The bright side is that Michigan won't be half underwater in 100 years like some states. On the less than bright side, this graphic in the Freep shows what Michigan could look like in 2100 as a result of global warming's impacts. Swampy shores, Mississippi hot, vanished songbirds, dying trout and a lot of snowmobiles with for sale signs on them.
Maple Buds in January by Andy McFarlane
A related article talks about Michiganders who are showing Al Gore's slide show on Climate Crisis (popularized in the movie An Inconvenient Truth) and gives some dates where it will be presented. The article also points out a local angle:
Henry Pollack, a retired University of Michigan geology professor, served as Gore's science adviser for two of the Tennessee training sessions. His job was to get the science across, point out errors and answer trainees' questions, something he still does by e-mail.
"We went through it slide by slide," he said of the training. Pollack pointed out half a dozen minor errors in the slide show the first time and said each was fixed by the second session.
I saw the movie and was struck by the sheer weight of the data. Seems to me that the point isn't about politics, it's about survival. Watching a lake greater than any of the Great Lakes drained in the span of years was quite shocking. If you've seen the movie or the slideshow, I'd be interested in your comments. If you haven't, I really have to recommend that you do.
2 Comments
The movie "An Inconvenient Truth" opened my eyes and really moved me. Since I saw the movie, I have been talking about the climate crisis to everyone I know and meet.
But, today a friend who is a true skeptic sent me the following article published by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. Pl. read it.
How do I reply to him and other such naysayers? Is the information in the article factual? If it is, is there a reason? Even if it is true, in my mind, Al Gore is making more diference in the outlook to global warming than anyone else I know of.
Please reply answering how does one handle this apperently incongruent set of facts. Thank you and regards.
Uday
Uday Kulkarni, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Information Systems
W. P. Carey School of Business
Arizona State University
Phone: (480)965-6191
email: uday.kulkarni@asu.edu
The story is below - the source Website if interested is http://www.tennesseepolicy.org/main/page.php
POWER: GORE MANSION USES 20X AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD; CONSUMPTION INCREASE AFTER 'TRUTH'
Mon Feb 26 2007 17:16:14 ET
The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization committed to achieving a freer, more prosperous Tennessee through free market policy solutions, issued a press release late Monday:
Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.
Gore’s mansion, [20-room, eight-bathroom] located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).
In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.
The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.
Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.
Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.
Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.
“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk to walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.
In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.
For Further Information, Contact:
Nicole Williams, (615) 383-6431
editor@tennesseepolicy.org
Going out on a few limbs here. I would guess that:
It never ceases to amaze me how strong the suggestion is to focus on "issues" that are not the real issues. Our petty peccadilloes and politics are going to seem mighty insignificant when (can we make that if?) a third of the world's population is fleeing their drowned homes.
I'll tell you a little story back. I finally took my 13-year-old daughter to see this film about a month ago. The other night I was hoping for some lively discussion and asked her: You've had some time to think about An Inconvenient Truth - what are your thoughts?
She shut the conversation down by saying: It doesn't matter. Everyone is just going to keep doing what they're doing and nothing will change until it's too late.
I'm guessing at that point it isn't going to matter one damn bit what Al Gore's meter read or whether it was brought on by fossil fuels, cow farts or cyclical climate changes.
Enough bobbing and weaving.
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