The Dirty Weather Report

Over the last few years, a dizzying amount of weather-related disasters have appeared all over the globe. It is becoming "the new normal." But why? What has changed to make our planet so much more disaster prone than before?

Climate change. Yes, climate change is a natural part of Earth's cycle; the rate and severity at which it is changing is not. The changing climate, due to the increasing amount of heat trapped in our atmosphere, causes more severe weather.

It should be known that I am no expert on this topic. I am not scientific genius. I don't even have a have a high school diploma (yet). What I do know is that there's no reason to not try being kinder to our environment.

Imagine you have a baby. The baby's perfectly healthy at first. You decide to start smoking around him or her and feeding him or her all sorts of junk food. The baby still seems fine. One day, the baby starts to sneeze. Not a big deal. No reason to stop all the unhealthy habits for a small sneeze. Years later, the habits continue and this baby, though not really a baby anymore, suddenly gets horrifically sick. It's too late to help. There's nothing more you can do.

That baby? Our planet. Or it could be our planet. We don't know. Just as we don't know if the baby would really get horribly sick, though disease from second-hand smoke and obesity would not be uncommon, we can't know if our planet will get sick from our actions. Though evidence points toward yes, we can never be 100% sure. 99.99% maybe, but never 100% until it happens.

The question now is what could we have done to save the baby before this horrible illness? Stop polluting it. Don't deny that there may be a problem. Do things that will keep it healthy. Try to fix the problem early. There's a reason preventative care and early detection are emphasized in health care. It's easier and far less expensive. Many diseases, such as various cancers, are easier to treat if action is taken early on.

Have you noticed that I haven't really answered my first question? That's because I'll be finding out tomorrow.
Tomorrow at 8:00pm EST, a 24-hour online broadcast about climate change will begin at http://climaterealityproject.org/. This year's presentation, 24 Hours of Reality; The Dirty Weather Report, will hopefully teach us more about why these things are happening and encourage us to make change.

And just in case the planet's wellbeing, the jobs that could be created by green energy, or the fact that you could be hit by a horrible storm at any time don't interest you:
Dirty energy really stinks. (Have you ever had to stand in a parking lot where all the cars are trying to get out at once? Those fumes will kill ya'.)

This post has not been proof read. I apologize for any mistakes or inaccuracies.