The Time to Act Is Now

Global warming is upon us. Will our leaders lead? Al Gore sets forth some recent anamolies/signs:

* Last year, the science textbooks had to be rewritten. They used to say, "It's impossible to have a hurricane in the South Atlantic." We had the first one last year, in Brazil. Japan also set an all-time record for typhoons last year: 10. The previous record was seven.
* This summer, more than 200 cities in the United States broke all-time heat records. Reno, Nevada, set a new record with 10 consecutive days above 100 degrees. Tucson, Arizona, tied its all-time record of 39 consecutive days above 100 degrees. New Orleans - and the surrounding waters of the Gulf - also hit an all-time high.
* This summer, parts of India received record rainfall - 37 inches fell in Mumbai in 24 hours, killing more than 1,000 people.
* The new extremes of wind and rain are part of a larger pattern that also includes rapidly melting glaciers worldwide, increasing desertification, a global extinction crisis, the ravaging of ocean fisheries, and a growing range for disease "vectors" like mosquitoes, ticks and many other carriers of viruses and bacteria harmful to people.

So why is this happening?

Because the relationship between humankind and the Earth has been utterly transformed. To begin with, we have quadrupled the population of our planet in the past hundred years. And secondly, the power of the technologies now at our disposal vastly magnifies the impact each individual can have on the natural world. Multiply that by six and a half billion people, and then stir into that toxic mixture a mind-set and an attitude that say it's OK to ignore scientific evidence - that we don't have to take responsibility for the future consequences of present actions - and you get this violent and destructive collision between our civilization and the Earth.

It's time for someone to set our nation's policies on the track of renewable energy, conservation, environmental safeguards/protection. Can W do it? I doubt it, but at least I hope he gives it that old Yale/Eli try.