Don’t Worry Children, Everything Is Going To Be All Right!

I read a humorous blog linking the decline in the number of pirates over time to the increase in global temperature claiming that the decrease in Pirates caused the increase in temperature. The solution to global warming is to have us all become pirates. We all realize that this is a false conclusion bordering on absurdity. We have a lot of these being thrown about lately. Photo via http://bama.ua.edu/

Let’s take a true – false quiz.

• An increase in the number of cows grazing causes an increase in greenhouse gases. True -Cows digestion of the grasses they eat produces methane. More cows mean more methane. If we eat more greens and fewer cows, we can moderate the increase in greenhouse gases.
• We are experiencing Climate Cycle not Global Warming. True and false but, who cares! Both affect our daily lives and can be impacted both positively and negatively by our efforts. Naysayers debunk global warming by proving it is not as bad as projected not that it doesn’t exist. They generally accept a man-made increase in global temperature by 2100 of 0.7 degrees! Global warming can be likened to putting a lid on a pan. Greenhouse gases and water vapors rise into the air accumulating at certain levels. These levels act like putting a lid on the atmosphere. Heat rises, hits this lid and cycles back to the earth causing more warming. Just like the lid on the pan, it holds the heat in and creates a mini rainforest environment under the gases sealing in the heat and creating more moisture which then falls back to the earth. Moisture in the air increases temperature and conversely. Increasing temperatures will cause ice melts, rising sea levels and increased evaporation which will mean greater rainfall.
• Man is causing catastrophic global warming. False -based on the use of the word “catastrophic.” But, I do believe that man has caused an increase in the average temperature around the globe and is contributing to climate change. Even the 0.7% that Global Warming debunkers admit causes an increase on global temperature and impacts our lives. While the increase may not be deemed statistically significant, it is not change “for the better” of mankind.
• The Aquifer is like a sponge at the bottom of a septic system mound. True – A septic tank takes polluted human waste, lets microbes eat it and then returns it to the earth to filter down into the aquifer. You put polluted water into the aquifer and “think” the ground will filter it enough before we extract it for our drinking water. There must be a healthier alternative.
• Most rainfall is polluted. False – When compared to groundwater, rainfall is typically pristine. Rainfall is distilled water purified in the clouds and dropped back to earth. Rain becomes contaminated when it is introduced to pollutants in the air and in the ground. Rain replenishes our aquifers (30%), evaporates (10%) or runs off to the rivers and the sea (60%).
• Plastic waste is controlled through recycling. False – People currently recycle 20% to 30% of plastic used. The other 70% to 80% goes into a landfill or is discarded on the land or waters. Of the 30% recycled to a second life, 70% of that is discarded and so on such that after five cycles of recycling 99.75% has been discarded.
• Drinking more sugary soda increases obesity but does drinking more soda increase temperature? False – And, so ridiculous. It is an irrational conclusion as soda has nothing to do with the temperature. Now, does soda increase the risk of early death? Yes, since sugary sodas contribute to obesity and obesity is linked to early death, you can properly draw that conclusion. The Morale -Draw responsible conclusions for credibility.
• All the above True False questions represent hot buttons for Choose Rain LLC. They all depict one or more of the issues facing our population. Naysayers try to convince us that nothing is going wrong because of the way we are living our lives. The “Chicken Littles” amongst us want us to believe that we are in such a severe state that it is too late. We the people of the United States and, through election, our politicians are trustees/stewards empowered with the responsibility of safeguarding our world for generations to come. The subject head of this article, “Don’t Worry Children, everything is going to be all right!” reeks with deception.

The caption to the political action plan illustrated in these two pictures reads: “One Politician With a Plan vs Two Politicians Planning Together.” Politicians sometimes do what their constituents want, assuming that what we want is in their political best interest when the lobbyists come around. I contend that they have their heads in the sand when it comes to global environmental and health issues. Without our help, they will all drown in a heavy rainstorm. Let’s educate and motivate these politicians and your parents through a discussion of Choose Rain’s mission to improve our global legacy to our children one bottle of rainwater at a time.

Global Warming vs Climate Change – The world goes through natural cycles where, over periods of thousands of years, it heats up and cools down. This is called climate change. Wikipedia defines Global Warming as “the rise in the average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century and its projected continuation. Since the

early 20th century, Earth’s mean surface temperature has increased by about 0.8 °C (1.4 °F), with about two-thirds of the increase occurring since 1980. Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and scientists are more than 90% certain that it is primarily caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as the burning

of fossil fuels and deforestation.”

Naysayers claim that man is not leading us into catastrophic global warming

the magnitude of man’s impact. The Chicken Little group claims we are in an irreversible downward spiral which will result in water wars and famine as crops fail. Each group distorts the facts to reach unsupportable and inappropriate conclusions. If the average global temperature has indeed increased 0.9°F since 1980, as Wikipedia states, then the projection of only 0.7°F by 2100 generally accepted by the Naysayers is a gross understatement. A simple linear projection of the
Wikip edia numb er

puts us at a 3.6% increase by 2100 which could be catastrophic with a resultant increase in sea level of three to six meters. My home at 21 feet above sea level would become beach front property. South Florida and most coastal communities would be under water. Miami would become our own Atlantis.

We at Choose Rain believe that man is negatively impacting the earth through the unchecked generation of Greenhouse gases. We believe that the harm is not irreversible and we can greatly reduce greenhouse emissions with effort and legislation. The United States needs to join the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty that sets binding obligations on industrialized countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. There are 192 parties to the convention, including 191 states (all of the UN members, except Andorra, Canada, South Sudan and the United States) and the European Union. As part of the Kyoto Protocol, many developed countries have agreed to legally binding limitations/reductions in their emissions of greenhouse gases. The graphic shows the coastline of Florida in 2100 with a six meter sea level rise. One possible scenario if we do not act immediately to curtail our emission of greenhouse gases. Where are Miami and the Keys?

Urge your politicians to get their heads out of the sand, pass meaningful legislation to curb the emission of greenhouse gases and take a tough stand for our children’s future.

Rainwater vs the Aquifer – Our aquifers across the nation are diminishing as a result of unchecked over-pumping, over-development and salt water intrusion. Populations in cities are growing. Combine this with lower reserves and we are facing a crisis. This chart shows that areas in South and Central Florida are already using more water than can be provided through the aquifer. Central Florida will follow by 2030. Aquifers are replenished through rainfall with 30% of the rain filtering into the aquifer. Global Warming may actually increase rainfall in certain areas. With 70% of rainfall not replenishing the aquifer, what if we simply caught rainfall and used it where possible? Politicians view rainfall as a storm-water problem, designing systems to quickly divert rainfall to lakes, streams and the ocean. This interference to move the storm-water as quickly as possible actually decreases recharge of the aquifer.

We at Choose Rain believe that using rainfall is our salvation. In Florida one can capture 30 gallons of rain per square foot of catchment area. A 4,000 sq. ft. home can capture 120,000 gallons of pure, sweet rainwater needing very little treatment. This could provide a family of four with all their fresh water needs. Urge your politicians to get their heads out of the sand, incentivize the use of rainwater, restrict manufacturing and individual water waste and take a tough stand for our children.

Health and Childhood Obesity – Obesity is reaching crisis proportions all over the world more than doubling since 1976 with 15% of our children considered obese. Adults are also increasingly obese. We educate by example. We Super-size it and sit in front of a television or computer all day. We eat fast foods replacing family dinner time with rushed, high calorie meals. What do we expect our kids to do?

I am sorry, but we can’t blame all of this on our politicians and most of the solution falls on us. Lead by example. Take the kids hiking or to the park. Create outdoor activities where you all participate. Take responsibility for what your kids eat. Get rid of high calorie sodas and meals. Sit down for healthy meals and engage your children in creative conversation. Turn off the television and computer. Encourage participation in sports. Just have fun, you might like it and the pounds will fall off!

We at Choose Rain believe that large, sugary drinks contribute greatly to obesity. Our children eat what we allow them to eat. Be responsible parents and teach your children how to eat. If you yourself don’t know what is healthy and good, LEARN! It takes more effort but your kids will lead longer and healthier lives. Replacing sodas with low or no calorie drinks will eliminate hundreds of calories each day. Bottled water processed without chlorine is the best solution.

Urge your politicians to get their heads out of the sand, fund healthy meals and exercise in schools and take a tough stand for our children.

Plastic waste and landfills – “Free, an island in the Pacific the size of Texas. All you need to do is clean up the plastic trash.” The catch is that once you remove the trash, the island no longer exists.

We humans lead a very wasteful and self-serving existence. If it exists, we feel that it is ours to use and abuse. In the 50’s, I think it was Life Magazine that pinned an article on the role of plastic allowing the woman to come out of the kitchen. Little did they know that plastic waste would eventually clog landfills and remain there for the next forty generations. That is 14 million descendants that have to deal with our waste. Think about this, when Leif Erikson landed in Greenland in 1010AD, if he had a Voss plastic PET bottle, he could have dropped it on the shore and it might still be there. We are a throw-away society selfishly polluting our world.

Shame on us!

Plastic waste is a difficult issue because much harm is already done. Even if we curtail the waste today, we cannot reverse the pollution already in the land-fill. Take plastic water bottles, a recent phenomenon. Americans discard 20-40 billion plastic water bottles a year. That creates millions of tons of plastic waste buried in our landfills or thrown away on the side of the road or cast into the ocean.

Bottled water companies whitewash their responsibility by claiming that they are using less plastic which creates less plastic going to the landfill. They omit telling you that they saved an estimated $800 million in plastic costs by convincing the public that they did it to save the environment. If they dropped the price to compensate for the reduced cost, then the claim might be credible. Instead, they could spend another half cent and impregnate the plastic with an organic biodegradable binder which would cause the plastic to biodegrade in the landfill in three to five years instead of the 500 to 1,000 years the plastic currently remains.

We at Choose Rain believe that you should use refillable bottles and not purchase bottled water in plastic bottles. When you must purchase bottled water in plastic containers, it is simple, demand that the bottle is biodegradable. Urge your politicians to get their heads out of the sand, pass meaningful legislation to curb the proliferation of solid waste. Pass laws requiring that all plastic bottles must biodegrade in three to five years. And, take a tough stand for our children’s future.

Don’t Worry Children, everything is going to be all right! Our current practices are not sustainable and change MUST occur. Our politicians will eventually do what they are forced to do by our citizens and the citizens are finally fed up. Your parents do have your back. Demand that they fix the problems before they pass the problems on to you. Demand that everything will be all right.

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Larry Curran

CEO at Choose Rain

I have a passion for rainwater. In 2004, I built a home in Florida that uses rainwater as the only source of water. After retirement and 40 years as a CPA/ CFO, I formed Choose Rain, Inc., a small cap public company trading as “CHOS” OTCPK, to serve a sustainable need for bottled water with a low impact on the environment.

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