Tough choices on the table due to warming

Tag : carbon ball

It may be difficult for Central Coast residents, nestled as we arein our $500,000 tract homes, to spend much emotional currency onfretting about an attack from the wilds of Africa or the jungles ofSouth American. But we do have warming issues, much closer to home.
An ecologist at UC-Berkeley has compiled a report indicating globalwarming's effects on temperature and rainfall patterns could leadto the extinction of about two-thirds of the plant life unique toCalifornia.
The Berkeley study tells us something we didn't know - that half ofthe plant species that grow only in the continental United Statesare found only in California.

The study looked at 80,000 plants species, and determined that morethan 2,300 of them will vanish from the face of the planet, ifwarming isn't controlled. Among the species possibly targeted forextinction is our own valley oak, which depends on the coolercoastal climate, which warming will change.

State officials are doing their part to prevent such a disaster.The California Air Resources Board last week announced a plan tocut greenhouse emissions back to 1990 levels, making California thefirst state to embark on an ambitious, pro-active program to fightglobal warming.

The board's plan is far from a sure thing. Because new rules wouldaffect almost the entire state economy, you can expect stiffopposition from various industries and the Bush administration.There also may be obstacles in the state Legislature, whose memberswill be asked to support the emissions plan.

But at some point in this bouncing-ball debate, we're all going tohave to make some tough choices. Science is demonstrating that wecan't continue to pollute at current rates, and expect ourecosystems to survive.

The choice will be between continuing to be the voracious consumerswe have been and are now, or making a few sacrifices, so many ofthe planet's other animal and plant species can continue to exist.

What do you think?

June 29, 2008