Worry more about Volcano Output....GOD HELP US ALL if the Yellow Stone Caldera Ever blows.

Garden-

There are many greenhouse gases, agreed. the biggest contributor of greenhouse gasses is actually Water Vapor = the most prevalent greenhouse gas. but do we want to reduce water vapor in the atmospheres?

No, we do not. Water vapor is a very important atmospheric componant and decreasing it would, to the best of our knowledge, lead to greater problems than it would solve.

The reason a lot of environmentalists focus on CO2 and other anthropogenic green house gases is usually twofold:

1. They can be reduced fairly easily- e.g. by increasing energy efficiancies, driving less, replacing some chemicales, etc. Most other greenhouse gases are much more difficult to decrease...

2. They are the ones that are not historically present- ie not "naturally" present. These substances have only been in our atmosphere since the industrial revolution- therefore they get lots of press, it is easy to see the increases because we have fairly good records back that far, etc.

With environmental issues I think we have to keep a couple of things in mind:

All environmentalists are not created equal. Some are scientists or resource managers or citizens who have taken the time to educate themselves on complex, multidimentional issues. Others are well-intentioned idiots. As we have seen in many fields and causes the idiots are usually the loudest.

Secondly, not everyone has time to understand all the factors in each situation and the press tends to paraphrase and summarize a lot- leaving out important aspects of each situation. The press also concentrates on the most sensational aspects of any issues, again resulting in mismanagement and misunderstandings.

I'm glad you are personally interested in your local environmental issues and I encourage you to attend management and public notice meetings about these issues if and when possible. I have hosted and attended such events and the public are listened to and can make an impact. I have also been to some public notices where no one shows up and believe me if the public don't care, then the elected and appointed officials *really* don't care.

anoasis, thank you for your intelligent and articulate response. Unfortunately until we address the problem as a whole rather than in a fractured and segmented fashion I feel little progress will be made. However well meaning they are, they seem to shoot themselves in the foot on a constant basis.

30 years ago they all but put an end to building more nuclear power plants forcing more use of fosil fuels. Now one of the founders of Greenpeace who sailed his ship up the coast of California 30 years ago protesting the construction of more nuclear power plants has done a 180 and says that nuclear power will be the savior of the planet because it is clean energy. He also said 3 Mile Island was a success story because all the safety precautions worked and there was no radiation released. He slilckly sidesteps the only slightly toxic (sarcasm intended) waste that will be produced. Don't get me wrong, I am not anti nuclear power.

The save the tree bunch has pushed forest management policies that if not directly responsible for these huge fires, at least contribute significantly to them. They have a cow because of the slash and burn method of farming that is used in the Amazon Basin yet they seem to have their heads firmly inserted in their rectums when it comes to millions of acres going up in smoke in their backyard every year. Perhaps they should change the slogan from "Save the Trees" to "Save the Trees so we can watch them Burn".

anoasis, I just clicked on your profile to see where you were, and all I can say is you look really really good for your age

Garden-

Thanks! That's because I have pretty much "retired" myself from dating for the present...

It was aging me...

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Sometimes people, including environmentalists, do change their minds because of new info- e.g. this may or may not be the case with the nuclear power issues. But yes many issues are complex and we end up arguing amongst ourselves about how to best address a certain problem, which certainly doesn't help the environment!

The best slogan would be, "Manage the trees for a better short and long term future" - unfortunately it's not very catchy or dramatic and so won't get attention and certainly won't make the news...