It is very easy to make the argument that, because I considered one of the downsides to Vassar the cold weather, I have no right to complain about the fact that it still hadn't snowed here. But since this is my blog, that logic is going to be called erroneous on all levels. I was pissed that it hadn't snowed. And finally, on January 18, it snows. (By the way, I was really hoping that it would snow on my birthday in an act of symbolism that I could write a paper on sometime later in life. But alas, the weather gods were two days late.) Anyway, now that it has finally snowed, people all across upstate New York will be given yet another nice fluffer conversation to talk about: how amazing it is that it hasn't snowed for such a long time.
When, really, it isn't that amazing, considering the rapid climate change that our planet is undergoing. I could spew out some stupid facts from Wikipedia, but the point is that almost all well-informed and non-biased climatologists agree that the earth is undergoing an anthropogenic (human caused) warming phase. Anyway, this is the one issue that this blog is most worried about (if blogs can worry), and probably will be the focus of future posts. The problem is that if we as a world don't take action relatively quickly, as the glaciers melt, the effects will be harder and harder to stop. It's really easy to get CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the air through the combustion of fossil fuels, but it's much, much harder to get them out. The other important point is that the earth itself is going to be fine, and the carbon cycle will probably correct itself in about 10,000 years. Whether or not the humans that currently inhabit the earth make it out alright is a totally different story. While our brains might be the most capable, we wouldn't be the first species to undergo a mass extinction.
Wow and I just realized how depressing this post became. At least it snowed, right! This calls for a celebration.
