Humanitys Greatest Challenge

Will 2013 Blog Action Day be a success?  Of course it will be this years subject is Humanitarian in Nature and is a perfect fit for addressing Humanity's Greatest Challenge yet undertaken by Mankind.  

The continued threat of Global Warming on the Worlds Food Supply caused by extreme weather.

I recently wrote about the changing weather patterns that I link to global warming and my experiences growing up on a Ranch in North Missouri.  I mentioned simple facts that cannot be denied: We do not have prolonged periods of cold weather that keeps the snow that falls from melting 'normally', we have more ice and less snow, and we are feeling the effects of climate change.

And now it is effecting our Nation's Food Supply.  Just recently 4 feet of snow fell in the western plains^[1].  The Snow was so deep and came so early that tens of thousands of cattle were killed- a tragedy for the Ranchers and their herds.  

This is not only a loss of income for the Ranchers and the businesses in the area; it is going to affect the prices of the Nations Food Stock.  

While it may be normal for 4 feet of snow fall in the Western Plains.  It is not normal for 4 feet of snow fall this early in the year.  The snowfall came so early and was unexpected for both the Ranchers and Cattle they were ill equipped and still ill equipped since our Government has shut down^[2]- removing all the aid that is deserving for the bestricken Ranchers.  

The normal pattern of how animals grow their winter coats that usually grow middle to late fall, had not yet fully developed.  So the cattle were out there with jean jackets on instead of down filled winter coats.  Just like a human would freeze to death so did the cattle and wildlife.  

Did you notice the Natural Weather pattern was altered- 

Winter came earlier and more severe.  

This is not the normal weather pattern.

To help my readers understand how extreme weather affects the daily shopping routine at the local Schnucks and Dierbergs hometown grocery stores let me share a little background on Beef production.

• A loss of 1 steer will produce an average of 800 pounds of beef.  10,000 steers produce 8,000,000^[3] lbs of meat that American Families need to eat for survival.

• Supply and Demand determines the markets^[4].

• Less supply equals higher prices in the cattle market-Cattle Prices Could Break Records this Week^[5]

So yes Global Warming does affect us in StLouis even though we were not directly in the Last Path of the extreme weather patterns caused by Global Warming from the burning of Fossil Fuels that create CO2^[6] see IPCC 5th assessment report^[7].

Labadie Dirty Coal Plant Photo by:Richard Keeling

Labadie plant among top emitters of greenhouse gases-StLouis Post Dispatch

It is going to hit us where it will hurt us Humans the most [in a struggling economy] in our bank accounts when we go to the grocery store.  

Lucky for us there are things we can do to lessen the effects of the Extreme Weather that is causing Global Warming and the damage from Climate Change.  

Yes StLouis can make a difference in Humanity's Greatest Challenge.

Simple acts of reducing the energy needed for your home does make a difference because less energy needed is less Dirty Coal that is burned to create the electricity StLouis Needs.  This means that the 4th most polluting coal plant in the USA^[8] that is located just a measly 45 minutes to the west of StLouis will need to burn less coal which is the biggest form of CO2 emissions^[9].  Here are just 4 simple acts that have the biggest influence in reducing Climate Change caused by Global Warming:

• So the little act of changing a light bulb to a new style that uses less energy can help as well as turning off unused gadgets- 10% reduction of coal burnt electricity.

• The Simple Act of Recycling and Growing a Back Yard Garden^[10]

• Beefing Up {staying on the Ranch Theme} the insulation in your home or office will mean less electricity is needed-Weatherizing your home has additional benefits as well-15-30% reduction of coal burnt electricity.

• Installing a clean energy solar system will also dramatically reduce the CO2 Pollution-greatest savings for bank account and reduced CO2 emissions 90-100% of reduction of coal burnt electricity.

I realize that #2 and #3 have sizeable investment hurdles.  Luckily we have a local program in StLouis to help with making Energy Efficiency, Energy Conservation, and Clean Energy Resources possible for our Area.  This is not your normal go to the bank for a loan financing.  It is better!  This program, Set the PACE StLouis^[11] is geared to help local people do their part to reduce climate change and save money.  Its a match made in heaven and just what the doctor ordered.

This program will not only:

• Save you money on Reducing the energy needs for your Building.

• It will improve the Value of your Property

• You will have MORE money- because the Loan Payment Charges are lower than the price you were paying for the energy.

If you could do all those things and reduce the Dirty Coal that produces the most CO2 Pollution from being burned what is not to like about such a program?  When more people are joining in and making a difference we will be meeting and mitigating the Humanity's Greatest Challenge

Scotty

Scotts Contracting, StLouis Renewable Energy

We Can Build a Green StLouis^[12]

Key Words for Blog Action Day 2013 : #BAD2013, #OCT16, #Humanrights, #BlogActionDay, #GlobalWarming, #CO2,#ClimateChange

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[1] "Early snow kills thousands of cattle in SD - Weather, forecasts, news ..." 2013. 15 Oct. 2013 <http://local.msn.com/early-snow-kills-thousands-of-cattle-in-sd-1>

[2] "Government Shuts Down As Congress Fails To Reach Spending ..." 2013. 15 Oct. 2013 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/01/government-shuts-down_n_4020219.html>

[3] "How much meat does a steer usually produce? - Cattle Forum ..." 2008. 15 Oct. 2013 <http://www.cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=43995>

[4] "Supply and demand - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." 2003. 15 Oct. 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand>

[5] "Cattle prices could break records this week | Beef Today - AgWeb." 2013. 15 Oct. 2013 <http://www.agweb.com/article/cattle_prices_could_break_records_this_week_NAA_Greg_Henderson/>

[6] "Extreme weather, more extreme greenhouse gas emissions beckon ..." 2013. 15 Oct. 2013 <http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/extreme-weather-more-extreme-greenhouse-gas-emissions-beckon-urgent-activism-by-patrick-bond/>

[7] "IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change." 15 Oct. 2013 <http://www.ipcc.ch/>

[8]Inserted better link to http://kbia.org/post/amerens-labadie-plant-named-top-greenhouse-gas-emitter-epa some reason ameren ue removed this link> "Labadie - Ameren." 2010. 15 Oct. 2013 <http://www.ameren.com/sites/aue/source/AboutUs/pages/adc_au_labadie.aspx >

[9] "Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions - US Energy Information ..." 2011. 15 Oct. 2013 <http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/emissions.cfm>

[10] "Little Green Thumb Recycling Adventure |St Louis Renewable Energy." 2012. 15 Oct. 2013 <http://stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com/2012/06/little-green-thumb-recycling-adventure.html>

[11] "Set the Pace St. Louis." 2013. 15 Oct. 2013 <http://www.setthepacestlouis.com/>

[12] "Scotts Contracting - St Louis Renewable Energy." 2009. 15 Oct. 2013 <http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com/>

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