The World Is Getting Warmer And Warmer And Warmer—It Gets Warmer Year After Year After Year

The world is getting warmer and warmer.

The National Atmospheric And Oceanic Administration has released data that shows that the world is getting warmer.

Above is a NOAA graphic illustrating the warming world.

From a NOAA summary of the report—

“While year-to-year changes in temperature often reflect natural climatic variations such as El Niño/La Niña events, changes in average temperature from decade-to-decade reveal long-term trends such as global warming. Each of the last three decades has been much warmer than the decade before. At the time, the 1980s was the hottest decade on record. In the 1990s, every year was warmer than the average of the previous decade. The 2000s were warmer still. The temperature increase of one degree Fahrenheit over the past 50 years may seem small, but it has already altered our planet,” said Deke Arndt, co-editor of the report and chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. “Glaciers and sea ice are melting, heavy rainfall is intensifying and heat waves are more common. And, as the new report tells us, there is now evidence that over 90 percent of warming over the past 50 years has gone into our ocean.”..More and more, Americans are witnessing the impacts of climate change in their own backyards, including sea-level rise, longer growing seasons, changes in river flows, increases in heavy downpours, earlier snowmelt and extended ice-free seasons in our waters.”

Here is the full NOAA report.

Many people think this is all a scam.

It is not a scam.

Socialist Feds Force Our Tax Dollars On Godly Southerners To Fight Non-Existent Global Warming

The Obama administration is making a new effort to protect barrier islands and other coastal resources in the Gulf of Mexico area. Mississippi and Louisiana seem to be a specific focus of this program.

(Above–A picture of Ship Island off the Mississippi coast. In the background you see Fort Massachusetts. The federal government controlled the island in the Civil war and used the island as a prison for Confederate soldiers. Black combat units were also trained on Ship Island. Here are facts about Ship Island.)

From the Associated Press article on the Obama Gulf Coast effort—

“Since the 1930s, the Mississippi River delta has been slowly falling apart and eroding due to levee construction, oil drilling hurricane damage and other factors. Louisiana has lost about 2,100 square miles of coast and loses about 25 square miles a year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey…With sea levels on the rise due to global warming, experts warn that much of south Louisiana and Mississippi are at risk of being lost for good.”

Here is the full story.

This sure is interesting. You’d think that the good God-fearing folks down in Mississippi  and Louisiana would  oppose federal dollars to help remedy the effects of the great scam of global warming.

Here is a recent New York Times story about how people crazy enough to think that evolution is not real, are now adding global warming to their list of hoaxes.

I’m out of patience with this stuff. People are free to believe what they wish. Freedom of religion is a principle our nation is founded upon. But schools and public debates are places for facts. They are not places for ideologically-driven lies.

Maybe a referendum should be held in Mississippi and Louisiana to be sure that folks in these places believe in global warming. We don’t want to be wasting taxpayer dollars.

Here is a Times of London story about the possible impact of global warming on people and animal life across the globe.

Here is more from the Associated Press story—

“Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the report “clearly demonstrates a positive shift in direction, but must be coupled with aggressive action on the ground — turning dirt. There is no time for delay.”

You are reading this correctly—Republican Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana wants some swift federal action to help address a problem in his state.

Here is how Governor Jindal felt about federal money last year—

“Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Friday that he will decline stimulus money specifically targeted at expanding state unemployment insurance coverage, becoming the first state executive to officially refuse any part of the federal government’s payout to states.”

I see.

Here is the White House press release about this federal help that the people of Mississippi and Louisiana will no doubt be glad to take.

From the release–

“Ultimately, successful implementation of the shared vision depends on access to the best available science in a form that is useful for management decisions.  The Working Group will assess current capacities and identify gaps in science so the Federal-State vision will be implemented based on the best information.”

I put the term “best available science” in bold so that nobody would miss what is being said. The Feds are coming down South to cram global warming down the throats of the people. Time for a tea party!

Is Republican Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi going to tolerate this federal intrusion?

From Think Progress, here is a portion of Mr. Barbour’s record on the environment from when he was a corporate lobbyist–

“Back at his lobbying firm in early 2001, Barbour was hired “to help apply pressure in all the right places.” He convinced President Bush to break his campaign promise to reduce global warming pollution from power plants. Barbour’s memo “Bush-Cheney Energy Policy & CO2” belittled global warming as a “radical fringe issue,” and called the regulation of carbon dioxide pollution “eco-extremism.” He urged the President Bush to avoid making decisions informed by science, which would “trump good energy policy, which the country has lacked for eight years.”

Here is the full report on Mr. Barbour’s record on the environment.

The federal government has dominion over the states. In this case, the federal government is going to provide help for Mississippi and Louisiana no matter if they like it or not.

(Below–Fort Livingston on Grand Terre Island off the coast of Louisiana. This fort, named after a political figure from New York, was built by the federal government and fell back into federal hands after the fall of New Orleans in the Civil war. Here are some facts about Grand Terre Island.)

2000’s Warmest Decade On Record—You Can Advocate For Your Kids’ Future Or Not

NASA reports that the years between 2000 and 2009 were the warmest decade in the world on record so far.

(Above—Fallen Angels in Hell. Painted in 1841 by John Martin.)

From the New York Times story on the issue—

“The decade ending in 2009 was the warmest on record, new surface temperature figures released Thursday by theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration show. The agency also found that 2009 was the second warmest year since 1880, when modern temperature measurement began. The warmest year was 2005. The other hottest recorded years have all occurred since 1998, NASA said…James E. Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said that global temperatures varied because of changes in ocean heating and cooling cycles….“When we average temperature over 5 or 10 years to minimize that variability,” said Dr. Hansen, one of the world’s leading climatologists, “we find global warming is continuing unabated.”

Here is the full Times story.

Here is the NASA press release on the matter.

From the NASA release—

“Climate scientists agree that rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trap incoming heat near the surface of the Earth and are the key factors causing the rise in temperatures since 1880, but these gases are not the only factors that can impact global temperatures….Three others key factors — including changes in the sun’s irradiance, oscillations of sea surface temperature in the tropics, and changes in aerosol levels — can also cause slight increases or decreases in the planet’s temperature. Overall, the evidence suggests that these effects are not enough to account for the global warming observed since 1880.”

I don’t have kids. I’m 42. I’ll be here for whatever remaining amount of time. Many years hopefully. I’ll get by one way or another. And I will remain involved because I think it is important to remain involved.

For those of you with kids, you can decide to take part in politics or not. You can have your kids live in a good world or a bad world. You can ask people you know to be involved in politics and advocacy.

You can leave your kids a world of rising oceans and a nation where nobody has health insurance, or you can do your best to make our nation and our world a decent place to live.

It is your call.

Here is a BBC story about the risk of food and water shortages around the world poised  by climate change.

Greenpeace is addressing global issues of climate change.

Greenpeace Chief Naidoo Moves Focus To Climate Change And Global Poverty

Recently on Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now program, I heard an interview with the new Director of Greenpeace.

Kumi Naidoo, of South Africa, is the first African to lead Greenpeace since it was founded in 1971.

(Above is a picture of Mr. Naidoo. I don’t know who that young person is next to him.)

Here is the Democracy Now interview.

Here is a profile of Mr. Naidoo from the BBC.

The BBC story says Greenpeace is shifting its focus from whaling and nuclear power to issues of global poverty and climate change.

Mr. Naidoo asserts that climate change is a matter of basic justice and human rights.

Mr. Naidoo says wars take place because of resources depleted and shifted by climate change, and some are forced to become refugees because of changing conditions on the Earth.

Here is an excerpt from an article Mr. Naidoo wrote for the BBC—

“I have been an activist for the majority of my life, and my personal journey began at the age of 15 in apartheid South Africa where I was involved with the liberation struggle, eventually having to flee to the UK in 1987. After the release of Nelson Mandela, I returned to South Africa and was involved in strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world, both through Civicus – the global organisation aiming to boost citizen involvement in issues – where I served as secretary general for the past 10 years, and through the Make Poverty History campaign of which I was one of the founders in 2003….I have always personally connected the poverty movement with stewardship for the environment; and having served for the past year as chair of tcktcktck, the global campaign for climate action, it felt like a natural progression to move to Greenpeace… I see a need to bring together the poverty movement and the environmental movement as we face up to the greatest challenge of our time: climate change….Climate change is real and happening now. It already accounts for over 300,000 deaths throughout the world each year, according to the Global Humanitarian Forum. Not only that, but I am aware that time is very much against us. We must take radical action, and I believe that the work that Greenpeace does across the globe is vital in our understanding of climate change and also the actions that are needed.”

Science Daily writes that climate change could worsen poverty in developing nations.

Here is the Greenpeace USA web home.

I enjoy the article on the Greenpeace site called “Hounding Obama in Oslo.”  It is about Greenpeace in Oslo asking President Obama to take the lead on climate change as he accepts the Nobel Peace Prize.

Greenpeace merits our attention and support. This new focus on global poverty and climate change addresses some of the most pressing issues in our world.

( Below–The Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior.)

If Polar Bears Could Vote

( Blogger’s Note—This is the second of my series “If Animals Could Vote.”  Please click here for a discussion of Crayfish voting.)

What if Polar Bears were allowed to vote? What would they ask for? How would they organize? Would they care for others or would they be selfish?

If Polar Bears were allowed to vote, the first thing they might do is insist on quick action regarding climate change. Many scientists fear that the ongoing melting of the polar ice caps will erode the Polar Bear’s habitat.

Polar Bears would also demand an end to Polar Bear hunting. Some whack jobs hunt Polar Bears for fun. Others for food and skins. With only 25,000 polar bears left in the wild, it would seem that all Polar Bear hunting should be banned.

The Polar Bears below have captured a submarine. This should even the odds with hunters.

Enfranchised Polar Bears living within the United States might well demand inclusion in the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The National Audubon Society’s Guide To Marine Mammals Of The World defines Polar Bears as marine mammals. However, the MMPA does not currently list Polar Bears.

The Polar Bear’s Latin name is Ursus Maritimus. This means “sea bear.”

The MMPA extends a variety of protections to included species. (Though not full protection from hunting by native groups.) It is possible that if listed in the act, Polar Bears would then be granted “Majority-Bear” electoral districts to ensure Polar Bear representation.    

Below you see a Polar Bear flag. This flag is from a majority-bear district in Russia  where Polar Bear rights are strongly advanced.    

Polar Bears have also been known to practice so-called identity politics. Below is the flag of gay Polar Bears.

 

It is good that Polar Bear diversity is acknowledged, but a more cohesive “pan-Arctic” view by Polar Bears might lead to faster and more complete rights gains for all Polar Bears. The recent move to a Polar Bear postal system as illustrated by the stamp below, can be seen as an attempt to join Polar Bears more firmly into one large community. 

Polar Bears have a lot to think about as they move towards the vote. One thing is certain though–No Polar Bear has ever been so misguided as to vote for Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush. Here’s hoping  Polar Bears will get it right and vote not just their own best interests, but vote in the best interests of others as well.

Here is some basic information about Polar Bears. 

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New Report On Rising Sea Levels

Here is a BBC article about sea levels rising in the 21st century and the impact this could have on low-lying nations such as Bangladesh.  

New information on this topic comes from a British/Finnish research team and was discussed at a conference in Vienna.  Sea levels seem likely to rise in way not seen in the last 2000 years.

Here is an article about the causes of sea level increases and how such things are measured.  

This is a very interesting tour of Bangladesh by way of its rivers. The theme of the tour is the impact of climate change on Bangladesh. 

This issue should be a big part of the American Presidential campaign. But Senator McCain’s electoral base does not care and Senator’s Obama and Clinton have often lacked the personal discipline and maturity to discuss real issues instead of silliness.  

Global Warming Expanding Tropics—As Always, The Poor Will Bear The Burdens

The portion of the Earth covered by tropics has expanded since 1979 and will continue to expand as the world warms.

From the BBC article—  

While geographers define “The Tropics” rigidly as the region between 23.5 degrees North and 23.5 degrees South, to atmospheric scientists it is a more variable zone marked by features such as the jet stream and the circulation known as Hadley cells.

On these measures, the tropics have expanded since the era of reliable satellite observation began in 1979.

“The edges of the tropical belt are the outer boundaries of the subtropical dry zones, and their poleward shift could lead to fundamental shifts in ecosystems and in human settlements,” the researchers write in the journal Nature Geoscience.

“Shifts in precipitation patterns would have obvious implications for agriculture and water resources, and could present serious hardships in marginal areas.”

As is the case in so many aspects of life, the poor will bear many of the most difficult burdens of this climate change.  

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned in its series of reports this year that serious impacts on food and water supplies lie ahead, including:

• 75-250 million people across Africa could face water shortages by 2020
• Crop yields could increase by 20% in East and South East Asia, but decrease by up to 30% in Central and South Asia
• Agriculture fed by rainfall could drop by 50% in some African countries by 2020

The scientists behind the new study note that the tropical zone appears to be expanding much faster than predicted by computer models.

Some people think of the tropics of being like the photo above.

But for many, expanded tropics will make life more like the photo below

New Year’s Day Links—Good Luck In The New Year From Texas Liberal

 

Happy New Year and good luck to you and yours in the New Year! 

I”ll start 2008 with some links.   

Globe of Blogs is a friendly site that makes it easy to look for blogs from all over the world.

The Next American City offers viewpoints on how to improve life in American cities. These folks also put out a great magazine.   

City Mayors discusses municipal politics from around the world. A ton of information about mayors and the cities they run. First-rate.

The American Cetacean Society is the best on-line source I am aware of to learn about marine mammals.

Here is a BBC article about the threat climate change poses to poor people in the world.  Many of us live quite well in America and people elsewhere pay the price.

Here is the blog Angry Black Bitch out of St. Louis. 

Bitch now surpasses Hell as the worst profanity I have written in the blog.

Sometimes you just have to let go of your inhibitions.  

Texas could use some more black political bloggers. If I’ve missed some currently blogging, I’d sure like to know.

Backyard Birder is an informative  Houston Chronicle reader blog run by committed liberal Birdwoman from Montgomery County, Texas.

The painting is called Market in Algiers by August Macke. It is from 1914

Las Vegas Democratic Debate With Bonus Information On 1976 Ford/Carter Debate

I watched the Las Vegas Democratic Presidential debate. (Except for when I went out to get a lottery ticket.)

I generally don’t watch these things because this has gone on for so long and I get tired of it all. But with baseball season over I figured what the hell.

From a conventional standpoint for a liberal, you can say this is a good group of candidates. Or at least they are good at saying what the feel primary and caucus voters want to hear.  Or, maybe, what they are saying reflects a slight shift to the left in the country that has been discussed of late.

Still, I persist in the belief that none of the Democratic candidates have substantive answers to the issues of climate change and globalization as it effects American workers. I feel these are the most important issues by far. Either they don’t know what to say or the solutions are so off-the-table at the moment that they can’t be politically discussed.

I’ve been a supporter of former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina to this point because of his focus on economic issues as they impact the poor and middle classes. I have to admit that in my heart I want to move to Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

But I’m not there yet.

Here is good column by Roger Cohen of The New York Times discussing the positive impact Senator Obama might make in other parts of the world as President of the United States. I know I very much agree with Mr. Obama’s assertion that we should talk with all nations. What does it hurt to talk?  

Since all things are connected, Here is some information about the 1976 Presidential debates and the election contest between President Gerald Ford of Michigan and former Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia.

This cycle of three debates is most known for a 27 minute audio failure where the candidates stood pretty much motionless for the whole time, and for President Ford seemingly saying that Poland was not under the control of the Soviet Block. (Which always struck me as a dumb issue because whatever you thought about President Ford, he clearly knew the political reality of Poland at that time)

Here is a transcript of one of the Ford/Cater debates.

Here is an interview with President Ford and President Carter in which each looks back at the 1976 debates. 

Here is the C-SPAN overview of the 1976 election.

Here is a link to Marathon by Jules Whitcover. It is the best book I’m aware of on the 1976 campaign.

Here is an analysis of the 1976 Election from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.

You can consult David Leip’s excellent Atlas of Presidential Elections for 1976 results. 

Here is the Jimmy Carter Library in Atlanta. 

Here is the Gerald Ford Library in Grand Rapids. 

I Voted Yes On Houston School Levy So Kids Can Take More Civics Classes And Question Legtimacy Of Political Structure Unable To Address Global Economy And Climate Change

I voted this morning in our Houston city elections. I voted just a few minutes ago. I did not get the sense of high turnout.

High turnout would require voters that care, a Republican Party that thought Houston was worth fighting for, and a Democratic Party that had the competence and imagination to make at least some effort to generate turnout of Democratic voters.

We don’t have any of those things in Houston.

For Mayor of Houston I voted for Amanda Ulman. I posted about this last week. Bill White did not need my vote and voters deserve options.

Can you imagine that not one Republican in Houston cared enough about his or her city to run and offer competing ideas in contrast to Mayor White to our citizens? 

I voted forJolanda Jones for Houston At-Large Position 5. Hopefully she’ll make it to a run-off and the sneaky Zaf Tahir will not. Please click here to read about Mr. Tahir and the things he has been up to as a candidate.

I voted for Melissa Noriega and Peter Brown in other at-large Council races. I’m looking forward to Mr. Brown’s possible candidacy against Annise Parker for Houston Mayor in 2009. I think Mr. Brown will offer a hopeful vision for Houston in sharp contrast to the deadening business-as-usual pragmatism that characterizes Ms. Parker’s type of politics.     

In addition to the city candidates, there were a number of important school levies, county bond issues and Texas statewide matters on the ballot.

I voted yes on the Houston school levy because we need to prepare these kids to have the civic awareness to realize that both major parties are selling them down the river on the global economy and climate change.

I think that with a few more social studies, civics and history classes, kids might begin to ask questions about the basic legitimacy of a system that either cannot or will not address the most important issues of the future.     

As Liberal As I Am, If Hillary Clinton Is The 2008 Democratic Nominee I Will Give Her My Strong Support

 

If Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee for President in 2008, she’ll have my strong support.

I say this though Mrs. Clinton is not my first choice for 2008. I support John Edwards because of his focus on economic issues as they impact the middle class and the poor. I’m also interested in the candidacy of Barack Obama.

In my view, Mrs. Clinton’s soft center-left focus and the Clinton legacy of moving the Democratic Party to the middle are not great recommendations for her White House bid.

So why will I support Mrs. Clinton if she wins the nomination?

It is because our problems today are so great that we must give a Democratic President serving with, hopefully, a Democratic Congress, a chance to find solutions to these challenges.     

In these times, I can’t sit on my hands because the Democratic nominee is not the person I wanted.  

In a normal campaign, the issues of the War in Iraq and how to get health insurance to all Americans would be dramatic enough concerns.  

Yet in 2008 , there are even greater problems before the American people. 

The issues of climate change and the effects of the global economy on how Americans will live are matters as pressing as the dilemmas that faced America between the Stock Crash of 1929 and the end of World War II. 

To this point, neither party has taken leadership on these questions. 

I don’t know that either party knows how to respond. There must be policy analysts and thinkers within the political structure who see the perils we face. I don’t think they have any answers. Or at least I don’t think they have any answers they believe the American people will accept before things get even worse.

Many Americans saw the Civil War coming years before it occurred. Nobody had a solution. Or least nobody had a solution that could pass political muster.

I’m not going to pretend I’m overly hopeful that Mrs. Clinton and a Democratic Congress will strongly take on climate change and the impact of the global economy.

Still, I feel we must give out traditional political structure a chance to work before reaching the point of saying our system is as broken and hopeless today as it was in the final years leading up to the Civil War.        

Since I’m certain Mrs. Clinton reads Texas Liberal each day as she reviews the blogs, I’ve run a picture of the great Eleanor Roosevelt with this post. I feel this picture will inspire Mrs. Clinton to confront the toughest issues with candor and courage.