Carbon Dioxide

Plant for the future To the editor: What a wonderful idea to put trees in the Waynesboro (Pa.) Rotary parking lot. Don't we humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide? Then, as I understand it, trees and plants in the presence of chlorophyll and sunlight change the carbon dioxide back into oxygen and water. Now, with our ever- increasing population and the pollution from cars and factories, we have global climate change. In this area we have not had a bad summer, but all over the world there seem to have been disasters.

There is a common bond that each window in our home shares. Close by the streaming rays of sunlight are plants of all types, most of which my son or daughter planted during the last six weeks or so. Some of the plants came from school projects. Some were gifts. Others are from seeds carefully stored from last year's flower beds. "We need to plant these outside," my son reminds me on an almost daily basis. I nod and mentally put that task on the "when-school-gets-out" list.

It is a human failing to be susceptible to poor judgment. It is a sign of maturity to recognize when our judgment has been bad and to correct it when the evidence presents itself. Congress apparently lacks this maturity. Congress mandated the addition of ethanol to gasoline and provided large subsidies to encourage this. This was supposed to reduce carbon emissions and reduce dependence on foreign oil. It has not only failed in its primary objectives, but is contributing to the threat of massive starvation around the world.

Twice within the last week I have come upon the term "carbon footprint. " From the context of each passage, I was able to determine that this has something to do with the environment. Previously, I had never heard those two words together. I started feeling out of the loop, similar to the feeling I get around 20-somethings who have all the latest technological gadgets and a lingo to go with them. It's hard to keep up. I must be getting old, and I'm hanging on to my dial-up Internet service to prove it. Actually, I had the feeling that this term is something I should know, so I took the safe route.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The canaries in the coal mine of global warming are the polar ice caps, rapidly melting and threatening to displace tens of millions of people as sea levels rise and inundate the coastal regions of Earth, Lance Simmens told his audience Tuesday at Wilson College. Former Vice President Al Gore's message from the Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" about reducing fossil fuel use to save the planet was delivered by Simmens, a special assistant to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

Hans Buhrer has written to take issue with my comments on global warming. I think his attempt at rebuttal merits a few responses. First, I have no need to "cherry pick" arguments to defend my position. I don't have a dog in this fight. If someone can convince me that there is any significant threat posed by the human contribution to "global warming" I will accept the evidence. However, when someone tells me there's no longer any room for debate on a scientific subject, then what we are confronted with is not scientific knowledge but a species of religious dogma which is not open to any evidence.

Following Al Gore's Academy Award and Nobel Prize, the popular culture is consumed with concern over global warming and any contribution to the same by human emissions of carbon dioxide. How realistic are these fears? The answer is "not very. " Solar activity is the primary factor in creating the cycles of warming and cooling. During the "Little Ice Age," 1250-1850 A.D., there was a period from 1645-1715 during which there were no recorded observations of sunspot activity. We know that solar activity is cyclical.

Recently, hype about global warming has run rampant. But what is the truth? Are the reported increases in surface temperatures merely part of the Earth's natural cycle of warming and cooling? Or are humans causing the widespread transformation of our world? To find out, I spoke with Matthys Levy, author of "Why the Wind Blows: A History of Weather and Global Warming. " Global warming is "a real problem, and something is going to need to be done" about it, Levy said. Records show that the average temperature of Earth is rising.

"It amazes me how the people in Washington County can get upset over $15,000 to implant more immigrants into Washington County. " Plastic surgery has really made some advances lately. "Did you say that, or is that something you said?" Neither one. "I think Queen Elizabeth ought to go home. We hardly have enough money to feed ourself without feeding her. Who does she think she is? When she's done eating, everybody's done eating. " Yeah, who died and made her the Queen of England?

What will Hagerstown be like in 30 years? Will you still live here? What about the climate? How warm will it be? Some like it hot. Do you? More and more scientists and political leaders around the world agree that global warming is a growing concern. The Pew Center on Global Climate Change, at www.pewclimate.org, reports a rise in Earth's overall surface temperature of 1.4 degrees. The warmest year on record is 2005, and the warmest decade since the Civil War was the 1990s.