Chilling way to call attention to global warming

Just out of the WSB inbox — Sustainable West Seattle and friends are suggesting you jump in the Sound! But not till tomorrow afternoon. That’s when climate-change activists are inviting you to meet at the Alki Bathhouse for a polar-bear swim to raise awareness about global warming, and in particular, the climate talks under way right now in Bali, as well as “the importance of this issue during the upcoming elections, and … the danger posed to the Arctic ecosystem (and its polar bears!) from the rapidly melting ice caps,” according to organizer Kristin Wheeler, who also says, “We will taking pictures and making ‘holiday cards’ for Congressman Reichert (the only W. WA member of Congress not doing what he should be doing for the planet!) beforehand and then we will plunge at 12:30 pm.” Kristin also says the nearby Tully’s is donating coffee to be provided to the chilled warming-fighters immediately afterward. It’s part of a national day of action; more info here. (That link asks the question “Have you invited local politicians to your plunge?” — hmm, given his activism on the issue, you suppose Mayor Nickels will walk down the hill to take part?) The weather tomorrow should be clear and bright (and cool!), by the way. This will be added to our Events page shortly as well as the forthcoming West Seattle Weekend Lineup list.

Brad December 7, 2007 (11:00 am)

Cut the crap.

We must go to the source of global warming and immediately ban the sun.

-Brad
http://www.clashofculture.com

Jenny December 7, 2007 (11:38 am)

climate-change activists are inviting you to meet at the Alki Bathhouse for a polar-bear swim to raise awareness about global warming, and in particular, the climate talks under way right now in Bali,

How about instead they fly us out to Bali to do the polar bear swim? >:-/

Huindekmi December 7, 2007 (12:07 pm)

Can I get baptized at the same time?

LA in the Junction December 7, 2007 (4:51 pm)

Um, I’m a rabid Democrat and as a resident of the 34th District, am happily represented by a clean sweep of dems at the state and national level. But even I know that Rep. Reichert is a co-sponsor of the Climate Stewardship Act currently in Congress, which is supported by most national environmental organizations. And he’s voted against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge several times. He’s going more green every day and proud of it…don’t believe me, read his OpEd in The Hill on why Republicans should embrace environmentalism:
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/republicans-should-embrace-environmentalism-2007-09-27.html

So let’s have a few more facts before we just start spouting partisan rhetoric.

WSB December 7, 2007 (4:56 pm)

interesting Slog post on Reichert & climate just yesterday.

Ron Burgundy December 7, 2007 (9:44 pm)

The way I see it, if we wait long enough, sooner or later a dip in the Sound will be quite refreshing, even in the middle of Winter. :)

Ron Burgundy December 7, 2007 (9:45 pm)

I mean :(

The House December 7, 2007 (10:10 pm)

Not naming names, but if you’re a rabid Democrat perhaps you should be put out of your misery before you bite someone and cause them to turn into a Democrat.

Being environmentally responsible is important to a certain degree, but listening to Chicken Gore say “The Sky is Warming, The Sky is Warming” is where most of todays folks go wrong. To say that the Earth is warming is borderline ridiculous. The Earth has been shifting temeratures for millions of years and the majority of evidence that these so called “scientists” are spouting go completely against what science is based on (either EMPRICAL data or EXPERIMENTAL data). Everything that these so called “global warming scientists” are writing cannot be based on experiments at all, they are based on computer models which are very commonly wrong. You really don’t have to look much further than KOMO, KING or KONGs weather forecasts to see that forecasting weather patterns are highly inaccurate.

Get off the GW bandwagon and start thinking for yourself and if you really serious about being green, you’d wear lettuce (well, you could wear Red Leaf as well).

Jan December 7, 2007 (10:44 pm)

So…House (yes, you’ve been quiet lately…we’ve missed you…hehe). So…am I understanding that you don’t think that global warming is real? Does that mean that you have decided that you simply don’t have to pay attention to…oh, let’s say for instance, pollution, ozone layers, etc., etc. , all those little things that some might say contribute to the atmosphere not being the best. I guess, what I really want to ask is…because I’m curious, and for no other reason (not trying to pick a fight..hehe)…is…what are your personal beliefs about our environment…do you practice what some people call “environmentally sound” practices? I know we all feel that we need to take care of our earth, but do you feel that the Al Gore’s of the world are simply lying, and we don’t need to be as concerned as they say we should?

And, Brad…this is Seattle…we’ve already banned the sun…at least until April – lol….

The House December 7, 2007 (11:22 pm)

Question #1 – Global warming is real to an extent. Different parts of the Earth fluctuate temperatures up and down all the time. If they rise, then yes it is warming.

Question #2 – You do have to pay attention to your environment and I attempt to be eco-friendly (environmentally sound practices) as much as possible. I attempt to prioritize things in my life and would say that there are far greater threats to you and me in the world right now than global warming. Why waste time with global warming when one of the other items could potentially destroy us quicker?

Question #3 – Al Gore is lying and you should trust him on Global Warming as much as you trust me to be your gynecologist. Just because the man was Vice President of the United States doesn’t make him an expert on Global Warming. The man won a Nobel Peace Prize and stated that “Climate change is the greatest challenge we’ve ever faced”. This is how he lives his own life….way to practice what you preach (click link below):

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/gorehome.asp

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

Like Flavor Flav always says “Don’t believe the hype”.

Jan December 8, 2007 (1:43 am)

Well…I don’t have anything to disprove your statement that Mr. Gore is lying, but am going to assume that since you said it, you have all the information to back-up what you said :)

There is a potential for many things in this life..hit by some form of moving vehicle, acquiring a deadly disease, getting shot with a pellet gun by some Yayhoo on Delridge…sh*t happens…guess we all just have to decide what’s important to us, try our best to do what we think is the right thing by it…

I don’t get my insight from Flavor Flav – lol….

The House December 8, 2007 (8:39 am)

I hope that you followed the links. What are your thoughts on this?

Jan December 8, 2007 (9:54 am)

Yes, I followed the links…’tis a big house indeed. Perhaps he needs to downsize. I do like where he gets a lot of his power from. None of us is immune from perhaps doing better in the things that we do. We are, after all, humans, and not perfect.

George’s house is great..he’s still a lousy president – lol…

JenV December 8, 2007 (9:58 am)

Global warming debate aside….in regard to asking local politicians to join the polar bar swim- am I the only one who really does not need to see Hizzoner in a speedo…?
/goes for eye bleach

Jan December 8, 2007 (11:08 am)

JenV..OMG…bad, bad, bad picture in my head now….ewwwwww…

Bill R December 8, 2007 (4:40 pm)

House….

The national academies of science of every major nation support the idea that greenhouse gases are warming the climate in a potentially catastropic manner, as do most major politicians, the countries that are signatory to the kyoto convention (everyone other than the United States). Also in agreement with this statement are the EPA, NASA, NOAA, Department of the Interior…. you name it. Look up the climatology departments of every major graduate school in the country. The large majority of scientists at these institutions operate with this theory as truth. Recently hundreds of corporations have even joined the call and are pleading with the government to start regulating carbon (which they understand to be happening world wide anyhow) so that they can plan for the future.

Climate change is complex, but it is based on far more than models. The climate is undeniably warming, check out the data at NASA’s Goddard Institute or check out the dramatic melting of our ice cap at the National Snow and Ice Center.

Your view is a view that is rapidly shrinking and is really held by a shrinking number of fossil fuel companies, the scientists they fund, the politicians they pay, contrarians who really have not spent the time reading the perponderance of scientific evidence on the matter, and the partisans who have convinced themselves that the climate movement is some type of socialist plot to remove their freedom to trash the planet.

The reality is that even if climate change were not real we would want to start transitioning off fossil fuels now. This is because ultimately they will start to run out soon and the cost of running our industrial civilization off of them will be crushingly expensive. In addition, the U.S. has a very small amount of the relative oil and gas remaining and it is a very poor idea to remain so dependant on these fuels.

That’s really where we stand.

The House December 8, 2007 (10:20 pm)

Ok, Bill. What are “greenhouse gases”? Are you referring to Carbon Dioxide? Are you aware that carbon dioxide is a naturally occuring gas? Are you aware that it is necessary for our entire food chain to exist? Are you aware that human beings produce a fraction (less than 5%) of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere…the rest occurs naturally.

I am not arguing that the Earths temerature is rising in certain areas. It’s obvious based on melting ice caps in some areas. Have you done your research to see that there are studies that conclude that in other areas ice caps are growing or thickening? They’re out there.

The point that I’m making is that there isn’t any study that can conclude with any semblance of accuracy that human beings are the cause of the Earth’s rise in temperature.

Jan December 9, 2007 (1:27 am)

interesting info from Canada…GHG’s are more than just carbon dioxide. And there’s no arguing that it’s needed to maintain the earth’s natural temperature…things get dicey when there is too much in the atmosphere from fossil fuel use, etc. etc…I suppose it’s up to all of us to do as much research as possible, to have all the facts, and form our own opinions…yes, we’re all entitled to one, and they sometimes differ…it’s doesn’t make either of us all right or all wrong..something to consider. Humans are not very good at policing themselves sometimes, and can be very selfish and pigheaded, i.e. I can do what I want, when I want, if I feel it’s OK…

anyway..here’s a link to some info about the different GHG’s.

http://www.msc.ec.gc.ca/education/scienceofclimatechange/understanding/greenhouse_gases/index_e.html

BillR December 9, 2007 (11:00 am)

House…

I just read your latest entry. Let me tell you, as someone with a biology degree, a masters in science education, and many years experience teaching science… I can tell you that you don’t really understand the details about what you are talking about.

Much of what you are saying about CO2 is true… but that still does not mean that a change in CO2 levels in the amosphere will not lead to significant changes in temperature.

You confuse Ice caps with ice sheets here. There is only one ice cap, and that is in the N hemisphere. The ice on greenland and antarctica is an ice sheet. The ice cap is undeniably shrinking rapidly. In some places the ice sheet in antarctica may be growing slowly…. this is in fact consistent with most climate models which suggest that it may snow more in the interior of that continent as the planet warms.

As for your last statement… the WHOLE POINT of the IPCC was to have thousands of scientist come together and review the scientific literature to summaraize what is known. Their conclusion is 90% certainty (a very high certainty in scientific circles) that human made GHGs are leading to significant and dangerous climate change.

Let me ask you a question…. do you pay for insurance on your house? The proper functioning of the planet is more valuable than your house, right? Is climate change policy worth a 5% strain on GNP if it means not taking a risk on a planet wide disaster that the scientific communinity pretty much agrees on?

Your. Position. Is. Simply. Wrong. Headed.

nunya December 9, 2007 (2:03 pm)

Drinking coffee that is brought from around the world doesn’t seem too sustainable, then how about the additional heat needed to warm these folks up? Please read “Cool It” by Bjorn Lomberg, there are a lot of things we could do that would benefit more people than this carbon reduction bs.

BillR December 10, 2007 (3:56 pm)

Mr. Bjorn Lomborg is a controversial figure and the type of writer for whom the truth is quite fexible. To my knowledge he is not a scientist of any sort… rather a political scientist who has made a living arguing (evidence to the contrary) that the world environment is getting better.

His conclusions were at one point dismissed by a scientific body of his own government, and the respected magazine like Scientific American ran a long critique of his work.

It is important to note that in Cool It and on his own website he states that Climate Change is real, man made, and serious. He even advocates for a carbon tax, just at a lower level than others who want to attack the issue with more vigor.

People like Lomborg think they (and we) are safe with a conclusion of doing little on climate change throgh a cost-benefit analysis based on mild projected effects.

The truth is that there is a very significant chance that the effects could be catastrophic. That’s not me saying that it’s the world’s climate scientists in the IPCC document. Like I noted in an earlier posting, that’s an unacceptable risk.

CMP December 11, 2007 (8:13 am)

Al Gore isn’t a scientist either so why is everyone believing him? He doesn’t even cite references in his book and that’s one of the first things I learned while getting a degree in environmental policy. In fact, he was in office when I was in college and I don’t exactly recall him being a huge advocate for the environment at the time…at least nothing worthy of a Nobel Peace prize. I used to be on the global warming bandwagon, but once one of my professors so obviously pointed out, there was this time in history called the Ice Ages and the climate has clearly warmed up since then. I’m not worried about it but will do my part (probably more so than Al Gore) to be an environmentally responsible citizen. Go after big corporations that are doing the bulk of the polluting. I got your back House!

Sorry, comment time is over.