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Is Global Warming Changing Your World?

June 10, 2009 | Posted by Sam Parry in Your Turn

My grandmother grew up in southern Maine and still lives there. She tells the story of going ice skating on local ponds over Thanksgiving holidays when she was a kid.

A couple of years ago, my family spent the Thanksgiving break with her in Maine. The ponds were certainly not frozen over. In fact, temperatures were in the 60s.

One Indian summer Thanksgiving doesn't prove anything. But, with Maine's climate predicted to resemble that of the Mid-Atlantic region in coming decades, will Mainers be able to ice skate over Thanksgiving again?

What about you? Have you noticed climate changes in your backyard? We'd love to read your story.

16 Responses

Comment from WildThing
June 11th, 2009 at 1:01 pm

Indigenous People should be considered as Endangered Species and National Treasures to be protected for their cultural biodiversity!!!!!!

Comment from Francine Weaver
June 11th, 2009 at 1:15 pm

Anyone in tune with nature around us can see things are changing. You dont have to be a scientist to notice.
I am praying organizations like this one will win the war and save our precious Earth and it's species.
I have lived in the North Gerogia Mountains for over 10 years and love my bird feeder. You would think having thousands of National Forest land in my backyard would ensure my getting lot's of birds. But just over a short 10 years I have noticed a huge drop in the different species visiting my bird feeder. Much to my sadness, especially in the Indigo Buntings – which are my favorite. They have gone from 10-12 at a time daily at my feeder to only having see 1 bird on 2 seperate occasions (a copule weeks apart) this year. Very sad. Hope it is not too late for a lot of our wildlife before necessary acitons are taken.

Comment from KGlo
June 11th, 2009 at 2:01 pm

Change here in Queens NY is also obvious with more strong and frightening storms-even tornado threats. Many bird species here have dwindled while we get more southern species as well as birds hanging around longer. These aren't just my observations. My observation is with wetter springs (and perhaps bat problems)we seem to have more mosquitos…and ofcourse would West Nile disease have taken root so easily with a colder dryer climate…don't know but don't think so.

Comment from hemenwlin2003
June 11th, 2009 at 3:12 pm

I am a passionate nature and wildlife person, and just love to spend time with birds, animals, other creatures and nature in general. In the past six or seven years, I have noticed that our native Lady Bugs have vanished completely, and I have heard it is due to the invasion of the Asian Beetle, that has killed off our native Lady Bugs. Those that are not knowledgeable, believe that those horrible, tan Asian Beetles are our native beetles, and of course, they are not. Native Lady Bugs are red with black spots, not tan. The Asian Beetles smell badly when squashed, and they bite. The Native ones do not do either. Lady Bugs are quite valuable in the vegetable garden, especially organic gardens, as I have. There are those that you may purchase from nurseries, etc., but our wild ones seem to have totally disappeared, unfortunately. I did have a few Monarch and Swallow Tail Butterflies around my flowers last two years ago, but haven't seen any since then.

Comment from Vegan Betty
June 11th, 2009 at 4:52 pm

THE most important thing that you can do to curtail Global Warming on a personal basis is to GO VEGAN. Animal agriculture (including dairy and intensive egg farming) is one of the top 3 contributors to global warming according to the rather conservative Pew Commission of the United Nations. Not only that but you will live longer, tread more lightly on the planet (have a smaller carbon footprint), and not contribute to the massive, systemic, horrifying animal cruelty happening all over the planet.

Comment from DORIE
June 11th, 2009 at 5:48 pm

About the vivid fall colors of the sugar maple: here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan- and in Northern Wisconsin-the same glorious colors bring tourists to our area, and Maple Syrup is an important industry as well.
In this tough economy, folks can enjoy color tours here without having to fight the East Coast highway traffic- and without having to travel as far in the first place. Check out the U.P.Cut River Bridge area in October !!
I would like to see concern given to our maples, bobcats, monarch butterflies and even frogs here- since we are as worried as people in the bigger city areas, about
losing these important natural resources– let alone their beauty.

Comment from gael tryles
June 11th, 2009 at 6:38 pm

We must stop global warming. We humans are the ones that can work on it. We just cannot lose more species that share this Earth. I live in Michigan and I welcome the monarchs and other bees and butterflies by allowing some milkweed plants to grow in the garden and around the house and pasture.It is fun to watch the monarch caterpillars grow and chomp on the milkweed plants.(they smell very good too) I plant fennel for the swallow tails to lay their eggs on and their colorful caterpillars feed on the feathery leaves.I have also seen the swallowtails on dill plants. The dill plants have the same feathery leaves,so maybe they are on there by mistake. We must all help out, even in small ways , to STOP GLOBAL WARMING and the destruction of many of Earth's creatures. gael tryles

Comment from gael tryles
June 11th, 2009 at 6:40 pm

I already wrote a comment and I cannot do it again-I'm sorry my words were in vain

Comment from tpboscher
June 11th, 2009 at 7:33 pm

I am still searching for the answer to "Who caused the end of either previous Ice Age?" There was no industry. There were no cars/trucks/planes/trains. Was it man's fault then, too?

Thanks for your question, tpboscher. As you say, there have indeed been significant swings in the planet's climate over time. But, as we point out in this blog post on Climate 411, there is a big difference this time around.

In the past, slight changes in the earth's orbit have triggered slight increases in the planet's temperature, which led to more carbon dioxide being released from the melting permafrost, which lead to more warming. The ebb and flow of these natural interactions create ice age cycles.

This time around, however, the higher concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels is causing the warming. And the major concern is that carbon dioxide concentrations are higher now than they have been in hundreds of thousands of years.

If current warming trends hold, according to some models, the climate of New Hampshire could resemble the climate of North Carolina by the turn of the century. Globally, that much climate change in that short a period of time would be catastrophic to human civilization and the wider web of life on the planet.

Hope that answers your question. Happy to answer others you may have.

Thanks,
Sam Parry
Director, Online Membership and Activism

Comment from Mimi
June 12th, 2009 at 1:10 am

No, global warming is not changing my world in Dallas, TX. I'm with tpboscher above. If you read 30-yr. old issues of Time Magazine, the same dire predictions were published–but warning that we would be freezing to death, not melting. Since then, the Earth's temperature has only risen about 1 degree Farenheit.

There is just as much evidence to refute that people are causing global warming (gradual as it may be) as there is to prove it. It is a natural cycle. Scientists who disagree with the global warming agenda are denied research funds, forced to make retractions, lose their jobs, and are "frozen" out by their believing colleagues.

Most people don't ralize the IPCC, a United Nations group that started the whole scare, is made up mostly of bureaucrats, not 2,000 scientists. Theirs is a political agenda.

Of course we need to take care of the Earth and not pollute it, but people come before animals and plants. Plants support much animal life and need CO2 to survive.
If people really want the truth, they will research all sides of this and be intellectually honest about it instead of emotional. It has become a religion for many.

Comment from Rachel
June 12th, 2009 at 8:06 am

Here in East Tennessee/Southwest Virginia, we used to get about five to six big snows a year -at least five inches each. I used to sleigh ride relentlessly all winter as a child. Now, 30 years later, we are lucky to get a flurry a couple of times a year. I don't need any scientist to tell me that the climate is changing. I have witnessed it with my own eyes. It scares me how rapidly this has occurred during my lifetime. We really need to act quickly or we will not be able to save the planet.

Comment from Rachel
June 12th, 2009 at 8:11 am

Someone commented that people should be come before plants and animals. Let us not forget that animals and plants provide food. Plants also provide medicines and I believe, oxygen! Every species on the planet is interrelated. If we do something to one species, we do it to ourselves as well.

Comment from triffel
June 12th, 2009 at 9:36 pm

Bring on the warm weather. VPI study states that Plants will grow faster with higher levels of CO2 and warmth. If I remember correctly, the animals are being killed off due to them having the status of nuisances in other countries, over hunting, habitat pressures, or improper stewardship of chemicals, unrelenting – unchecked predators etc.

I am more in tune with nature than most people since my living comes with the weather. I've been a Farmer all my life (60 years) and depend on the weather to feed my family, employees, and the world.

Comment from Robert E. Fisher, MSW
June 21st, 2009 at 3:59 pm

Subj: Article About Rising Sea Levels Below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/05/AR2009060501342.html?hpid%3Dmoreheadlines&sub=AR

There is an urgent need for Emergency Regulations regarding CNG/LNG pumps at gasoline stations for private passenger vehicles due to a dearth of CNG/LNG public fueling sites in California.

Some scientist, below, say that we have only ten years or the year 2030 to mitigate current global warming trends.

It will take too long for the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to adopt Low Carbon Fuel Standards(LCFS) re: Compressed Natural Gas/Liquified Natural Gas (CNG/LNG) via the normal public hearing process.

This is why I advocate the adoption of Emergency Regulations regarding CNG/LNG pumps at existing oil company stations for private vehicle use.

Consider the below:

1.) There is a dearth of public fueling sites for private passenger vehicles in California.

2.) The solution to this problem is tax credits for oil companies to install CNG pumps at their existing gasoline stations. I have requested our Senators Boxer, and Feinstein to sponsor/co-sponsor legislation via the Ways and Means Committee regarding tax credits/incentives for the oil companies to install CNG pumps at their existing gasoline stations.

Also, this will create thousands of jobs as a by product!

3.) Honda and Toyota continue to produce CNG private passenger vehicles. Except for the Ford Crown Victoria, which is produced en masse for law enforcement, the "Big Three" produced CNG private passenger vehicles until 2005, but discontinued due to a dearth of public fueling sites in the USA,

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/carpool.htm

4.) The oil companies, such as, Shell Oil, BP ,Exxon, Chevron have a natural gas (NG) component in their high end operations. It would not be a problem for such companies to add CNG pumps, but they need incentives to do so.

5.) For the reason above, CNG is the most practical alternative fuel, because;

6.) Most of of the other alternative energy biofuels, such as, corn ethanol are out dated and not economically feasible, and are still in the development stage.

7.) Should California fail to adopt LCFS Regulations regarding CNG/LNG as the preferred alternative energy fuel forthwith not only California, but literally, the world would suffer, as a result. See below:

NEED FOR CALIF TO ADOPT CNG/LNG LOW CARBON FUEL STANDARD "EMERGENCY" REGULATIONS FORTHWITH :

Below are three pertinent articles about Antarctica's and Greenland's melting ice. It would only take a three foot sea level rise to flood the coastlines, and cities, lowlands and islands of the world:

http://news.aol.com/article/huge-ice-chunks-break-away-from/452969?icid=sphere_newsaol_inpage

http://news.aol.com/article/sea-level-rise/483569?icid=main|htmlws-main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fsea-level-rise%2F483569

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090527/ap_on_go_ot/us_sci_rising_seas

Once Greenland's glaciers melts and the Antarctica's Wilkens Ice Shelf completely breaks away, (Chunks have already broken away within the last month) it would enable the Antarctica's glaciers to slide into the sea at a faster rate in the future.

Should the glaciers slide into the sea, there would be a at least a ten meter rise in sea levels that would flood coastlines, cities, states, lowlands, and islands of the world.

Major Cities, such as, San Diego, Long Beach, parts of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Oakland, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, Canada on the West Coast would be flooded.

Cities, such as, as New York, Boston, Baltimore, Charleston, S. C., Savannah, GA., Washington, D. C., Jacksonville, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Miami, on the East Coast would be flooded.

The Great Lakes cities, such as, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto, and Toledo would be flooded.

States, such as, Florida, Hawaii and Alaska would be flooded.

The Gulf Coast cities, such as, Mobile, Biloxi, Gulf Port, New Orleans, Houston, Galveston, and Corpus Cristi, would be flooded.

Also, parts of the Netherlands, British Isles, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean Islands, the Mediterranean Rivera, France, Spain, Portugal, Antigua, Bangladesh, Bangkok, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, the Philippines, Cuba, and parts of Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Central America, Mexico, and South America would be flooded.

I continue to keep you informed re: developments of global warming and its effects on the coastlines, cities, states, lowlands, and islands of the world.

My responsibility is never ending, in keeping with the Board of Regents of the University of California's Alumni's Duties and Responsibilities to the People of the State of California (1983).

by,
Robert E. Fisher, Master of Social Welfare, 1971
The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)
Former City of Los Angeles Legislative Analyst/Rep to The California Coastal Commission 1974-79