by Nathan Hook

Created on: November 07, 2007

There is no doubt that Global warming is one of the most serious problems facing America today, because unlike some of the other issues which we face as a nation, we have no simple, short term solutions to global change. We now know that we, as part of the industrial nations, have contributed to the global changes in our environment. Unless we model to the new and emerging industrial nations behavior which proves we have learned our lesson and that our new approach is sustainable to maintaining wealth and prosperity in industries such as "green jobs", then the future for all Americans is going to look increasingly grim.

One of the reasons I emigrated from New Zealand was due to the incredible opportunities available to me in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. As well, and despite frequent anti-war, anti-Bush and ultimately anti-American sentiments from some of my former countrymen, I have found Americans to be incredibly generous, community minded people. We are blessed here with a robust free market economy and for most citizens a high standard of living many from other countries are desperate to experience. This is in danger unless we all contribute and force our leading politicians to stop seeing it as a political issue and one which affects us all as part of a gloab community. The reality is, global climate change is real and in some way we are all contributing to it.

People here are often shocked by my descriptions of the strength of the sun back home in New Zealand. This is caused by the ozone layer depletion, which of course allows ultraviolet light to scorch the earth. The lowest I have seen the burn time for sun tanning was 8 minutes: our news shows have a UV index to warn you about the intensity of the rays. My poor American wife, made some incredibly painful mistakes not wearing sunblock and thought she was "okay" based on experiences back in the US. We both recall the almost surreal experience, when in the NZ spring of 2006, the nation was warned that meteorologists expected higher than normal UV levels and it was recommended we remain indoors one weekend! In both New Zealand and its' next door neighbor, Australia, it is mandatory for grade school age children to wear wide brimmed hats, sun block and even sun glasses during their lunch periods. I believe some schools give detentions to students who forget, such is the importance of protecting young skin from the sun's harmful rays.

I become quite exasperated when I hear people suggest the whole issue is a liberal conspiracy. Al Gore, has a point, and ignoring a message simply because of its' source is an intellectual folly known as genetic fallacy. We may not be able to prevent the change in climate from occurring, but perhaps, with a little self-sacrifice, we can collectively make a major difference in the severity with which is manifests itself.

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