BAD 2009

Funny how we're always waiting for Friday (TGIF). Blog Action Day (BAD) is the day that I've been waiting for and here is my contribution to this year's chosen topic 'Climate Change'.



There is a video somewhere that says everything that I believe to be true about climate change and the underlying causes. I've seen it and thought that it was one of the best put together videos that I've ever come across. I'm sure I've seen it on someone's page in our world here at Multiply. Video or no video, and despite what many people would have us believe to be a scam, there are too many indications that we are experiencing climate change, global warming or whatever we want to call it. At least for me this is true, and I have absolutely no training in meteorological matters, and any scientific facts I would have learned at school are long forgotten. In my quest to find the video that I'd have liked to include, I came across an interview on Fox News with the Weather Channel founder who said that the whole global warming thing was a bunch of hoopla (my words, not his exact ones). The interviewer remarked that he was looking forward to the Ice Age (and these were more or less his exact words). Because I want this to be a serious blog and not one of name-calling, I'll keep my comments to myself.

For a long, long I've thought the United States has bizarre weather that I sure don't remember experiencing when I was a child - record high temperatures, tornadoes in areas that are not known for them, hurricane winds in areas where maybe there is some heavy rain but never hurricane-force winds, baseball-size hail, etc. I know many of us are able to look back on our childhood with fondness, and some of us even think it's the best time of our lives. However, I'm convinced that the part of the country where I grew up wasn't so humid and I know it wasn't as hazy as it so often is now. Sometimes when I've heard people there talk about what a nice sunny day it was I've thought it was a rather dull day. Somewhere I read that the sky is getting duller in the United States due to pollution while in Europe it's getting lighter. I suppose that's what I see. Anyway, the climate which I live in now is dry and we're usually blessed with blue skies. Not that Europe doesn't have its bizarre weather too. Please don't think for even a second that any part of this planet we live on is exempt from drastic change or unusual events. Just recently one of my Multiply friends who lives in Scotland posted photos of a terrifying sandstorm that she and a friend had got caught in. A sand storm in Scotland! I'm sure anyone who knows a little bit about geography knows that Scotland is far from any deserts. People who have lived in that area of Scotland for ages have no recollection of any such phenomenon. We can only hope that the experts, especially those who are sceptics about global warming, have a logical explanation for why this happened. From what I understand, the sand storm didn't even make the local news.

If climate change is a reality and not a scam as many detractors claim, what are we going to do to stop it or try to slow down the process? Unfortunately until our governments decide to take action ( by then it will possibly be too late), we must rely on ourselves to do what we can and through our example influence others to do what they can. Ever since I can remember, I've been a no litter freak. I've never been able throw even a minute scrap of paper on the ground although there are those in my adopted country who claim when they do so they're giving someone a job. I recycle as much as I can; I eat leftovers (I love leftovers) because I don't want to waste food; I take showers instead of baths (I've never understood sitting in your own slime anyway), stay in the shower only as long as it takes me to do what I have to, and turn off the water while I'm soaping up; I pick up my dog's solid wastes and dispose of them properly; turn off all unnecessary electrical appliances and never leave phone and camera chargers plugged up all the time like I've seen some people do.

The above list contains just some of the things I do to hopefully make things better for future generations yet this is not enough on my part. I don't like to think of myself as a hoarder, but this past weekend when I was taking out my winter clothes I had to admit that I had too many clothes. I used to think I had an addiction to magazines, especially to home decorating and computer magazines and I 'cured' myself. Now I only subscribe to one computer magazine and buy other magazines once or twice a year. I know some of us tend to love acquiring new clothes and nice things for our home to make ourselves and our home sweet home look better. However, we tend to buy more than is necessary and, in my case at least, have little space in which to store them, so we effectively become 'hoarders'. Oh, I have a good clean out from time to time and have no problem passing on items that are still useful. Nevertheless, I would like for this problem not to exist. I can see another 'cure' being worked out here. I only hope it works as I can only hope that the people whom we've elected to represent us and look after our rights and interests start taking an active part in finding and applying solutions which are beneficial for all.

 http://www.blogactionday.org