GLOBAL WARMING GASES RISE SHARPLY

There is little doubt that humans have caused the Earth to warm because of carbon spewing activities. Heat records continue to be broken. In fact March 2008 had the warmest global land temperature on record. Thousands of worldwide climatologists have shown the "evidence is unequivocal" that man made anthropogenic carbon dioxide is triggering the global temperature rise. Today's press release from NOAA has both expected and alarming information. It comes as no surprise that CO2 rose by .6% in 2007. But more distressing is the rise in Methane. The report showed methane rose for the first time in ten years. This molecule is far more potent as a greenhouse gas. Methane (CH4) is 25 percent more powerful at trapping longwave radiation than CO2. We have been lucky because methane is in such small concentrations that it's impact on the warming the planet has so far been low.

Scientists know how these gases enter the sky but methods to stem the rise is a long battle. Power plants, cars, and burning fossil fuels generate CO2 and methane is mainly generated from agricultural and wetland emissions. Much of CH4 has been trapped under ice and permafrost near the North Pole. Increasing temperatures are melting the icecaps possibly setting off a slippery slope of temperature rise.

Hopefully awareness will change attitude and policy. This daunting problem is on such a large scale its easy for us not to care. But small lifestyle changes have an accumulated effect and those actions can help change the future.