Weather

Finally, it feels like spring!  The weather has been beautiful this weekend and will hopefully continue to stay warmer and brighter.  This is not the case elsewhere around the world, however.  Over the weekend, Ecuador was hit with a devastating tornado, killing hundreds of people.  It is pretty obvious that our weather has been crazy lately.  We had an abnormally warm winter, which was nice for us, but could be a sign of a deeper environmental problem.  From snowstorms to hurricanes to flooding to tornadoes, this year has already seen some highly unusual weather patterns.  I read a recent article that Alaska has had its warmest winter in decades.  They even had to import snow for famous events such as the Iditarod.  For two whole days, there was no snow in Anchorage.  I never imagined the day that Alaska, one of the coldest states, would need to import snow.  There is clearly a problem when one of the coldest places in the world does not have enough snow.  A lot of these unusual patterns could be a direct result of global warming.  Now, I am no scientist, so I will not even attempt to explain the complex issues related to global warming, but on a basic level, the earth is heating up, and this strange weather is one of the results.  Carbon emissions remain a huge problem throughout the world, and as more countries begin to develop, more carbon is released into the atmosphere.  These emission are difficult to regulate as factories around the world produce good needed to maintain life and the economy.  Without these factories and their emissions, goods could not be produced to buy and sell.  The United States and several other European countries experience their industrial revolutions hundreds of years ago, but countries such as China are just now starting to experience this shift.  One of the main ways for a country to rise out of poverty, and become a real world power is through industrialization.  This is problematic because we want other countries to become better and life their people out of poverty, but, at the same time, their industrialization will negatively impact the environment and contribute greatly to global warming.  It is scary to think of some of these possible effects of global warming, but it is important to be aware of our own contributions.  If we all try to become more "green" and environmentally friendly, then we could make the world a better place to live in and preserve it for future generations.