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Global Warming is Heating Up

Scientists reach 90 percent agreement that global warming is real. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting in Paris released a 21-page reportGlobal on the hows and the what of global warming.

"Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level," the report said.

But if you believe this is a government problem, I believe you are wrong. Each of us can change the future, one person at a time. The remainder of this post is excerpted from Individuals CAN Make a Difference in Effort to Combat Global Warming:

The Ad Council and Environmental Defense are teaming up to launch a new public service campaign reminding Americans that individuals can make a difference in the effort to slow the effects of global warming.

HOW YOU CAN fight global warming:

For Your Home

• Use energy-efficient lighting and appliances
• Make sure attic is properly insulated
• Insulate your water heater
  Caulk around windows and doors

For Your Car

• Choose most fuel-efficient car that meets needs and budget
• Cut down on fuel use by making sure tires are properly inflated
• Group errands to conserve fuel

"Research shows that the globe is warming as the concentration of green house gases in the atmosphere are increasing due to human activities such as fossil fuel burning. Scientists are becoming increasingly alarmed that the worst impacts and irreversible consequences of global warming are sooner than we think and could cause major climate changes, including more droughts, intense storms and hurricanes, and rising sea levels in our childrens' lifetimes."

BENEFITS of Taking Steps to Fight Global Warming:

• Every family changes three light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs = taking 3 ½ million cars off the road
• Making sure car tires are properly inflated can cut back on fuel needs by 10%
• Buying a car that gets just 3 miles per gallon better mileage can cut your CO2 emissions by 3,000 pounds per year. That's about three barrels of oil.

The World is Scaring Me!

What are we doing to ourselves? Or are we just in a natural cycle of change? Either way, the world is scaring me.

Here is my challenge to each of us: Learn about nature and the planet, make a commitment to do something to make our world a better place, and then do it.

Read the following for motivation, if you need any. This just in:

Ancient ice shelf snaps, breaks free from Canadian Arctic
POSTED: 9:23 a.m. EST, December 29, 2006

TORONTO, Ontario (AP) -- A giant ice shelf the size of 11,000 football fields has snapped free from Canada's Arctic, scientists said.

The mass of ice broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 800 kilometers (497 miles) south of the North Pole, but no one was present to see it in Canada's remote north.

Scientists using satellite images later noticed that it became a newly formed ice island in just an hour and left a trail of icy boulders floating in its wake. (Watch the satellite images that clued in ice watchers)

Warwick Vincent of Laval University, who studies Arctic conditions, traveled to the newly formed ice island and could not believe what he saw.

"This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years. We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead," Vincent said Thursday.