Continued heavy snowfall has continued across Britain and more is apparently on its way. Flights are being canceled and drivers stranded as Britons face the "coldest snap for 20 years."
Heavy rain, snow, and even several tornadoes were reported over the weekend in Spain. Typically Spanish reports on overall trends: "Climate change is being blamed for the colder winter and hotter summer being seen in Spain, with this winter in already 1.5 degrees colder than average and with a Spring and Summer 2.1 degrees hotter."
While Europe's hoping for and end to the precipitation, portions of the U.S. are in desperate need of rain. Texas, California, and several Southeastern states are facing extreme to exceptional droughts.
It's becoming clearer and clearer that climate change is real and here to stay. Global warming is irreversible, suggests a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Al Gore visited the Senate at the end of last month to address the environment and what he thinks the government can do to help. Gore stressed reduction of American emissions, pointing out that many developing foreign countries already have far stricter emissions restrictions that the U.S.
So what are we doing about it? President Obama, in his second week in the White House, began tackling energy issues, claiming new fuel-efficiency requirements will be in place by 2011, ordering the EPA to consider tougher emissions standards for California and other states, and firmly declaring an reduction of dependence of foreign oil. While much of this is still talk, one hopes action isn't far behind.
The stimulus package that's currently under debate also includes a $100 billion package of "green" initiatives, covering conservation programs that would update federal buildings and homes to be more energy efficient, expansion of public transportation systems, and grants for renewable energy research. This is CNN's breakdown of the package:
Here's hoping this much-needed initiatives aren't ruled out as "pork."
It's amazing how radical the weather has become in the past couple of years. I knew that Ireland was facing a couple of inches of snow a few weeks ago, but I had no idea that England would be hit with intense blizzards. I liked how you included information from both across the Atlantic, and Southern US.
ReplyDeleteHopefully those states will get some precipitation soon. Know if any actions are being taken in case of a major drought?
The Earth is trying to send the humans a message, but we are not listening. This winter, Amherst has not gotten a snowstorm without rain the next day.
ReplyDeleteAlthough 100,000,000,000.00 is a lot of bills, it will do little to slow down the effects of industrialization in places like China, Brazil and India. The United States has been producing pollution for a century, and now, other countries are developing industry which contribute to the pollution party.
I just hope our coral reefs don't become extinct.