my Thinking spot: wow.

15 February 2010

wow.

i should be studying. or sleeping. who knows at this point.

i just poked my wee head back in to have a look-see, after surprising myself by remembering my user name and pass word... i imagine i might feel the same way upon returning to my childhood home that i left when i was little and never saw again. it kinda rocked me, in a sad sort of way.

the first thing i noticed was that date of my last post - september 21st, 2008. then i saw that all these links were showing up as no longer available. so i cleared them off the template.

i started going through my blogroll and gave up after realizing that 90% of them were no longer active. i know it sounds crazy, but i practically lived here for 3 years after i had bebe. there was a community. a sanity. a sanctuary - all through writing. i met many people that i've still never metmet, that i adore to this day. and i miss every single one of them. so much has changed. i miss those days. i find myself longing for them a bit right now...

it's amazing, to look back at what i wrote, all of it, the day to day - the joy, the stresses, the pain, the fear, the hope, the memories - and have it all distilled down to a feeling of something that i miss a whole hell of a lot more than i thought i would. the feeling feels sunny and happyfuzzy. it feels content. it feels a lot like what i need more of right now.

the blog got back-burnered when i returned to work and grad school. and while i know it was necessary that i returned back to what i had always known, i feel like i've literally lost so much time. especially with bebe. he starts kindergarten this year. i will barely see him, compared to what i do now. i'm not sure exactly how i will get through that. our time here is truly so short and it goes sooooo fast. i can't seem to assimilate to the speed of this culture. and so my mind wanders off and all around...

i really need to study.

i just wanted to say hi. and i miss you.

Name: supergirlest

"if you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito." ~african proverb

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Your Power Bird is an Owl

You are beyond wise. You are so smart, you're almost prophetic. Your inner voice always speaks the truth, and you take the time to listen to it. You are good at seeing who people are... including the darkness of others. As a result, you tend to have a rather dark - yet realistic - outlook on life.

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GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!

Q: What causes global warming?

A: Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. Coal-burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution -- they produce 2.5 billion tons every year. Automobiles, the second largest source, create nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually.

Q: Is the earth really getting hotter?

A: Yes. Although local temperatures fluctuate naturally, over the past 50 years the average global temperature has increased at the fastest rate in recorded history. And experts think the trend is accelerating: the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990. Scientists say that unless we curb global warming emissions, average U.S. temperatures could be 3 to 9 degrees higher by the end of the century.

Q: Are warmer temperatures causing bad things to happen?

A: Global warming is already causing damage in many parts of the United States. In 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon endured their worst wildfire seasons ever. The same year, drought created severe dust storms in Montana, Colorado and Kansas, and floods caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in Texas, Montana and North Dakota. Since the early 1950s, snow accumulation has declined 60 percent and winter seasons have shortened in some areas of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington. Of course, the impacts of global warming are not limited to the United States. In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India. And in what scientists regard as an alarming sign of events to come, the area of the Arctic's perennial polar ice cap is declining at the rate of 9 percent per decade.

Q: Is global warming making hurricanes worse?

A: Global warming doesn't create hurricanes, but it does make them stronger and more dangerous. Because the ocean is getting warmer, tropical storms can pick up more energy and become more powerful. So global warming could turn, say, a category 3 storm into a much more dangerous category 4 storm. In fact, scientists have found that the destructive potential of hurricanes has greatly increased along with ocean temperature over the past 35 years.

Q: Is there really cause for serious concern?

A: Yes. Global warming is a complex phenomenon, and its full-scale impacts are hard to predict far in advance. But each year scientists learn more about how global warming is affecting the planet, and many agree that certain consequences are likely to occur if current trends continue. Among these: 1. Melting glaciers, early snowmelt and severe droughts will cause more dramatic water shortages in the American West. 2. Rising sea levels will lead to coastal flooding on the Eastern seaboard, in Florida, and in other areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico. 3. Warmer sea surface temperatures will fuel more intense hurricanes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. 4. Forests, farms and cities will face troublesome new pests and more mosquito-borne diseases. 5. Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive many plant and animal species to extinction.

Q: Could global warming trigger a sudden catastrophe?

A: Recently, researchers -- and even the U.S. Defense Department -- have investigated the possibility of abrupt climate change, in which gradual global warming triggers a sudden shift in the earth's climate, causing parts of the world to dramatically heat up or cool down in the span of a few years.

Q: What country is the largest source of global warming pollution?

A: The United States. Though Americans make up just 4 percent of the world's population, we produce 25 percent of the carbon dioxide pollution from fossil-fuel burning -- by far the largest share of any country. In fact, the United States emits more carbon dioxide than China, India and Japan, combined. Clearly America ought to take a leadership role in solving the problem. And as the world's top developer of new technologies, we are well positioned to do so -- we already have the know-how.

Q: How can we cut global warming pollution?

A: It's simple: By reducing pollution from vehicles and power plants. Right away, we should put existing technologies for building cleaner cars and more modern electricity generators into widespread use. We can increase our reliance on renewable energy sources such as wind, sun and geothermal. And we can manufacture more efficient appliances and conserve energy.

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my Thinking spot

15 February 2010

wow.

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