Letter about Global Warming (Chicago 1)

 

Dear President Barrack Obama,

 

    In these ruff times of crisis with the economy and the way things are going, I understand the stress you are under, but I feel that subject that pertains to Global Warming is just as important as the money crisis that is going on and how we are in so much debt with our country. Also I think that if a Democrat such as yourself is going to be in office, you should work with Mr. Al Gore to possibly fix this problem with the ozone layer being burnt up by acid rain. "In 1988, yet another impending environmental disaster appeared on the horizon: Global Warming."[1]  As you can see this problem has been around for over many years, twenty one to be exact. So for twenty one years our ozone has been depleting away and that is not good for our planet. "Such is the case with climatic change. Suppose you could be transported back 200 years in time. The weather conditions you would find in the 1790s would be much the same as those you experience today. In terms of climate change, 200 years is but the blink of an eye."[2]  What this quote is saying is that Global Warming has been getting so bad that, you could say it is as primitive as it was back in the days when they had no scientist or had not science in general. We as Americans must do something about these drastic times.   

 

    In order to change these drastic changes in the climate, we as Americans, are all going to have to work together. This problem can not be corrected by one person. I have thought of some ways we could all help out our wonderful planet out so our ozone layer will stay save and not have problems with climate change or acid rain.""We know the greenhouse effect is real" Solow says. "And we know that the levels of the gases are increasing.""[3]  This quote is referring to everything that we use, that uses up and creates gases that are released into the air and eventually are getting to the Ozone layer. Some ideas that went through my mind when I read this quote, was instead of spending money on barrels of gasoline and causing everyone lots and lots of dollars, perhaps we can have the top scientist in the United States, and have them come up with an alternative way of using gas for cars that is not as destructive as that of the gas in today's society. I mean I figured that there will always be cars or some type of car in the world so eventually we are going to have to make gasoline more useful in an environmental safe way. "The increasing levels of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere due to industrial development is addressed, but other man-made culprits such as deforestation, methane produced by animal husbandry, and gases that are the result of rice farming and other agricultural activities are also involved in the greenhouse mixture."[4]   This quote is showing the people that we are burning up the ozone layer for things no so much needed, and if needed we can import these goods from other countries with a trade of our newly high performing gas that the top scientist are going to create. So really we are getting a way to get money in our pocket and save the ozone layer from getting worse then it already ready is.

 

    In today's world people from all around the world are trying to work together to solve this drastic problem that could cause another ice age if we do not take this topic more seriously. A man by the name of Nicholas Stern has been trying to help solve this problem and understands what has to be done to do it, "The failure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will cause yearly global damage equal to 5-20% of the world's gross domestic product by 2050, whereas taking action to cut emissions would take 1% of global annual GDP, said Nicholas Stern, a top economic adviser to the U.K. government and former chief economist of the World Bank."[5]   This quote is saying that if we as Americans do not stand up and do something about the problem the ozone layer will be possibly 5-20% worse in forty one years. I know you are probably thinking that, that is a ways off but really it is not. Just like I referred to in the first paragraph, if 200 years when by in a blink of an eye then just imagine how soon forty one will be. Some of the Thoughts this man had been trying to get with rich countries who are trying to fix the same problem as us, such as China and India. "However, Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), the committee's ranking minority member, questioned elements of the report's economics, and he warned against "settling the issue here" in the U.S. without doing so in China and India. Both countries have growing economies and, like the U.S., are dependent on coal. Stern noted that both countries are making new efforts to reduce CO2 emissions because they are becoming more aware of how strongly they will be affected by climate change. And both, he said, look to the U.S. for technological leadership."[6] I know you are thinking to yourself, probably about money, but like I said before if we start trading with other countries perhaps we can do this with losing minimal money and it would be highly worth the efforts, because money is not going to do much if there is another ice age. "China, Stern added, established a year ago a goal of reducing energy intensity by 25% over the next five years; the Bush Administration has a goal of reducing energy intensity by 18% by 2012."[7]   I feel that if we try and do what China is doing, then our planet will be in good shape and we will not have to worry about being to cold for the rest of our lives.

    

     "Not since the end of the last ice age--a period that totally revamped the ecological face of the Earth--has the global temperature gone up by 9 degrees. (Humans have subsequently never had to contend with a planet that is much more than 3 degrees warmer than at present.) Such a sudden upturn of the thermostat could cause considerable disruption to ecological systems, agriculture, water supplies, and human and animal health. Sea levels might rise as waters expand and ice caps melt, and hurricanes, which form over warm seas, might intensify, threatening the very existence of island nations. My own view is that there’s at least a 50 percent chance of unprecedented warming--that is, of a rise of more than 3 degrees. The chance of a catastrophic rise--9 or more degrees--is, I’d guess, only 10 percent, though it can’t be ruled out."[8] When I first read this quote I finally realized that we were in some danger with our planet. Even though mankind has not had the power to change the weather, I feel there is nothing we can do about the heat rising, and that is a very scary thought to think about because if Mother Nature wants to ruin what we made, she will. I mean if the heat rises anymore that it has in the earlier years, we are in some big trouble. "What, then, should the world’s response be? Should we act now, as a hedge against plausible if uncertain outcomes, or should we wait ten years for more certain data? Environmentalists like Michael Oppenheimer of the Environmental Defense Fund contend that Earth will warm by at least 3 degrees irrespective of what ameliorative steps are taken now. So the only hope of stabilizing climate at a level slightly warmer than it has been is to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 50 percent or more over the next 50 years."[9]  This means like I have been saying that we must do something about the gases being released into the air, because if not the heat is only going to get higher and higher.

 

            After going over the opinion of Global Warming, I was happy to find out that the percent in heat rising has not been increasing since the late 2001 period. "Few challenges facing America and the world are less urgent than combating the non-problem of "global warming". On all measures, there has been no increase in global mean surface temperatures since 1995; and, according to the University of Alabama at Huntsville, near-surface temperatures in 2008 will be lower than in 1980, 28 years ago, and the first complete year of satellite observations. On all measures, global temperatures have been falling for seven full years since late 2001."[10]   I was very pleased to see that there was not such a problem these days, but I disagree when the scientist say that it is not a urgent topic and it is a non-problem, because just because the heat is down does not mean that the ozone is not being burnt up still. When I hear about people trying to disagree and not want to help out the Global Warming topic it makes me upset and also very scared because people are worried about money and how it will affect jobs and businesses, but what they do not understand is that no matter what we do jobs and businesses are going to get affected because global warming is not the only thing that is taking away jobs. The economy itself is taking all that away from the people. So when they say they can not support the problem they are just asking to get screwed in the long run because after last winter and this winter it is been very hot. And heat means melting, and that is not what we want.

 

            "The threat of 9/11 ignored. The threat of Iraq hyped and manipulated. Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Hurricane Katrina. The shredding of civil liberties. The rise of Iran. Global warming. Economic disaster. How did one two-term presidency go so wrong?"[11]   That is the best question for you, to be perfectly honest, I feel very bad for you because you as the leader of this country have so much patching up to do because of all these horrible things happening while former President George Bush was in office. I know I am just a young man in high school, but I fear for the future of the greenhouse effect/global warming because I do not want another ice age going on, because after watching the movie The Day After Tomorrow, today's society is not ready. We will all die if this happens. Mankind as we know it will most likely come to an end, and that is nothing I would be looking forward too. So please find time in your busy schedule and millions of problems to move the greenhouse effect/global warming to the top and take care of this horrible disaster before it gets so bad there is no way to fix it.

 

 

__________________________________

   

    1. David E. Newton, Global Warming: A Reference Handbook  (Instructional Horizon, Inc.., 1993) Pg.Xi & 1

    

    2. "    "                                                                                                                            

    

    3. Matthew A. Kraljic, "The Greenhouse Effect" in The Reference Shelf (The H.W. Wilson Company, 1992) Pg.32 & 41

    

    4. "    "                                                                                                                                                                 

    

    5. Jeff Johnson, "Fixing Global Warming Costs of Damage Outstrip Price of Cutting Emissions", C&EN Chemical Engineering News                     http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/85/i08/8508notw8.html

    6. "    "

    7. Stephen H. Schneider, "Environment / Global Warming: Can We Repair the Air?", Discover: Science, Technology, and The Future.      http://discovermagazine.com/1992/sep/canwerepairtheai120

    8. "    "

    9. "    " 

    

    10. The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, "Obama on the 'urgency' of combating 'global warming'", American Thinker                                   http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/11/obama_on_the_urgency_of_combat.html

    11. Bonnie Erbe, "How can Obama fix so much that went wrong?", SeattlePi.Com                                    http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/saturdayspin/394608_erbe03.html