Around the Web (Jan 4th, 2014) – Severe Weather Patterns - My take!



BBC NEWS website (Jan 5th, 2014) carried the headline: ‘US faces record low temperatures with fresh cold blast’. Reuters website (Jan 4th, 2014): ‘Midwest, Northeast brace for Arctic blast, record lows’. ABC News website (Jan 4th, 2014): ‘Public schools close in Midwest due to record breaking temperatures’.

My take:

In recent years, weather patterns across the world are taking more severe and dangerous turns. This has caused more and more damage to human and material resources. What can we make of these trends? Should we be paying more attention to the weather changes and to what it portends for our earth? The earth’s natural forces of wind, water, clouds, and tectonic plates are roaring in rage, who’s listening?

Wikipedia.org in discussing global warming, ‘the rise in the average temperature of earth’s atmosphere and oceans since the 19th century and its projected continuation’, added that ‘scientists are more than 95% certain that more than half of the observed warming is caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gasses and other anthropogenic forcings.’ In the same report, Wikipedia.org stated that ‘human activity since the Industrial Revolution has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, leading to increased radiative forcing from CO2, methane, troposheric ozone, CFCs [chlorofluorocarbons] and nitrous oxide.’ It warned that ‘the effects of an increase in global temperature include a rise in sea levels and a change in the amount and pattern of precipitation, as well as probable expansion of subtropical deserts.’

The implication of the above report is that humans are at least partly responsible for the changes that have brought about severe weather patterns in recent decades. Humans can also take steps to mitigate the damage it has and is causing to the environment. Surely, governmental and non-governmental agents can do a lot to help. But, as individuals, are there things we can do to make the planet a more environmentally safe place to live? The answer is yes.

Larry West (professional writer and editor on environmental issues) wrote an article in About.com titled: ‘Top 10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Global Warming.’ Here is a summary:

(1) Reduce, reuse and recycle waste.
(2) Use less heat and air conditioning.
(3) Change a light bulb. Replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs.
(4) Drive less and drive smart.
(5) Buy energy-efficient products.
(6) Use less hot water.
(7) Use the ‘off’ switch. Turn off lights when you leave a room, and use only as much light as you need. Turn off the water when you are not using it.
(8) Plant a tree. A single tree can absorb about 1 ton of CO2 during its lifetime.
(9) Get a report card from your utility company.
(10) Encourage others to conserve.
To read the full article, follow the link below: (http://environment.about.com/od/globalwarming/tp/globalwarmtips.htm)

In summary, we all have a role to play in protecting our planet and making it a better and safer home. No step is too little or too small. Remember there are 7 billion people on earth. When you follow the advice of switching off the lights when you leave the room, you can save some energy; when a million other people do the same, imagine what amount of energy is saved. Take one step today and encourage others to do the same.

©Dr Eugene’s Column (http://dreugeneojirigho.blogspot.com/)

©Dr Eugene’s Blogs (http://dreugeneoji.blogspot.com/)

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