Sunday, July 6, 2008

Global What?

We’ve achieved a vague awareness that the Earth and oceans and air really are increasing in temperature. We’ve even replaced a few old light bulbs with compact fluorescents and turned down our thermostats a couple of degrees during the winter months.

Now that we’ve walked the walk (if only in baby steps), it’s time to talk the talk:

It’s not global warming, but global heating.

It’s not climate change, but climate chaos, collapse, crash, calamity …

We’re fast approaching not the tipping point but the point of no return or the runaway greenhouse effect.

The eight or nine climate mechanisms which are driving the global temperature rise are called feed back loops, but the more accurate term would be chain reactions.

So, it’s global heating, climate chaos, the point of no return, and chain reactions. Talk the talk. There’s not much time left to reverse the great process — perhaps only 10 to 12 years. Walking the walk may be too slow. Talking the talk may give us some energy for an all out sprint.