Everyone should know the following bit of information: The Earth’s atmosphere’s carbon level reached 410 parts per million [ppm] a few weeks ago. I repeat: 410 ppm of carbon.
Why should you care about this? Well, the carbon level that the planet does well at is 350 ppm. Excess carbon may have been okay when the dinosaurs walked the earth, but mammals like us, polar bears, moose, penguins, and many fish that thrive in a colder environment cannot take the heat and will die off and eventually disappear if this trend continues.
Carbon is a heat-trapping gas that needs to be reduced, but instead it’s increasing fast. We will have more major crop failures if this continues and that includes hops, which are sensitive to too much heat. So is rice.
What can you do about it? Car pool, replace your gas-guzzler with a gas-sipper, fight for a stronger, more effective EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and yes, we need a carbon tax.
Unfortunately, people refuse to change unless their pocketbook is impacted. We can’t change the way the planet works, but we can change the way we live.
Barbara Trypaluk
Saratoga Springs
Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion
