Global Dumbing?Written by Gary Whittaker
I am beginning to wonder if scientists have been getting it all round. All this time, people have been worried about Ozone, a giant asteroid, or some breakout of a bio-hazardous agent by a terrorist organization being doom of mankind. We have spent all this time looking outward instead of inward towards ourselves. The latest studies have identified to startling facts. 1 - that whole in Ozone layer is getter smaller, and 2 – that brightness levels on earth our getting dimmer. Does this all mean that Global Warming was all just a sham? That those corporations who continue to abuse our earth with reckless abandon have been right all along? That tree-hugging hippies have had their brains melted from too much LSD? Scientists seem to be getting dumber in direct proportion to grants given by governments, which are lobbied by corporate interests, increases. They have looked at new Global Dimming phenomenon and said, “It can’t be getting warming with less sunlight!” And no doubt that as this new story makes it rounds about Ozone getting smaller, they will point to great job done by their benefactors and reducing Green House emissions and say that Ozone must be replenishing itself. Statements like those should be judged as criminal, just as tobacco companies should be held accountable for deaths of all their consumers. The population must be made aware of truth behind their corporate agenda. We, working class, are ones that can control our future, and dictate to those Ozone depleting companies our new terms. We demand clean air. We demand that pollutants stop being poured into our waters. We demand our forests not be cut down faster than we can replant. We demand alternate, safer energy sources to heat our homes, and power our vehicles. We demand all this because our Earth is dying before our own eyes. The whole in Ozone layer has gotten smaller, but at cost of thinner protection worldwide. We are not just talking about a gap over Antarctica. We are talking about more harmful radiation being let in on a yearly, monthly, daily basis. We used to be able to send out our children to play outside all days. No one needed any sunscreen with special UV protection. Now, one has to only go outside for 20 minutes before feeling sting of sun, while sunscreen has become big business. No one will react until research tells us 15 to 30 years from now that cancer has reach epidemic proportions. The warning signs are there already, we are just choosing not to listen.
| | Weather affects every aspect of the economyWritten by Chris Orr
c. 2004 Chris S. Orr CCMWeather affects every aspect of our lives. It impacts our pocketbooks, our menus, our schedules and even our health. We are aware of how cold weather drives up price of natural gas and propane (just look at your heating bills from this year!) and how our insurance costs are adjusted for amount of storm damage we sustain. Changes in weather, either real or predicted, will affect price of everything we buy, from peas to plywood. Sometimes effect will be in our favor, sometimes it won't. How much did you pay for vegetables last winter? Why are limes -- small and hard as they are -- so expensive right now? Is quality of lettuce comparable to its price? Contract prices on Chicago Board of Trade are very weather sensitive. Weather has such a huge impact on commodities market that traders and analysts pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars a month for commentaries on long-range weather forecasts. These commentaries make rounds among traders and analysts two or three times a week. Based on these commentaries, price of grain, cattle, beans, and all sorts of agriculture products is driven up or down. Traders look for elusive normal weather. If summer rainfall forecast for C Corn Belt of Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois is for above normal rainfall, futures may rise in anticipation of crop getting too much moisture, stunting its growth. The same principle applies if forecast is for too little rainfall. If forecast calls for near normal rainfall, invariably price of corn will fall in anticipation of a very good crop and too many bushels of corn on market in fall and winter. In other words, if trading price is high, you'll pay more at grocery store; if it is low because of "normal" weather, you pay less. Are you planning to do a little construction later this summer? Buy plywood before first tropical storm forms over Atlantic Ocean. The price of plywood soars as tropical storms and hurricanes approach coast of United States. People in path of these storms buy up plywood to "batten down hatches," creating local shortages. Those shortages are filled by drawing on supplies from rest of country, limiting stocks and driving up prices. Accurate weather forecasts help some businesses compete. The retailer Sears, Roebuck and Co. had its own meteorologists for many years so they could sell items based on weather. Fans and air conditioners were in stock before a heat wave hit. Umbrellas went on sale when it rained. Subway's corporate headquarters tracks individual store sales against weather. It uses a history of weather and store sales along with forecast to predict store volume. Their stores in southern California even give discounts on rainy days.
|