Thursday, October 18, 2007

Jumping to Conclusions...

Global Warming. When majority of the worlds “educated” population hears
those words, we immediately jump to conclusions, and I am certainly no
exception. Information on this topic is far from limited, but it’s not
exactly put in front of our noses either. As seemingly straightforward as
Global Warming is, it’s a tough topic to handle. Misrepresentations can
often distort your perception of the truth. Take for example the weather
we had during the whole month of September and into October here in
Ithaca. It reached 80 degrees on days when we’ve grown accustomed to
bundling up in our down jackets and hats. To many people, this can only
have one explanation: Global Warming. Oy, now we’re in a tough spot.
Yes, the earth will get warmer and we will experience longer summers and
shorter winters, but it’s far too soon for us to notice anything as
drastic that. So these kinds of assumptions put informers in a tough
spot. We can’t just put out a statement that Global Warming isn’t the
cause of the increase in heat, but we also can’t put out a statement that
it is either-- both of these would be incorrect. So should we launch into
a lengthy explanation about the weather patterns moving off of Canada? I
could probably be swayed either way on that one. After all, we could all
learn from our mistakes, and clearing up a few common misconceptions is
never a bad idea. Throughout the term I want to provide the public with a
more reliable and informative information on climate change. Even though
this unusually hot weather is not directly related to Global Warming, we
are affected by the changing climate in so many different ways, and it is
my goal to provide information so that citizens of Ithaca and even the
rest of the world can do their part so that our children and our
children’s children can enjoy the world as we are able to enjoy it today.

-Kelsey Gleason, Cornell University Student

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think you make a really good point. It is hard to explain the climate change problem to people. I was talking with my friend the other day and he thought the same thing about the current heat wave. It is important that people realize what global warming really is. It would be a shame if all the people that are starting to think about it feel like everything is better if we have a "cold wave" this winter because they don't understand the true meaning of the problem we're facing. Hopefully over the coming years more people will be able to see small changes in weather for what they are, and realize that challenge of retarding global warming is a long-term commitment.