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Human caused climate change is pretty clear – except to Americans

Only in the United States, among industrial nations, is the reality of
global warming or its causes questioned by large segments of the
population.

2012 was a tough year for planet Columbus Dispatch 23 Dec 12This year
has brought plenty of concern to nature appreciators, those who
realize that, as nature goes, so eventually goes humankind:

Devastating storms erupted last spring in the wake of a mild winter,
drought and heat baked the land throughout the spring and summer, and
an epic November blow assaulted population centers. Weather-related
deaths reached 349 in the United States. The repair bill, the federal
government reported, will be the second-highest since 1980, behind
2005, a year that spawned four mainland hurricanes, including Katrina.

The upper Great Lakes and the Mississippi River have had news-making
low-water problems in the wake of widespread drought more intense than
anything seen since the 1930s.

The year is expected to go down as the warmest or second-warmest since
data has been recorded. The warmest occurred in 2008.

Graphs indicate that the number of extreme weather events has been on
an upward slope since 1980. Several large property and casualty
insurance companies let it be known that they expect the impact of
climate change to force bigger claims payouts.

November marked the 333rd consecutive month with a global temperature
above the 20th-century average, the National Climatic Data Center
reported.

Only in the United States, among industrial nations, is the reality of
global warming or its causes questioned by large segments of the
population. The reasons for this are many — simple and complex — but
most likely are linked to the reality that Americans represent
slightly less than 5 percent of the world’s population and use 25
percent of its energy……..
Some paleontologists and others who study the planet’s history have
dubbed this the anthropocene age. Humans, they suggest, have become
the largest influence in shaping the future of life. Global warming
and its discontents are but one manifestation of human
influence…….
The Arctic ice melt last summer was larger in area than the United
States, and the ice sheet might have shrunk to the point at which a
permanent impact will result because more sunlight around the pole is
being absorbed as heat rather than reflected back into space. Melting
permafrost could double carbon and nitrogen levels in the atmosphere,
the U.S. Geological Survey reported…..
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2012/12/23/2012-was-a-tough-year-for-planet.html

December 24, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, climate change