Global warming
We can no longer afford to ignore global warming. Its consequences, including loss of life, economic disruption and population dislocation are growing each year. "As individuals living on the planet at this moment in time, we face a challenge no generation has ever had to face. We need to dramatically change the manner in which we use the Earth’s natural resources. And we need to do this soon or we will significantly increase the severity of climate-induced natural disasters."
The accumulation of greenhouse gases caused by everyday activities of modern life – driving our cars, heating and cooling our homes, and running our factories, is transforming our climate, acting like an extra blanket around the earth and trapping more heat than would otherwise be there. "Around the world, climate change is threatening not only individual species such as polar bears, tigers, salmon, penguins and corals, but it is also posing potentially catastrophic and long-term changes to the environment and people’s lives around the world."
"In addition to rising temperatures, climate change is resulting in sea level rise, increased hurricane intensity, glacier decline, increased drought, spread of disease, shifts in the timing of seasons, increased flooding, changes in freshwater supply, and an increase in extreme weather events."
References:
- David Gershon, Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds, p.1 (2006).
- World Wildlife Fund: http://www.worldwildlife.org/climate/basic.cfm