Blog Action Day - the environment

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Greenland melt flowHaving told the world about Blog Action Day (today) I should really post something "environmental" ... but I'm struggling as it's not really my area of expertise.

Last night Liz and I sat down to watch An Inconvenient Truth (coincidence) and my lasting memories of it are:
  • There's something slightly unnerving about the Al Gore voice overs
  • He has a mission in life and it's inspirational to see him go about his work
  • Where did he acknowledge the (assumed) team of people behind him ... or is it really just him and his "slideshow"?
  • He deals with "sceptics" very well
  • The DVD "updates" were well worth watching
  • 10 years is not a long time
10 years was how quickly Europe plunged back into a mini Ice Age after the rather large pool of fresh water crashed into the Atlantic from Canada/North America.

10 years is probably all it would take if Greenland and/or West Antarctica melted.
This has, however, been challenged by a British judge:
The judge said that, for instance, Gore's script implies that Greenland or West Antarctica might melt soon, creating a sea-level rise of up to 20 feet that would cause devastation from San Francisco to the Netherlands to Bangladesh. The judge called this "distinctly alarmist" and said the consensus view is that, if Greenland melted, it would release this amount of water, "but only after, and over, millennia."


Not sure why the judge thinks he is in a better position to argue one way or the other - there's arguments both ways, check out the Google search 'greenland melting'

The issue for me is that stuff is happening and people are sticking their heads where the sun don't shine. Why don't (some/lots of) people ask for themselves instead of relying on Al Gore or ... anyone name me a prominent scientist speaking up against this film? Despite a good search I couldn't find anyone that's not a blogger - this from National Geogrpaghic News was interesting.

So my Blog Action Day message isn't really about the environment per se but about anything you get told ... don't just accept it, go check it out for yourselves.

And you can.
We have Google (and others).
We have scientific research results online.
We have the ability to ask.

You can go find out for yourself.

And after a cursory check for myself ... 10 years is a bloody short time to get ready for a 20 metre rise in sea level, especially living in Miramar.

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