Save Ourselves

 I definitely agree with my classmate, Brenda Castro, about global warming and the dangers it presents. For over 150 years we have been studying temperature levels; we are even able to drill in ice caps and study Carbon Dioxide levels back 600,000 years. Human greenhouse gas emissions warm the planet by increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Solar activity also warms or cools the planet by increasing or decreasing the amount of radiation reaching the Earth’s atmosphere and surface. Volcanic activity generally cools the planet over short timeframes by releasing sulfate aerosols into the atmosphere, which block sunlight and reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface. However, unlike many greenhouse gases, aerosols are washed out of the atmosphere quickly, mostly after just 1-2 years. Thus the main volcanic impact on long-term temperature changes occur when there is an extended period of particularly high or low volcanic activity. Earlier this year the carbon dioxide levels reached 400 ppm (parts per million), which is double what it was 150 years ago.
Now that took eight sentences to explain and you pretty much get an idea that global warming is caused by man and there is no other way to explain it. Unfortunately this is a time that will be known as the Oil Age. It is the richest industry the earth has ever seen and with that wealth comes power. Jim Inhofe, Chairman of the Senate Environment Committee, is a republican from Oklahoma and his biggest doners are from the oil and gas industry, which basically means he could give a crap less about the Environment. It doesn't really matter how much we explain the simple concept of global warming, because they will continue to believe that if you can bring a snowball on the Senate floor, then obviously global warming can't exist.
I do have faith that the change is coming. Maybe if we changed the slogan from "Save The Planet" to "Save Ourselves" it would have more of an impact.