Can We Prevent Mass Extinction #6 from Happening?

Say goodbye to the world you know... Say goodbye to over 40% of the world's plant and animal life. All we will have to remember them by are books and documentaries... That is what the world maybe facing if global warming continues unchecked.

Scientist believe we maybe facing the Earth's sixth period of mass extinction. The last one occurred about 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs and 70% of the life of that period disappeared.

We are not locked into this bleak future, if we change our ways today. We need to earnestly switch to renewable sources of energy and get off the oil merry-go-round. And we must do everything we can to cut back on the pollutions that re-enforces global warming.

Do you want to live in a world where the oceans are acidic and the corals are gone, fish stocks are depleted, wildfires occur year round, food shortages are constant and it is just plain hot...

Government and corporations as well as individual can mitigate these possibilities, but we must act now!

For more details on the possibility of mass extinction number 6, read the following news article...

The Use and Harm of Biofuels.

Biofuels are created from biological matter or bio-mass. Ethanol, for example, is made from corn. And biodeisal is made from used (recycled) vegetable oils. Biofuels burn cleaner than oil does in our cars and furnaces. And since they are basically derived from plants, can be a sustainable fuel, where crops, waste materials and weeds are converted into liquid energy.

But we do need to plan carefully how we develop biofuels. The danger is that for a quick buck, greedy people will cut down forests, use crops that hungry people need and otherwise misuse the habitat.

Over the next few years, countries around the world should be:

• Using marginal lands for biofuel crops (leaving the rich farm lands for food crops).
  
• Developing specific plants for specific fuels. Perhaps hemp is better than corn or sugar for ethanol production. Or there maybe some other plants, not yet considered, that are better.
  
• Pass regulations that make it easy to gather and reuse all vegetable oils from restaurants that can be used to make biodeisal.
  
• Ensure that profits are shared by many and are reasonable.
  
• Zoning areas to make sure that all human needs are met.
  
• Keep researching and keep thinking.

The European Union is doing some thinking about biofuels. Here is a news article with details...

Hang on Polar Bears, You Are Going Extinct

While some people may think that the worse problem that Polar Bears face is drinking soft drinks (see Coco Cola commercials), global warming and the melting ice floes at the top of the world may be dooming the Polar Bear.

Polar Bears maybe the first species to be officially declared to be in danger of going extinct due to global warming if the Bush Administration puts the bear on the Endangered Species list.

Conservationists are hopeful that "Save the Polar Bear," will be the rallying cry that galvanizes the world to do its utmost to curb the effects of global warming. Two-thirds of the polar bear population are likely to disappear by 2050, if the rise in global temperatures is not reversed.

For more details about this issue of global warming and polar bears, please read the following news story...

Africa, Asia: Adapt or Go Hungry!

Sobering forecasts predict that due to climate change, Africa and Asia face serious food shortages by the year 2030. Southern Africa may face crop losses up to 30% of today's yield of the main crop maize (corn). While South Asia's crops of maize, millet and rice may suffer a 10% loss.

Scientists are using climate change models to suggest what the future weather will be like in these and other regions in the world. By predicting where the seasons will be dryer or wetter, they are hoping to give farmers a chance to adapt to such changes in advance of their actuality.

By having an idea of how much rain will fall and when, farmers on these two continents can prepare to plant different crops and otherwise change how they farm.

Different parts of the world will actually benefit from these climate changes. China's wheat harvest should expand in the coming years due to more beneficial conditions in Central China.

For more details on how the climates are expected to change, see the following news story...