In The Heat Of The Moment

 “The science is in. The facts are there that we have created, man has, a self-inflicted wound that man has created through global warming.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Science has come a long way in its attempt to circle-in on a reason or reasons hovering about the whole “global warming” issue. How much does it actually affect the absolutely ignorant segment of society is what needs immediate attention. Oh, yes, indeed, there is that particular world strata that would love to revert on this topic; they are the newsmakers, the cameratakers, as I would choose to taboo them; not in the metaphoric but the simple, literal sense of the word.

It wouldn’t come out as a surprise to me that there are also those who just love to slip in a sentence or two without even having any knowledge whatsoever about the underlying meaning to these two words: Global Warming, but love to hog the limelight. They sure do support “global warming” but in the death of darkness, they are gallavanting the city in their chic SUVs. I understand their vehicular poisonous, soot spouting  gases are exceptionally safe and add to a “global calming” phenomenon?

 

The rapidly growing industrial development that escalates the release of carbon-dioxide and other gases were trapping solar heat in the atmosphere just as the greenhouse effect. This in turn raises atmospheric temperatures by several degrees. Slight rise in mercury levels would melt the polar ice causing seas to rise by a three-foot margin. In such circumstances, the low-lying coastal regions would find themselves submerged and swept away with the tides (Arrhenius, 1896).

Global warming is an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere, especially a sustained increase sufficient to cause climatic change. A lot of factors add up to this extremely fragile condition of the atmosphere. Actually, it begins right from our homes: the vehicles we use to commute, household appliances, junk, etc. In other words, I gather, we need to follow the ways of our ancestors, having that healthy bonding with nature. You might wonder, "Would it be like living in the Garden of Eden?

Going back in history, during the reign of maharaja's, there were no sports utility vehicles (SUVs), but there were horses, camels, mules to transport the two-legged beings and yet people did manage to reach their destinations with some effort; that did groom their physical and inner outlook.

Ever bumped into the phrase "less is more"? It does make sense, don't you think?

Yes, there were higher and faster modes of transportations even as our forefathers lived, but did the term "global warming" come into existence then? Really does make one wonder. Could it be because of the low utility of electrical and highly combustible elements back then? Our forefathers did evolve under a much clean and clear sky, filtered of a muck and mossy climate. Most commuted by bicycles, bullock carts, and many walked the mile. With the century rolling by, the outlook of humans has altered too. There were times when the prosperity of a family was defined by their social behavior, today, that scale has been twisted around to the kind of vehicle they own. The vehicle model that one owns defines his / her "style statement". Glamour is important but the effect created by your means of commuting on the ecosystem is of prime consideration. Does your vehicle add to the pollution in the city? If the response is "yes", it's time to have a rain check done. Nature has been glorified as being the provider. We can't by any means add to nature's provision store, what we can do is preserve and protect. When we can not provide, do we reserve the rights to destroy? It's time to slow down and allow the ecosystem some breathing space.

There is one such humanitarian whose writing focuses on the global ecosystem and the human impact on it. We are talking about Bill McKibben, a student of Harvard University. He has several books to his credit, some of them listed: The End of Nature (1989), Hope, Human and Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth (1995), Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously (2000), and Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age (2003). "What I have learned so far, is that what is sound and elegant and civilized and respectful of community is also environmentally benign." (McKibben, 2001 The Christian Century)

Five years of research and citations has led scientists to come forth with a plea to have global warming scaled down. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that if we continued burning fossil fuels, our planet will have temperatures soaring like never before; the effects of which are going to be like a dragon breathing fire!

 

In the years gone by, the frequency of floods and droughts has been the worst ever. Mother nature seems to have run out of patience and is striking back with a vengeance. She pleads purity - in the wind, in water, in air, in soil. We could either soothe her fury or add to it by getting down to sabotaging it. What seems more crucial: being the owner of an SUV and cramming the environment with poison, clogging pores of livelihood, or would you rather move against the SUV rage, vouching for a clear and safe Mother Nature?

Do we really need SUVs to take us around? Wouldn't we still make it to our destination anyhow, even without being the controversial owner of a glamorous SUV? I'm positive we will. Like the wise say, "Where there is a will, there is a way." Now, this doesn't mean that we don't drive at all, sure you do, but in a something that would not spout harmful gases onto Mother nature and her inhabitants. The need of the moment is that we work towards putting together a creation that runs on fuel that does not get contorted into its unhealthy fragments. There are the electric run cars and scooterettes in the market now that do not emit posion. Increase in such engineering might be the answer to mellow the global warming that is amongst the hot topics of discussion and an ever increasing threat to our atmosphere.

Getting back to the reports of the IPCC, they have drawn the following conclusions: (CQ Researcher, Vol 6, Number 41, November 1, 1996)

-Sea levels likely to rise on an average of 15-20 centimeters by the year 2100. The cause: Rising temperatures cause the glaciers and polar ice sheets to melt. Water expands as it gets warmer.

-Number of warm days would increase; extreme cold days would be on the decrease.

-Change in weather patterns, attracting droughts and floods.

-Rainfalls likely to be more intense.

The government classifies SUVs as "light trucks" instead of calling them cars. The definition of a light truck back in the 1975" vehicle used to haul hay on farms or gravels at a construction site. The pace at which SUVs are being marketed today is "awe-ful," considering they swallow more gas and pollute even more than the average, simpler "cars." Scientists around the globe have been sending red alerts hinting at the 30 per cent increase in the carbon-dioxide level in the atmosphere than ever before. Carbon-dioxide being the primary global warming gas in the atmosphere. The '90s have been recorded as the hottest decade in the past 13 years. People with asthma and other respiratory illnesses will be extremely affected as higher temperatures act as a catalyst in accelerating the formation of smog which is created when pollutants from vehicles and industries curdle with heat and sunlight. (Anonymous, The Nation's Health, Washington October 2004)

Did you know that every gallon of gas burned emits 28 pounds of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere? (Sierra Club, http://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/suvreport/suvthreat.asp)

"Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me"

- Michael Jackson, Dangerous - 1991