Global warming isn't hype, it's real

While an article on Dec. 12 tells us that the volume of Arctic Sea ice is only half of what it was just four years ago, a letter to the editor on Dec. 13 tells us we shouldn't be concerned.

As a global population, we are so numerous that everything we do affects our environment. Long gone are the days when as hunter-gatherers, we could roam the land, cut or burn a few trees, throw our trash wherever we please and move on, leaving the land little disturbed.

Scientists (not hacks for oil companies) from widely varied fields of study, working on very different types of research, have come to the same conclusion via many paths: global warming is occurring and the release of greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels and other human activities is the culprit.

And yes, as the major emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet, the U.S. does bear responsibility if severe weather is getting out of hand across the world.

Let's look at the company Al Gore is associated with: Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield and Byers. According to its Web site, KPCB is about "Greentech innovation and entrepreneurs," in other words, encouraging small businesses to come up with global solutions to the major environmental problems of clean water, clean power and clean transportation.

CNews on the Internet says Al Gore is not "cashing in," but rather is donating his salary from KPCB to the Alliance for Climate Protection. It will be the work of countless entrepreneurs and inventors working with companies like KPCB that will change the current reckless course of our civilization.

To consider the vast amounts of heat-absorbing greenhouse gases and other garbage we put into the air and still believe that Mother Nature is the only influence on our climate is naive. The time to take action is now. I would rather be like the ant than the grasshopper.

Lee Mishkin

Buffalo Grove