Global Warming, Personal Health, & Finances

[lph]

The ones who are suffering because of all the extra taxation are those who can least afford it. For people on high incomes, paying extra tax will hardly be missed. We have a rich/poor divide here which is getting wider all the time and given our government's track record on taxation you can understand why I'm very cynical of global warming.

Well, I can understand that you're unhappy about taxation, and dislike your government, but that doesn't really imply that global warming isn't real...

I mean - let's say for the sake of argument that your country got involved in a war. Taxes would surely go up to support the war effort, and the effect would hit people hard. You could disagree with your government whether it was right to get involved in the war or not, but that doesn't mean the war doesn't exist.

Honest, not trying to be snide here, just pedantic

[carpaltunnel]

For those who want to understand global warming better, here are a few places to start:
Rent the movie An Inconvenient Truth. A good overview of the science supporting the theory that global warming is real and a threat to us all.

Read The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery

How man is changing the climate and what it means for life on earth.

Mr. Flannery is an internationally acclaimed scientist. I heard him interviewed on National Public Radio's Fresh Air Program. He was a global warming sceptic until he pieced together data he had collected from several trips to New Guniea over a period of years. The book details scientific evidence that supports the theory that global warming is real.
Listen to the show from this link
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5293273

Read Uncertain Science...Uncertain World by Henry N. Pollack
This book clearly addresses the precise language scientists use like "Theory" and "certainty", and explains what it really means. This is the language that people with an interest in business as usualy exploit when they say things like "Well, science has never proved that smoking causes cancer, (or burning fossil fuels causes global warming).
Dr. Pollack is a professor of Geology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. He does research into the historical temperature records that can be derived from core samples in the Antarctic and in rock formations. I attended a lecture he gave last week on this topic. He recommended that we all let our elected officials know that the environment is a high priority with us as voters, and we'll be voting that issue in all upcoming elections. A quote from his lecture: "We have to stop using the atmosphere like an open sewer."
He was also a presenter at the US Global Change Research Program seminar. A good summary is here:
http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/seminars/980112DD.html

Please give these careful consideration and try to separate the science from the current political responses. Thanks!