.

Some shocking statistics:

• C02 levels have risen at a catastrophic rate in the last ten years.
• The U.S. is THE only developed nation that does not have gas mileage requirements above 25 mpgallon.
• The US and Australia are the only two countries who have NOT signed Kyoto.
• The average global temperature has risen 2 degrees in the last ten years.
• The Global population has risen from 3 billion to over 6 billion in one average lifetime, which used to take over the entire HISTORY OF TIME to accomplish. In only 60 years, we have doubled it, and at this rate, we will reach 9 billion by 2050. In yet one lifetime!!!! Um, hello? What do you think will happen to the earth's resources? Use a condom! Suck it don't fuck it!
• We are looking at a possible ice age in the next 50 to 60 years if the North and South Pole keep melting at the rate they are.
• Over the entire planet, ice is melting, lakes, rivers and mountaintops are disappearing.
• We are looking at everlasting damage to ecosystems around the world. If the polar ice caps keep melting at the rate they currently are, (which means they'll be gone in 40 to 70 years, possibly in our lifetime) Polar Bears will be extinct, penguins, whales, all kinds of sea life will have no home.
• At this rate, sea level will rise 40 feet. That means no more San Francisco, the entire southern half of Florida will be under water, and heavily populations in China and India will vanish, the Netherlands will be under water, Greenland will have melted into the sea, and NYC will be 20 to 30% under water.
• A couple hundred MILLION people will be displaced from coastlines, causing another Katrina event on a more global scale. Can you imagine that? Try. Cause it's happening right now.
• The conflict in Darfur is directly related to global warming. Monsoon rains have stopped, and Arab farmers are moving in on cultural land to allow their camels to eat; agriculture and camels have caused conflict and genocide.
• Out of 968 scientifically peer reviewed articles, not a one disagrees with the fact that global warming is happening, and in fact, at an alarming rate, faster than scientists have predicted.
• However, just like Tobacoo companies launched a doubt campaign that smoking "may not" cause lung cancer, our right-wing media has launched a new doubt campaign, one that is targeting global warming. We have the resources to stop it, but we don't. Why?

Check out climatecrisis.net for more conclusive information. It's happening people, and we're causing it. So what can you do about it?

• use public transportation or ride a bike when possible
• be energy efficient
• call your energy provider and ask if they provide green services
• buy a hybrid car
• plant A LOT of trees
• tell this information to others
• go see "An Inconvenient Truth."
• Most importantly, believe that global warming IS HAPPENING.

African Proverb: "While you pray, move your feet."

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it? -Upton Sinclair

We are in an hour of consequences, and there is nothing inconvenient about our own survival.