and so it begins
my father works at the National Arbor Day Foundation. brilliant place that is. yesterday, they released a new "hardiness zone map" to the country and the results are shameful. global warming so apparent, anyone who does not acknowledge it should be shot.
view the results here
and it only took a day for the press to jump on it. i pray to the Lord that this picks up and people everywhere will start to realize the doom we are in for with CO2 emissions. ride your bike.
from the front page of the Washington Post:
more hereA warming climate in the Washington area is beginning to affect the area's trees, with cold-loving species finding the weather less welcoming and southern transplants thriving, according to findings released yesterday by the National Arbor Day Foundation.
In a revised map of "hardiness zones" -- bands of similar temperatures where similar trees are likely to grow in winter -- the foundation reclassified the entire Washington area in the same zone as parts of North Carolina and Texas. In 1990, the region was on the border of northern and southern growing zones, but a foundation official said that has changed after 15 years of balmy winter weather.
...
In parts of Michigan, for example, the climate has warmed enough to accommodate southern magnolia trees, said Arbor Day Foundation spokesman Woodrow L. Nelson. Arizona cypress, another southerly species, also suddenly seems a better fit for some sections of the Northeast, he said.
3 comments:
we can still be friends. I have done a lot of research on this topic Mike. and without going to into my own opinions, i urge you to do the same. I think Wikipedia has good information and great references to other information. First off there is global warming:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
please do your own research, look at the charts of the earths temperature over the years. look at the correlation between CO2 and temperature. look into CO2. Look at some of the charts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide
after that, try looking up info on NASA'a James Hanson. And think about why the government prevented him from talking to people about what he studies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hansen
and his home website with tons of papers he has written:
http://www.columbia.edu/%7Ejeh1/
here is the summary of a 60 minutes show a while back when they had James Hanson on:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/17/60minutes/main1415985.shtml
here is a guy (with a cool blog) that is doing research on an icecap (and how its been receeding)
http://www.toddalbert.com/welcome.php
and why is Exxon funding global warming critics?
http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?JServSessionIdr012=nmhtsfash1.app5b&page=NewsArticle&id=6183&news_iv_ctrl=1261
and here are some other articles ive read recently that might be of interest:
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061219/NEWS/612190370/1004/NEWS03
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6161998.stm
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/12343892/can_dr_evil_save_the_world
the earths climatology is very complex. here is an article discussing how global warming could actually lead us into an ice age. its sort of a theory, but its convincing:
http://standeyo.com/Reports/Ice_age/050614.ice.age.html
You are absolutely right that the earth goes through periods of warming and cooling. Past periods of spiked warming and cooling were caused by something...for example, large volcanic eruptions. For awhile global cooling was an issue (Sulfur pollution in the upper atmosphere was actually cooling the planet and masking the effects of Co2). The question is why are we in a sudden “cooling” followed by “warming” trend that is this drastic? If any scientist went in front of a scientific board and said “Knowing the earth’s cooling and warming trends, I want to do a scientific experiment involving every life organism on earth and see what happens when I add just a little more carbon to the atmosphere” would be laughed out of the room. It would never pass.
Good science (except the laws of physics) is theory. It all is. Global Warming is based on theory. Many things we hold as true and make decisions upon, are based on scientific theory and experimentation. The world of germs is a great example. We know that germs spread and that sanitation helps curve that spread. Our theories of germs have led to the discovery of bacteria, antibiotic development and now drug resistance. It is a theory and we don’t discount it. As people we often act on smaller information, be it gathered or predicted than that of global warming studies. Recent concerns of pandemics and terrorism have directly affected polices and requires global collaboration. Right or wrong, with a little, with incomplete information, we sent troops to Iraq, are spending 300+billion dollar, many innocent are dying and the country is in turmoil.
Just because we are Christian doesn’t mean we should discount science. We should expect good, ethical, science at the highest level. I am sadly disappointed that most of the so called “anti
global warming” scientists are not scientists. They do not publish papers so their peers can critique their methodologies and conclusions. They do not go in front of scientific boards. Their means of funding is not unbiased. I am also disappointed in scientists who have stepped outside their realm of science to make social and economic claims. We should only look at people versed in these areas to make judgments based upon the scientific facts. I encourage all to look into where the information is coming in. Be careful of .org sites or sites aliened with one party.
I am beginning to wonder if as Christians the debate we need engage in is not pro/anti global warming but along the lines of morality. My question for us, as Christians are these: Do we continue to stand behind a huge, world-wide global experiment that most likely will have detrimental effects, mostly for our poorer brother and sisters in Christ in other parts of the world? How does God call us to ‘Rule and Subdue’ the earth? My gut says no and as I read the Word the feeling increases. There are many ways to rule. We can rule with the idea that we are part of God’s redemptive plan for all creation or we can rule in a theology that is of our own and leads to selfishness and apathy. We see the fall all around us. We have sin in us and the Holy Spirit in us. Shouldn’t this make us question if we are right in the way we rule the earth? I look and see a church of a wealthy nation that is so content in abusing, raping and ignoring instead of preserving, enlightening and celebrating what we have been given. God’s redemption happened first on the cross, to save us, and continues to happen on earth until everything reaches fulfillment. We all have a role in this and we must hold each other to a high calling.
We have to stop thinking of ourselves as liberals or conservatives. We are Christians. As people of faith we hold biblical ideals, some seemingly ‘liberal’ and others ‘conservative’. What most global warming experts and environmental activists lack is a centrality to their moral standards. Faith in Christ must be a part of the solution. We must see ourselves as connected to the body throughout the world and as wealthy and educated citizens respond to the call to take care of the poor, widows and broken hearted. We must be willing to engage in these issue or the solutions presented will be faith-less and will not work.
We have technology to greatly decrease our dependence on non-renewable resources. Most carbon emissions can be reduced by doing simple things, turn off lights, use compact florescent light bulbs, turn the heat/air down, keeping our vehicles in good order, car pool, plan errands better, ride our bikes, back ‘green-building’ technologies, plant trees, don’t over-irrigate (or irrigate at all) our lawns etc. Multiply this by the United States population of 300,440,00. Multiply the US,Canada, Europe and Australia. Add China in there. You get my point. Put a few billion dollars behind it instead of tanks.
these are jsut my thoughts as late.
As to the zone map and plants benifiting from CO2 .... i'll post my thoughts on my blog.
well put, christina. thanks.
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