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| About 2.05 Million live in King county so that is about 10.14 tons per person., family of 4 = 40.56 tons. |
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| For the big ski resorts this year in the Cascades the Skiing season has been shortened a bit since they have not had enough snow except at the higher elevations |
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| Several record days in January, most of the systems have been tropical instead of the usual Northern blast from the Yukon. |
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| Sure made for an Awesome winter, the natives are loving it and the Weather persons are calling it Juneuary. |
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| The Indigenous brought their Eagle to the Center for Wooden Boats to pray for Balance in the environment |
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| Lots of Sun days this Janurary. |
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| Our collection of Sea rocks from all the beaches we have visited while here. |
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| The Day before the super bowl |
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| We spotted this Eagle during a walk around Green Lake, wondered on the impact of climate change for him. |
What Will Seattle January 2045 be like?
Well if we beat the odds we will be 93 and 92 respectively....
Global Warming Verses Climate Change
We first heard the warning of "Global Warming", and then as the politics heated up around the issue the term somehow evolved to "Climate Change". The term Global Warming became a target for several reasons, two of which I believe are: (1) There are a lot of people that work for energy companies who develop and sell the Fossil Fuel resources humans have depended on seemingly forever. Any shift away from fossil fuels is a direct threat to their livelihood and (2) How could there possibly be Global Warming when we are having record Winter storms? Confusion abounds among the populace of the US and the political rhetoric on both sides of the issue has evolved to complete and utter stifling propaganda that only serves to piss everyone off.
Hence the movement towards "Climate Change", somehow a softer term that somehow hopes to bring the sides together in a way that will form a bridge to problem solving.
"Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time (i.e., decades to millions of years). Climate change may refer to a change in average weather conditions, or in the time variation of weather around longer-term average conditions (i.e., more or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change is caused by factors such as biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions. Certain human activities have also been identified as significant causes of recent climate change, often referred to as "global warming".[1]"
Whoops!, there goes that "Global Warming" Thing again! So what I read from the above is Climate Change throughout time is a Natural Process. But Global Warming is not Natural (Man's needs are not Natural) What man needs causes us to burn Fossil fuels, and a whole lot of it, resulting in rising land and sea temperatures.
I think a whole lot more people are on board now with the idea of climate change since they are experiencing record weather events in their home town, either record heat and droughts, or record winters and snow/ice storms. Certainly everywhere we have traveled in the last three years we have heard a nonstop chorus, "our weather is just not Normal".
Heck, I did not even become aware of environmental and pollution until the late 60's, How can you possibly have a Carbon Foot Print if you do not even know what that is? "An individual’s carbon footprint is the direct effect their actions have on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. In general, the biggest contributors to the carbon footprints of individuals in industrialized nations are transportation and household electricity use. An individual's secondary carbon footprint is dominated by their diet, clothes, and personal products"
As we become more conscious of our own environmental impact and our personal contribution to greenhouse gases it simply becomes a matter of reducing our personal Footprint. I know it is a huge issue in a country where the biggest sport in America is buying as much stuff as you can or can not afford. Along with this is the ever increasing world population, Go here to see a Live counter: http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
Here is a chart of historical and projected numbers. Think what rush hour will be like in 2040!
| Year | Total world population (mid-year figures) | Ten-year growth rate (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 2,556,000,053 | 18.9% |
| 1960 | 3,039,451,023 | 22.0 |
| 1970 | 3,706,618,163 | 20.2 |
| 1980 | 4,453,831,714 | 18.5 |
| 1990 | 5,278,639,789 | 15.2 |
| 2000 | 6,082,966,429 | 12.6 |
| 20101 | 6,848,932,929 | 10.7 |
| 20201 | 7,584,821,144 | 8.7 |
| 20301 | 8,246,619,341 | 7.3 |
| 20401 | 8,850,045,889 | 5.6 |
| 20501 | 9,346,399,468 | — |
The Carbon footprint of the Average US household is 48 tons per year. You can go here: http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/american-carbon-footprint and find what it is in your neighborhood. Each country has it's own footprint, do a little research on your own to see world wide totals by country but for example the US footprint is 5 times Mexicos! Americans are born into a consumer economy and they have bought into it big time.
Just recently I went sailing with Brian from Winter Park, Colorado, he and his wife first came to the Seattle area since their daughter attended University of Washington. They are now trying to find a way to spend their winters here in Seattle since their winters have become much tougher in Colorado. They have a lot of creatures around their home including Moose and Chipmunks. The creatures that hibernate are experiencing much shorter hibernation seasons due to extended warm seasons. To them the chipmunks are the Cannery in the Coal Mine. When the animals in the neighborhood have to change their lifestyle then it is a clear sign that the humans will have to do some things differently as well.
Brian has an interest in the new weather patterns for good reason, They are making some decisions on where best to live out their retired life and they are putting in the research to make sure they make the right move. Right now the PNW is looking to be a good bet to them but they haven't decided yet, they plan on attending a presentation by NOAA up in Port Townsend on the effects of Carbon Dioxide and Acidification of the Oceans. See: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F
You have to wonder what will become of the most important food chain on Earth if the PH in the Oceans change to the extreme.
Everywhere we sailed around the Gulf of Mexico the concern regarding Sea Level Rise was mentioned by the locals. You can imagine if your home is built just 1-2 feet above sea level how any mention of water rising would bring you to full attention. Around the world are countless islands that if the water rises 1-2 feet they will be completely underwater, most are uninhabited but there are enough with substantial populations that they already have begun to find a way out see http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/photos/6-island-nations-threatened-by-climate-change/rising-anxiety
But Americans do not really care about those little pieces of paradise, they could blow away in a storm anyway. But what about Florida? The City that cocaine built is in the mix for sure, Miami has many spots around town that is below Sea Level and just a good rain causes 3 foot floods in the neighborhoods, the politics are heating up there for sure see: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/south-florida-especially-vulnerable-rising-sea-levels/
NASA has already started preparing Cape Canaveral see: http://www.businessinsider.com/rising-sea-levels-are-destroying-nasas-multi-billion-dollar-facilities-2014-5 It is good to read this one since you are paying for it now!
and a report for Florida in general at http://www.floridaoceanscouncil.org/reports/Climate_Change_and_Sea_Level_Rise.pdf
When we moved to Seattle I did not think that Sea Level rise would be near the concern it is on the Gulf Coast since the geography is not flat, in fact even the islands around here have significant elevation. But the fact remains that all the shipping and marine installations are built at sea level and there are substantial investments all along the thousands of miles of coast line in Puget Sound and along the Pacific. After all they are much closer to the Melt! Our first notice of the concern is when we went on a Tulip tour and visited Port la Conner, WA. There were notices of a town meeting posted and the Issue was Sea Level rise. This report http://cses.washington.edu/db/pdf/moteetalslr579.pdf shows an estimated rise of 22" by 2050, does not sound like much does it? But combine that with unknown weather extremes and who knows what that will be in real terms. It is kind of like a yard bill for your boat, Do the research and estimate the yard bill for your boat and then multiply that by three, then add a couple of boat bucks.
When all this first started up on a national stage with "An Inconvenient Truth" I thought, well all this is so far in the future that it will have no impact on my life time, but we did have our children in mind. Now we have our three grandchildren whose lives are fully invested in the outcome. see http://e360.yale.edu/feature/how_high_will_seas_rise_get_ready_for_seven_feet/2230/
I am forever the Optimist, will Google save us all? Recently read an article about the new driverless Google car. Just think old farts who can't get a drivers license anymore can just call up a Google car on your smart phone. If you want to deliver your kids to soccer practice round trip just call up a Google car. No one will need to own their own car, it will be all ride share in the cities, just call up a Google car and it will arrive in 5 minutes or less at your front door. The Major auto makers are already freaking out. But it has the promise to end tons and tons of carbon dioxide spewing into our environments and making a major dent into green house gasses.I am sure the resulting spin off technologies will be just as incredible, Technology is our best bet because man is just not up to the challenge.
There are lots of documents on the net that will show in graphic detail the effects of climate change and or sea level rise in your neighborhood. just Google your town, region or state and add "Sea Level Rise" or "Climate Change" . I asked if there was anyone interested in the effects of climate change on the Rio Grande and no hands were raised, No...Wait,........ there is one way back there in the back I think I see One Hand http://e360.yale.edu/feature/how_high_will_seas_rise_get_ready_for_seven_feet/2230/
Mother Nature Will Win
Everywhere we sailed around the Gulf of Mexico the concern regarding Sea Level Rise was mentioned by the locals. You can imagine if your home is built just 1-2 feet above sea level how any mention of water rising would bring you to full attention. Around the world are countless islands that if the water rises 1-2 feet they will be completely underwater, most are uninhabited but there are enough with substantial populations that they already have begun to find a way out see http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/photos/6-island-nations-threatened-by-climate-change/rising-anxiety
But Americans do not really care about those little pieces of paradise, they could blow away in a storm anyway. But what about Florida? The City that cocaine built is in the mix for sure, Miami has many spots around town that is below Sea Level and just a good rain causes 3 foot floods in the neighborhoods, the politics are heating up there for sure see: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/south-florida-especially-vulnerable-rising-sea-levels/
NASA has already started preparing Cape Canaveral see: http://www.businessinsider.com/rising-sea-levels-are-destroying-nasas-multi-billion-dollar-facilities-2014-5 It is good to read this one since you are paying for it now!
and a report for Florida in general at http://www.floridaoceanscouncil.org/reports/Climate_Change_and_Sea_Level_Rise.pdf
When we moved to Seattle I did not think that Sea Level rise would be near the concern it is on the Gulf Coast since the geography is not flat, in fact even the islands around here have significant elevation. But the fact remains that all the shipping and marine installations are built at sea level and there are substantial investments all along the thousands of miles of coast line in Puget Sound and along the Pacific. After all they are much closer to the Melt! Our first notice of the concern is when we went on a Tulip tour and visited Port la Conner, WA. There were notices of a town meeting posted and the Issue was Sea Level rise. This report http://cses.washington.edu/db/pdf/moteetalslr579.pdf shows an estimated rise of 22" by 2050, does not sound like much does it? But combine that with unknown weather extremes and who knows what that will be in real terms. It is kind of like a yard bill for your boat, Do the research and estimate the yard bill for your boat and then multiply that by three, then add a couple of boat bucks.
When all this first started up on a national stage with "An Inconvenient Truth" I thought, well all this is so far in the future that it will have no impact on my life time, but we did have our children in mind. Now we have our three grandchildren whose lives are fully invested in the outcome. see http://e360.yale.edu/feature/how_high_will_seas_rise_get_ready_for_seven_feet/2230/
I am forever the Optimist, will Google save us all? Recently read an article about the new driverless Google car. Just think old farts who can't get a drivers license anymore can just call up a Google car on your smart phone. If you want to deliver your kids to soccer practice round trip just call up a Google car. No one will need to own their own car, it will be all ride share in the cities, just call up a Google car and it will arrive in 5 minutes or less at your front door. The Major auto makers are already freaking out. But it has the promise to end tons and tons of carbon dioxide spewing into our environments and making a major dent into green house gasses.I am sure the resulting spin off technologies will be just as incredible, Technology is our best bet because man is just not up to the challenge.
There are lots of documents on the net that will show in graphic detail the effects of climate change and or sea level rise in your neighborhood. just Google your town, region or state and add "Sea Level Rise" or "Climate Change" . I asked if there was anyone interested in the effects of climate change on the Rio Grande and no hands were raised, No...Wait,........ there is one way back there in the back I think I see One Hand http://e360.yale.edu/feature/how_high_will_seas_rise_get_ready_for_seven_feet/2230/
Mother Nature Will Win
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