GLOBAL WARMING: Hard-core evidence

From the Houston Chronicle editorial board:

Robert May, the head of Britain's top scientific body, The Royal Society, says the threats from climate change include rises in sea level, shrinking freshwater supplies in some areas and the increasing incidence of extreme events such as floods, droughts and hurricanes. According to May, the consequences "are rising to levels which invite comparison with weapons of mass destruction."

In the last month, new studies indicate global warming is proceeding faster than previously thought. Analysis of Antarctic ice cores spanning the last 650,000 years revealed that the amount of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere has shot up over the past two centuries to the highest levels in the sampling. U.S. researchers used East Coast sediment samples to establish that annual sea level rises of 1 millimeter over the past 5,000 years doubled in the past 150 years, coinciding with the introduction of fossil fuel use.

At the same time, geophysicists at Oregon State University and the University of Utah announced findings from soil and tree ring analysis indicating average temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere have increased 1.5 degrees over the same century and a half since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

President Bush has acknowledged the growing evidence for global warming, but his administration remains on the sidelines as world leaders grapple with the issue. The U.S. Senate has passed a nonbinding resolution calling for economically responsible efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Click here for the rest.

You know, this story isn't simply about the devastating effects of global warming and how the US, as a nation, seems to just not give a shit: it's absolute proof that our country is run of, by, and for the wealthy elites who own it. It has been known for at least a decade that fossil fuels are destroying the atmospheric gasses which filter solar heat. Instead of doing something about it, however, our ruling elite has engaged in a disinformation campaign which has bogged down public discourse in a morass of bullshit about whether or not there actually is such a thing as global warming.

Why? Because doing something about global warming will cost big business a great deal of money. Never mind the fact that we're talking about the lives of everyone on the planet. The priority of the US has been to protect profits, and fuck everything else. Obviously, it's totally insane for a democracy to act in a way that is profoundly harmful to its citizens. It is not insane, however, for a plutocracy to do such a thing. After all, the biggest concern for a government run by the wealthy must necessarily be their wealth. And that's exactly what's going on with this global warming situation.

Like I keep on saying, we do not live in a democracy. Our nation has democratic elements, yes, but that's mostly a show. You and I have no real power. America is for the rich, and it's our job to do their will. Our best interests simply don't matter. Sick, isn't it?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$