I guess this turned out to be a long one...
There is no doubt in my mind that the climate is changing. I've seen the data indicating this. I also have no doubt that we are polluting the environment at an astonishing pace. Both of these things are facts, in my mind.
However, I want to ask something - this is just something that has been rattling around in my brain for some time. If you know more than I, or if you know I have my information wrong, please let me know.
Do you think climate change is ultimately caused by pollution, or is it part of the earths natural cycle?
We know the earth has not maintained a constant temperature over the eons. We also know the earth is far from the warmest it's ever been, even if you're only considering the years of human existence. We do know the earth is overall warmer than it has been in maybe (sources vary) 2000 years. What about before that?
So I did some digging and found some interesting stuff. Because I've found the most user-friendly diagrams there, I'm going to refer to
this page at Wikipdia.
The earth has temperature cycles. If you consider that we humans have only been really affecting the climate since the beginning of the industrial age, when we began burning coal, we have only impacted the climate for around 300 years. If we look at models spanning those years, why, yes, we do see warming. However, 300 years is really a blink of an eye as the age of the earth goes, and paleoclimatology shows the earth having numerous similar warming cycles long before we humans had anything to do with it.
I'm all for changes in our lifestyle which have a positive impact on the health of our planet. But who's to say we can do anything about global warming? Is it possible that it's inevitable because our planet was designed to cleanse and purge itself from time to time? We know the earth is alive and ever changing. Maybe we will have to learn to adapt to a warmer climate, even if we do reduce pollution to the best case scenario?
Anyone want to weigh in?
On a related note, I hate living in suburbia for exactly this reason - the changes I would like to make in our driving lifestyle are more than impractical, they are virtual imposibilities. Anyone have any ideas for changes we can make when almost nothing is conveniently located in walking distance? We can't even walk to a public library. This is not how I grew up, but Portland has changed.
We theoretically could sell and move closer in, out of the suburbs, if we were really passionate; but we didn't move into the more urban neighborhoods 9 years ago for the same reason we couldn't now. Portland has become an unapologetically "green and liberal" city, and for the last 15 years or so it's become increasingly desirable to live in the city, within easy walking distance or public transpo to whatever you need. The suburban migration that began in the 40's and 50's has reversed itself and the flow is now back into the city. This is essentially a good thing: we no longer have the urban slums we did even 15 years ago; urban renewal has been a godsend around here. However, we could not buy an urban house, even if substantially smaller and in much poorer condition, for the same price as the current mortgage on our 1970 suburban split-level. Portland is weird this way. I'm not complaining, I love my home, as much as I would like to live closer in. And I love Portland (at least 6 months of the year).
My dad likes to tell this story (although there is question as to whether or not it's actually true - my dad is a bit of a jokester): He was on a cross-country flight maybe 20 years ago. The guy in the seat next to him began to make small talk, indicating his line of work to be intellectual and his education to be quite high. Eventually the conversation turned to their city of origin. The man gave a long explanation about his various moves around the country. When he asked my dad where he was from, my Dad said, "Portland". The man thought about it for a moment and then said, "Portland, Maine?" "No," said my dad, "Portland, Oregon." The man was thoughtful for another moment, then asked, "I'm sorry, but where is that?". "Oregon", my dad replied, "You know, just north of California". The man still looked perplexed, so my dad finally caved and said "It's kind of like a suburb of Los Angeles".
I'm afraid, in many ways, we are.
My husband commutes 50 miles a day, from the far eastern suburbs to the far western ones. He tries to ride his bike as much as he can when the weather is nice; you know how often that his here in Portland. He also tries to take public transportation, however it means a mile to the Max stop from our house, and a mile from the last bus stop on the other side of this city to his work. Reverse the process for the trip home. And, to make it even more complicated, the bus he takes on the last leg of his commute is a commuter-service only, which means it only runs from downtown to Tualatin twice in the AM and twice in the PM. If he misses it, he's in a world of hurt. Yes, theoretically, he could get another job closer to home, but he works in our "family" business, so it's far more complicated than that, even if he
wanted to leave. So, much of the time, it's driving both ways in our 80's Volvo. Fortunately it gets excellent gas mileage.
We use CFL bulbs and recycle as much as we can, loads. I'd love to shop at farmer's markets, but the closest one is 20 minutes by car - doesn't that defeat the purpose? What's the balance between shopping at a big-box grocery that is more expensive and not local but is walking distance from home, or and shopping at a "natural" or "whole" foods store or farmer's market 10 miles away? So I shop close to home, walking whenever the weather permits. I spend more on food, but use less fuel, and it's good for me. We turn off the lights, try to keep the heat down (although I am a little guilty there some days), have energy-efficient appliances. We run the a/c only when it's over 80 (and it would be higher if we didn't have a husky. It really affects his health when it's hot.) Our days of driving to private school are almost over, fortunately, and it will be walking or the bus for the kids from here on out.
Any suburbanites have any other kinds of suggestions for us? How else can we improve the environment?
