There are some Global Warming enthusiasts who are now claiming that the tsunami that originated in the Indian Ocean was linked to global warming which is linked directly to drivers of SUVs.
Cooler heads are taking a different look at the situation.
Actually, the main environmental problem with an exponential growth in human population is to avoid poisoning ourselves with our waste. I don't mean the waste that goes down the toilet... although the after-effects of some heavy rainstorms have left lakes fouled from sewage systems that were tasked beyond their capacities. I'm speaking of the waste created from everyday living and working.
Mountains of trash are growing around cities. While engineers have developed some neat ways to layer and hide the stuff, it's there. Perhaps it is harmless... a temporary eyesore that eventually becomes a ski hill. Although it is hard to believe that there isn't a lot of stuff oozing its way into the ground water.
We seem to have reached a level of environmental control that has allowed reasonably safe growth in the U.S. But I'm not so sure about countries like China or India that are suddenly expanding their manufacturing and consuming at a far greater rate than the U.S. The U.S. remains the prime target for environmentalists, but common sense tells me that the real danger lies with the 3-4 billion inhabitants of S.E. Asia that are moving from the 19th to the 21st century and skipping the infrastructure development and environmental controls developed in the 20th century... go directly from cattle to cars... pass Go several times... let all hell break loose.
Without adequate controls on personal and corporate garbage and process by-products, huge portions of the earth may be poisoned... while the Kyoto participants keep their focus on the CO2 levels in the U.S.
We may need some more tsunamis... just to clean things up. Well, okay, that's a bit harsh.
Just a thought.
