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Global warming is here, and the time to fight it is now
Date published: 10/5/2006
Global warming is here, and we need to act now I have to express my disagreement with opinions expressed in Roy Stanley's op-ed ["On fighting global warming--the deception, that is, not the event," Sept. 19]. Research on an ice core dating back 800,000 years has shown that the normal carbon dioxide (CO2 ) levels ranged between 180-280 ppm. Today, we are at 380 ppm and increasing at more than 60-fold the normal maximum rate found over this same time period. Temperature was also found to change with CO2 amounts. Carbon dioxide plays a key role in the atmosphere. It links animals with plants, and regulates temperature by absorbing and retaining heat energy. Today, we are adding 1.8 ppm to the concentration of the entire atmosphere, and it has nowhere to go. It appears that we are out of the cycle and into new territory. In the Arctic, currently, the permafrost is melting, methane is bubbling from newly formed and expanding lakes in Siberia, glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates, and species are on the move upward and northward. In 10-15 years, an irreversible change will occur, where the methane and CO2 stored frozen in the northern tundra will begin to be released. After this occurs, there is no going back. We still have this time to work with. We already have technology to address most of our energy needs. We only need to use it. Marc Plante Middleton, Mass.
Date published: 10/5/2006
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