This story was in the news again recently when scientists travelled to the north pole and found "water, not ice, at the top of the world." [The New York Times, Sept. 10, 2000. The Week in Review, page 3] Hopefully we won't have to wait until there are Palm trees growing up there before people change their behavior. "Most climate experts are certain that global warming is real and that it threatens ecology and human prosperity, and a growing number say it is well under way." "Past climate ups and downs mostly mesh well with natural variations in the brightness of the sun or ... big volcanoes. But the recent warming, according to several recent studies, only correlates well with one thing: the buildup of carbon dioxide, methane and the other greenhouse gases." What can you do now? 1) Telecommute, take transit, combine trips, use less fuel. Think about what's coming out of your tailpipe. 2) Eat less meat (cows produce methane). To sit idling at the burger drive-through is for the unconscious! 3) Boycott developers who bulldoze all the old-growth trees to build square. 4) Don't pave it. Blacktop reflects solar energy back into the atmosphere. 5) Ask your congressman to support U.S. ratification of the '97 Kyoto Treaty. Because of significant reductions in China's use of coal in the last three years, the U.S. is now the largest coal user, as it continues to be of oil and natural gas. The burning of these fossil fuels releases aerosols, along with carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere and temporarily masks the warming effect of the CO2. As we reduce the emission of new aerosols, carbon dioxide as a share of the problem will increase. Back to OSG News September 2000 Table of Contents Back to OSG News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Operational Studies Group. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com