Hi Gerri, Thank you for the most interesting links. I was raised on a farm in northern BC, Canada, where the land was only just being opened up. I ate vegetables, fruit and various types of meat that we raised on our own land. Our soil was good to start with, and we fertilized it with organic material. Our water came from a well. It had no chlorine or fluorine in it, and at 47 years of age, I have all my teeth except my wisdom teeth, and no fillings. I am quite healthy, strong and energetic, even after years of living in a much more populated area. My siblings are also all very healthy. What is interesting to note is that the youngest, who was only on the farm to age 5, is the one who has had the most health problems. It seems that it does pay to keep the environment we live in clean and pristine. God bless, Dave

Hi Arthur, you wonderful old coot, you! :-) It is a real pleasure to see that someone here has done his homework. The data that you have offered here is in agreement with data from other sources that I've been looking at. It appears that the term "Global Warming" may, indeed, be a misnomer. Localized warming may be a much better term. Recent data seems to indicate that certain areas high in the northern hemisphere are experiencing a rise in average temperature, but most areas are actually experiencing a drop in temperature, meaning that the average global temperature is, in fact, dropping. The rise in temperature in the northern hemisphere means an increase in moisture content in the air, which tends to hold the heat in near the surface, which explains why the effect CAN be localized. CO2, on the other hand, tends to disperse throughout the entire atmosphere, which, if it was responsible for the warming, should cause an increase in temperature all over the planet, AND much higher in the atmosphere, as well. Your advice makes far more sense that worrying about something that even top scientists around the globe cannot agree on. As individuals, we should take care of what we have, and stop waiting for the person standing next to us to clean up his act, first. God bless, Dave

Hi Trina, From what I've been able to sift through, the actual warming effect seems to be quite localized and mainly in the far north. Most other areas do seem to be on a cooling trend, although the question still remains: How long is a trend? It has been much cooler here in BC than it has been for years. No one living here can remember still seeing snow on our closest mountains (really just high hills) in April. Yesterday, in fact (April 13), it was snowing only a few hundred feet above sea level! We usually have our gardens in by early March, but this year, we still have frost warnings. In the interior of the province, it has hit forty below for the first time in many years - something that foresters have been waiting for for a long time to slow or stop the pine beetle devastation of our forests. (Unfortunately, the really cold temperatures did not last long enough.) One must remember that one cold winter does not signify a new trend. However, if we continue to get winters like this last one, we are going to start seeing something that has not been seen in many, many years: an increase in glaciers rather than a retreat. If enough snow falls during the winter, there isn't enough time for the snow at higher elevations to completely melt before the next snow falls on it. This does two things. First of all, it creates its own mini refrigeration effect (localized average annual temperature drop) and secondly, it replenishes future water supplies, which is a good thing! What we can do to make this even better (if, in fact, it's actually happening) is to cut down on the particulate pollutants that we are pumping into the atmosphere, making that water cleaner and fresher for future generations! God bless, Dave

In my days in Australia, I remember there being major discussions about a 'hole in the ozone layer' - apparently this was where it was first discovered. On the basis that Oz is a huge continent with very few people, one was hard pressed to find a judgemental base - as after all the hole was not over Melbourne or Sydney but over Australia.

In typically Australian way it was decided that as cows outnumbered people by huge amounts the whole problem was caused by cows farting!

Maybe for the rest of us maybe we should be considering anti-flatulence menus?

A new market for our nutritionist members?

Cheers,

Norm

http://www.lulu.com/Normlaure0

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Past, Present, and Future Temperatures: Antarctic ice core records vividly illustrate that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels today are higher than levels recorded over the past 650,000 years ... ---- http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/ science/hockeystickFAQ.html ----------------------------------- Ok, Little (not hardly) Neil has reached the end of his patience on this subject. I an sick and tired of people who seem to be too lazy to get the facts, who pay no attention to what is going on and seem to have NO common sense. You can talk about this study and that study and all that talk is total BS! FACT: THE ICE IS MELTING IN THE ARTIC! FACT: THE ICE IS MELTING IN ANTARCTICA! FACT: THE ICE IS MELTING IN GREENLAND (Which ain't been a "greenland" in a long time and is certainly becoming one now.) FACT: GLACIERS WHICH HAVE NOT MELTED IN THOUSANDS OF YEARS ARE MELTING! AND ONLY A TOTAL FOOL WOULD SAY THOSE THINGS ARE NOT THE RESULT OF GLOBAL WARMING! PERIOD! END OF THE DAMN STORY!