Tuesday, June 14, 2005
The Debate's Over: The Globe Is Warming

This is the main headline of yesterday's USA Today. According to the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, it is now confirmed that due to carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases, Earth is trapping more energy from the sun than it is releaseing back into space.

"Finally!", I have to say. It has always been hard to believe for me that while the rest of the world has been accepting the fact, and has been working on solutions, the US still decided a final call on the issue could not be made. Well, at least the "global warming dark ages" have ended.

I guess it may be a bit easier to believe in global warming if you can look out your window and see a mountain that used to be covered by a glacier that's now completely snow-free. And I guess the frequent occurance of extreme weather such as flooding in Europe or an increase in tropical storms didn't give us enough of a hint. Even satellite photos of certain areas from years back compared to now didn't convince some people. 

This issue has bothered me for a while now, and I am not even what one would consider an environmentalist! But it is now time to move on and join in the effort of finding a solution.