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The rise in sea levels is accerating
#1
Sea levels have been rising and they will continue to rise. We already know that and the sea levels are being watched closely.
What we are learning now is that the rate of rise is increasing. At current rates of acceleration the rise would be two feet by 2100.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/12/world...index.html


https://www.theweathernetwork.com/us/new...fuel/95694


The predictions of sea level rise are based of current rates of acceleration. That could change. The melting ice is triggering the ice to melt faster. This is going to  effect the lives of humans on the planet and it is going to effect plant and animal life. I don't think we have any idea of all the ways this will effect us. Two feet of water is a lot of water for the coastlines that are already at current sea levels. Birds and turtles that nest on those beaches may find themselves with nowhere to lay their eggs. That is just one possibility. We are living inside the biggest "science experiment" in the history of the planet. We need to take this seriously and do anything we can to slow this down. That means nations need to work together and individuals need to do what they can. There are many hopeful things and green initiatives that might be enough to change things. Whatever happens it is our responsibility to do something.

So why can't we do a simple thing like get people to stop using single use plastic bags? Why don't we invest in more public transit and cleaner public transit? Why don't more people use LED light bulbs that use less electricity?

The water is rising, why do so many people pretend they don't know?
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Catherine

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#2
Regarding single-use plastic bags, France banned those some while ago. It is now possible to buy only long-use, sturdy shopping bags which can changed for free at the issuing supermarket when they reach the end of their life (with the old ones being recycled). If France could introduce this measure with little difficulty - why not other countries?

LED light bulbs here are available widely. Those on low incomes can actually get a pack of five free if they sign up on a website! I see no reason why other countries could not do the same. The cost would be recovered quickly in terms of less consumption and also less waste collection (as LED bulbs last longer, too).

But excessive car use remains one of the biggest problems. In the USA, many people apparently use their car even for the shortest of journeys:
https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita....ravel.html

In the UK, many parents take their children to school in the car, even though the walk is less than half a mile! See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_run

(When I was a boy, I had to walk a mile and a half to school and didn't complain! O tempora, O mores!)

In rural areas cars are often necessary, even for shopping. But in towns where everything is close by, there is scant excuse. It may be a coincidence that obesity is rising at the same time as car use for very short journeys, but I suspect a link there, too.

As for global warming and sea levels, apparently the sun will cool between 2020 and 2070 - but this will give us but a brief window to get our act together and save our planet from ultimate disaster. It will give a breathing space to bring in new technologies - but also we, the human race, need to change our habits - and quickly. This will be a one-off chance to get things right before global warming continues apace:
http://www.news.com.au/technology/scienc...bd97b8d97b
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#3
Morrison's home grocery delivery now have a good plan. It would be nice if other stores did this too. You receive your shopping (ordered online and delivered) in plastic bags. When the driver has gone you unpack your shopping and save the plastic bags for the next delivery when you give them back and you get 99p off the cost of your shopping. That's a real incentive for people to keep the bags and not dump them or use them unwisely, such as throwing them out of cars in the countryside! So thumbs up Morrison's for that idea.

Using cars unnecessarily....oh dear, there is a lot of it goes on in my own area (in UK) The log-jam of cars -most of them gas-guzzlers -outside the village school at 3.30 pm has to be seen to be believed.
So I actually asked one woman why she has a HUGE people-carrier vehicle...and she told me it is because she "has to take the kids to and from school". I find out she only lives a mile and a half away.

I used to walk one mile to my junior school, then back a mile at lunchtime, then back again, then home at night. That was 4 miles a day in all weather. It did me no harm at all, and allowed me to socialise with other children out of school, and to drop in at the sweet shop whenever I had sixpence to spend! Smiley4

I am dismayed that many people comment on my 1/4 mile walk to visit a neighbour's cat twice a day! They sometimes offer me a lift! How kind and I always thank them, but ....really?...for a quarter mile? That isn't a long enough walk to even warm up my toes in the morning!

Most people are starting to look on walking as a regular thing as being "very brave" or "slightly odd". That is in my own area. A water worker I encountered fixing a leak one night said "I had some guts"....to walk down the lane for 1/4 mile when it was raining......(?) Huh 

What is happening to us as a species?

We are designed to walk. And plastic bags are designed to be exchanged for free delivery on online orders! Smiley4
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#4
They talked about banning single use plastic bags in Toronto and many people have been hording them ever since. We even charge  a small fee for the bags and people still insist on using them. I carry reusable bags at all times.

Most people seem unaware of LED lighting and how much energy it saves. I switched over last year. 
A friend and I shared a case of bulbs and we bought them during a sale. I did a total switch of all my reptiles. So we went green.



[Image: WezafpIz_sYjsVzEGPd9L34tb8-GWkd0VtpKzC5r...5-h4080-no]This is 36 light bulbs.

I was already using the compact florescent lights.


[Image: 0t-woAURQEQLtz1bA9TRFVaDQ_btfLQRVN1reQ0x...5-h4080-no]

You can see Lily the corn snake watching what I am doing.

It is a little thing to change a light bulb, but the reduction in energy use is amazing. They are also much brighter.
There are coupons given out regularly to help people buy the new bulbs, but people are not interested. Many are still using the high energy usage incandescent bulbs.

Getting people out of their cars is going to take work. People will drive even if they can see the store they are driving to. 
We could carpool/ride share. We have public transit. The city of Toronto is putting in bike lanes. And...we can walk. Walking is the best exercise ever. You get the exercise and you also reach a destination. We know there is an obesity epidemic. Walking could help with that at the same time as it fights climate change. If you walked to the store to buy LED bulbs and brought them back in a reusable bag you would really be a planet hero. 

The city of Toronto has actually reduced its energy usage. If we can do it any city can do it. 
This is going to be a long term project. One that we will have to do all our lives. Fighting climate change must become a way of life for most of us or we will have to live with the consequences.
It isn't just the rising sea levels that are a problem. There is also a loss of fresh water for drinking. Places are running out of drinking water. It is going to be ironic to see a place that is suffering a drought also get inundated by rising sea levels.




Catherine Becket • Only you


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Catherine

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