Global Warming - Ha!

when i hear the media, etc., talk about the dangers of global warming, the very first thing that comes to mind is a time when i was probably around ten. and some publication (or maybe it was our text book) we were reading in school alerted our young minds to the "fact" that our planet was headed for another ice age, worse than the first.  

a couple of months ago, my husband and i purchased a copy of the 2009  Old Farmer's Almanac, and inside i found an article that helped put all of these fears of climate change into perspective.  did you know, for instance, that way back in the 1930's, "scientists," were concerned about global warming, while in 1923 the media was warning readers of the coming ice age?  the concern about global warming and the melting glaciers continued through to the end of the 50's, but suddenly in 1960 the earth was cooling again.  then in 1970, the media once again warned of the coming ice age.  the people were so convinced, in fact, that the citizens of a small town in Vermont were actually studying the possibility of a city-size dome to protect them from the cold as late at 1979.  Then, you guessed it, in 1980, we started warming up again.

it's easy to get caught up in the hype if we forget to look at a bigger picture.  it seems to me, in my own observations, that maybe the earth works in cycles - like pretty much everything else in nature.

but truly the very saddest thing to me is that here at the end of the year 2008, when one of the top 5 biggest buzz words is "global warming," we're actually in a cooling trend.  you probably didn't hear that on the news.  when countries around the world report very unusually cold weather, colder than it has been in 30, 40, or 50 years, we're still warning everyone about global warming.

did you know it snowed in Baghdad this year?  first time in 100 years.  someone needs to explain to me how these reports indicate a warming trend.

please understand, i believe in taking care of the environment.  i think we should respect our forests.  i think we should protect our waters from contamination.  i think that smog is bad, and i don't want to breathe it any more than you do.  

i also believe that many of those who claim to be environmentalists are in the pocket of somebody because they don't make any sense.  if deer are not hunted, they will die of starvation.  if oil is not drilled by us in our waters, it will be drilled for by other countries who will not care as much about safety/environmental concerns, and those people will then use our oil to control us.  

i'll tell you something i do to help my environment.  i burn my trash.  that's right.  i live in a rural area with a big yard, and i designated a place where i burn my trash.  according to the clean air council's statistics, my husband and i may save 100 tons of trash from settling in our local landfill because we choose to burn it instead.  and as far as my "carbon footprint," whatever that means, the research i read says the earth is in a cooling trend, and i'm doing my part to prevent the next ice age.