Global Warming is Real - Like it or Lump it!

Ever feel like taking Rush Limbaugh to the beach; bury him in the sand, (it would take a very large hole) and wait for the tide to come in. It probably won't take long for Limbaugh to be in over his bloated head. Global warming is real and I'm glad we have a President that accepts science instead of the rantings of a lunatic.

Each year I discuss this issue with my class because there are a few folks that get a lot of media attention who claim that scientists are just alarming us all. Well; I'm alarmed, and I'm also appalled by the ignorance of a Rush Limbaugh.

I like to show this chart to my class that is based on very solid science which outlines the level of CO2 in the atmosphere during the past 420,000 years. If Rush Limbaugh or anyone else wants to question the reality of global warming, I challenge them to prove to me that CO2 does not cause a greenhouse affect. What's incredible about the chart displayed is the level of growth in CO2 since the Industrial Revolution. You don't have to be a climate scientist to understand the connection.

Yes; the Earth goes through periods of warming and cooling. This is natural and we are in the portion of the cycle that leads to warming of the planet. Take a close look at the chart. Our last ice age was some 10,000 years ago and was part of a natural cycle of warming and cooling that occurs every 100,000 +/- years. Please note that historic levels of CO2 in the atmosphere never exceeded 300 ppmV until the last 100 years. Since the Industrial Revolution, our planet has coincided with the natural warming cycle but CO2 levels have spiked to unprecedented levels (380 ppmV). CO2 levels have far exceeded previous spikes during the past 420,000 years. If Mike Huckabee or Sarah Palin is listening, this is a little more than your 7,000 year old history of the planet.

This data is built on solid science and can't be refuted. If you want to try, let's hear it? We also know that CO2 is a greenhouse gas. If you want to dispute that, let's hear it? We know that greenhouse gasses trap heat on our planet; if you want to dispute it, let's hear it? If you want to dispute any of this argument, you need to watch "Extreme Ice", a PBS special on the melting ice around the world. If after watching this PBS special, you want to take Rush Limbaugh's side, let's hear it?

While some debate the reality of global warming; we continue to lose precious time, and Rush Limbaugh's gas continues to make this planet warmer and warmer.

Pay attention America; this is a serious problem.

tomtoak

Obama and Science - A Breath of Fresh Air

Of all the problems during the last Bush administration, the attack on science as the foundation for truth was the most egregious. The Bush science legacy has set this country apart from most of the world, making the United States look like an ideological terrorist. Besides the continuous mistakes in foreign policy, the inability to move science forward will taint the presidency of George Bush forever. Losing 8 years of innovation is not forgivable. The continuous distortion of true science is legendary for the Bush years.

Barack Obama got his administration off on the right foot when he announced his science team so early. Boy; what a science team it is. Steven Chu, physicist and Nobel laureate is the Secretary of Energy. John Holdren, physicist, is the President's science advisor. I happen to like physicists, they tend to be the best thinkers in the scientific world in my opinion. Jane Lubchenco, marine ecologist will head the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Harold Varmus, biologist, Nobel laureate and Eric Lander, a genome expert will co chair the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST).

Get used to that acronym PCAST; you will hear that a lot during the next eight years. Science has been the foundation of America's success. No other country can come close to the achievements that our great Nation has been able to provide the world. Unfortunately; during the Bush years, other Nations were beginning to find leadership roles on many science issues.

Now we have a President that understands the need for science leadership. You can watch Obama's message and feel confident that America will lead into the future. What this country can never afford again is to have an ideologue making decisions absent of true science. This is what Bush gave us and this is what Obama will change. We will have science in the 21st century.

tomtoak

URI Students Work to Save the North Woods

Times sure are different; as bad as this economy is, things are better than when I went to college. I have had the pleasure of working with a group of students at the University of Rhode Island that are dedicated to saving an area of campus known as the "North Woods". The University would like to construct a new Research Park that would utilize almost 30 acres on the north side of campus. Unfortunately, this proposed park would land right on top of a 100 year- old forest that has been largely undisturbed.

Students have started to do all of the right things. They have gathered information, asked to meet with professors, sought advice from a number of sources and developed a plan to approach the Administration. Nobody is trying to make headlines here. These students believe that a research park is a good thing for the University; they are just concerned about URI losing rural character and an important teaching tool that they are all familiar with. When concerned about how to handle any press, a group prepared a press release to focus the discussion appropriately.

I have had the honor to work with so many of these students that truly care about their University and the North Woods. They understand that URI needs both a research park and this natural laboratory.

When I attended UMass (1968-1972) student grievances were handled a little differently. On my first day at UMass, student orientation, June 5, 1968, Robert Kennedy was assassinated. This happened just 3 months after the loss of Martin Luther King. I remember a visit to the campus by Hubert Humphrey after he lost the election to Richard Nixon. Humphrey actually came to our dorm. A group of disgruntled students surrounded him and demanded that they meet with him privately. The scene was very tense but he handled it well. He never got to speak to the student body that evening because an obnoxious professor took over a microphone and would not stop his rant against the war in Vietnam. Humphrey had to walk off stage. Strom Thurman, Senator from South Carolina, came to campus to speak one time and was greeted by students dressed in KKK garb. As they approached the stage, Thurman exited through a back door and got into his limo. I stood and watched in horror as students tried to turn the vehicle over. He managed to escape without anyone getting hurt. When UMass announced a hike in tuition from $50 per semester to $150, a group of student protesters had a sit-in at the Administration building.

Times have changed. Students have changed and it's all for the better. Let's hope that there is a win-win for everyone here. Can you imagine one of these dedicated students arriving at the University 40 years from now and taking a walk through the North Woods on their way to a meeting at the Research Park? They would be proud and they should be proud.

I still wish tuition was $50 per semester though!

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How Old is the Earth?

In High School many years ago, my Social Studies teacher, Brother Leo (A Christian Brother) proposed the following question; "Is democracy always right?". The class debated the issue for the entire period, took a vote and concluded; "yes, democracy is always right". He then proposed the following; a teacher brings a hen into a classroom of grade school children and asks the class to decide whether it is male or female. The class votes and decides that it is male. Did democracy work? Yes it did, but it got it wrong was his response.

Almost half the U.S. population believes the earth is less than 10,000 years old. While studies seem to vary considerably, (2% of the U.S. population scares me) responses do depend on how you ask the question. One Harris poll found that 73% of Republicans believe in creationism as compared to 58% of Democrats and 57% of Independents (high for all concerned, probably because of the question) (The straightdope.com , November 10, 2006).

This is really scary stuff! Mike Huckabee won 5 states in the Republican primaries. He espoused changing the Constitution to make it more like the Bible and he believes that the earth is 7,000 years old. Yes, he believes that people walked with the dinosaurs. Sarah Palin, our latest Republican Vice-Presidential joke believes the same thing.

As I write, this is getting scarier! Theocracies can get in the way of democracy and, in the end, get the question wrong. If you don't believe me, look at Hamas. How can we afford leaders that are so wrong?

The earth is an estimated 4.5 billion years old and that's the fact; and the hen is female, and that's the fact. When was the last time we had a Democrat running for President that believed the earth was 7,000 years old?

George Bush and all the other Republicans should have had Brother Leo's class. Maybe if they had, they would be very careful how they propose to democratize populations that may get the question wrong. Then again, they think they were always right, yet they always got it wrong.

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